When I was a kid I used to love "Bewitched". As a kid who felt out of place most of the time, the idea of being secretly magical was pretty appealing. I liked "I Dream of Jeanie" too, but given a choice, I liked "Bewitched" better.
The situations were funny and the over the top quality of the characters were funny too. Aside from the regulars, Samantha Stevens has a whole host of relatives that, quite literally, popped in and out. There was the crazy aunt, the senile aunt, the over protective father. But the one I like the best was Uncle Arthur.
Uncle Arthur was played by Paul Lynde who was an accomplished actor and comedian before "Bewitched." I was too young to know about any of that, though. Maybe it was my early gaydar pinging, but I always liked the episodes that featured Uncle Arthur best.
These episodes were usually the funniest, including a lot of slap stick gags.
Did I like these episodes because they are funny or because I was looking at a guy that I had a lot in common with me?
I guess this post can be filed in the, "How did I not know, category."
6 comments:
We are all clueless at times yeah? I loved that show too, and Uncle Arthur and Dr. Bombay were my favorites. Oh! And Aunt Clara, I loved her door knob collection.
We dont always know about us, because we are so immersed in our culture, which is arrow straight, at least when we were kids. Or we know, fear what we know, and bury it.
Even at the age of 20 (early 80s), I hardly knew gay people existed and I certainly would never have believed that I'd met one.
In retrospect, years later, I realized that there were many I knew...my dentist, the shopkeeper, a teacher or two, "confirmed bachelor" colleagues of my parents, and on and on.
This is my first comment here, but I've been a reader for some time. Reading about your experiences and insights on your blog has been a great help to me; our situations are similar, except my kids are just a little older.
I forgot to include the most important thing:
"I certainly would never have believed that I'd met one.... or that I might even be gay myself!"
The first Mr. Stevens was gay, too. That was why he was taken out of the show.
I loved both of these shows too. I can't remember which Darrin I liked better - Dick York and Dick Sargeant? I also enjoyed shows that deal with the supernatural or superheroes as opposed to watching sports. Don't get me started on my Saturday morning cartoons - Justice League and He-Man, but watching them now is just so funny. He-Man as Adam was wearing a tight pink shirt with purple underwear and leggings. And of course I couldn't wait for him to transform into He-Man.
Dr Bello had a crush on Major Nelson.
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