Product Description

Samantha and Darin Stephens' little girl is all grown up and out on her own in TABITHA, the enchanting spin-off series. Starring Lisa Hartman as a young, single working witch, Tabitha adds a little magic and fun to the lives of her relatives and friends including mortal brother Adam (David Ankrum), guardian witch Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow) and Paul Thurston (Mel Stewart). Includes the entire 12-episode run plus the rarely seen original pilot episode starring Liberty Williams and Bruce Kimmel as the Stephens siblings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37625 in DVD
• Brand: HARTMAN,LISA
• Released on: 2005-06-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 325 minutes

Amazon.com
It seems that this short-lived 1977 spinoff was not so much trying to recapture the magic of Bewitched as it was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Like Mary, Lisa Hartman's Tabitha was an independent single woman working for a low-rent local television station. Where Mary had a letter "M" hanging on her wall, Tabitha had a "T." Tabitha, however, tried to turn our world on, not with a smile, but with a twitch of her nose. And without the benefit of brilliant writers or an able ensemble, Hartman was just not up to taking a nothing premise and suddenly making it all seem worthwhile. Tabitha, now a witchy woman, works as an assistant at KXLA with her mortified mortal brother, Adam, to whom she promises to "cut down on the nose action" (in the more-interesting unaired pilot included on this two-disc set, Adam is a warlock trying to lure his sister to the dark side). Tabitha is an exercise in diminished returns. Mel Stuart, as the beleaguered station manager, is no Ed Asner; a pre-Spenser Robert Urich, as the obnoxious, egomaniacal talk show host, is no Ted Knight; and Karen Morrow, as Tabitha's meddlesome, troublemaking aunt Minerva, is no Agnes Moorehead.

Not that Tabitha is without its TV Land charms. Reprising their roles from the original series are Sandra Gould and a bearded George Tobias as Gladys and Abner Kravitz in "The Arrival of Nancy," and Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay in "Tabitha's Party." These episodes also feature welcome appearances by, respectively, Fred Willard as a gold-chain-wearing swinger and Werner "Col. Klink" Klemperer. For undiscriminating couch potatoes, Tabitha, may cast an irresistible guilty pleasure spell. However, fans of the original series will probably feel less bewitched than bothered and bewildered. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Remastered in High Definition
I agree that this isn't the greatest TV series ever made, but it is a lot of fun. I was excited when I found out it was being released on DVD, and ordered it right away. I am glad that I did, because I am extremely impressed with this release. If you watched the recent airings on TV Land, you'll remember the murky, faded picture quality that almost all of the episodes exhibited. Well, surprisingly Sony has outdone themselves with this release. The episodes look incredible! Sharp, crisp picture quality, with bright, vibrant colors. It looks truly incredible compared to what was shown on TV! Plus, it includes the rarely seen pilot episode with a different cast and location. All of this on 2 single sided discs housed in a standard size DVD "flipper" amaray. I wish that all studios would take notice of the excellent transfer used for this set, and apply it to other TV shows that are released on DVD.

Not "Bewitched", not "MTM"; Let it shine on its own
Reading the other reviews here, I think there are a lot of people missing the point of this series. It's pure entertainment, plain and simple. It's not entirely fair to compare it to the original "Bewitched", although there's a temptation to do so. The casting of Lisa Hartman as Tabitha, and David Ankrum as Adam, works because she resembles Elizabeth Montgomery, and he Dick York, enough to make you believe Samantha and Darren could be their parents. Keeping Adam a mortal was the right way to go, since he was mortal on the original show. The unaired pilot made him a warlock, which would have detracted from the show if he had been portrayed that way. It would have been great if the parents had made a guest appearance (Sandra Gould and George Tobias reprising their roles as Gladys and Abner Kravitz was welcome). Robert Urich as an egotistical talk show host worked; he really looked the part. Karen Morrow was also terrific as Aunt Minerva, Tabitha's "guardian witch". Anyway, this is a cute show that deserves a look. Don't judge it entirely as a "Bewitched" spin-off. Take it on its own merit.

NOT AS BAD AS PEOPLE ARE MAKING IT OUT TO BE!
I love the show Tabitha, maybe it's not quite as good as Bewitched but it's a cute show with highly entertaining episodes and as for the charsm of Lisa Hartman, well I think she is very pretty and she's pretty darn cute as Tabitha!

I aslo like Robert Urich. The character he played started off kind of dorky but they started to tone him down after several episodes but unforunately it was canceled so soon.