The Witches Are Out
March 25, 2021 10:01 AM   Subscribe

Bewitched: It was Gay All Along?

Matt Baume makes "smart fun videos about LGBTQ+ milestones in entertainment" from the small screen (Bob Newhart & the Masked Doctor Who Cured the Gays, Roc & TV's First Gay Wedding) to the silver screen (The Queen: NYC Drag Pageant Scene Before House LaBeija, The Hidden History of Paris is Burning.)

Baume's podcast The Sewers of Paris—over 300 episodes—features gay guests talking about how specific pieces of media changed their lives. He's also the DM for the Queens of Adventure podcast, "an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons story starring Seattle drag artists and special guests from the local drag & burlesque community."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker (20 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
Heh. Even though I haven't really thought about Bewitched since I enjoyed watching it as a kid, just asking the question makes the answer entirely obvious with even the most minimal reflection. Oh, yeah, totally gay now that you mention it. Excellent! Makes me like it even more now.
posted by gusottertrout at 10:44 AM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]


Stumbled on this video a few weeks ago. I really don't have a lot to add except that this video is a good deep dive, including details about cast members who were gay! It's well worth the watch and yes, indeed, Bewitched is far gayer than I remembered!

Anyone else feel like Wanda and Vision trying to "pretend to be normal" in the early episodes of WandaVision in the 1950's/60's-esque sitcoms was a nod to that aspect of Bewitched? They certainly hit that vibe that Bewitched had, with a couple having to hide what makes them unusual to "fit in."
posted by deadaluspark at 10:56 AM on March 25, 2021 [12 favorites]


Obligatory link to /r/sapphoandherfriend.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 11:09 AM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]


Anyone else feel like Wanda and Vision trying to "pretend to be normal" in the early episodes of WandaVision in the 1950's/60's-esque sitcoms was a nod to that aspect of Bewitched?

Absolutely. That show was a love letter to classic American TV (at least early on.)

You may be interested in Baume and Decider's Brett White talking about the first few episodes of WandaVision on a recent episode of his podcast.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:30 AM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]


If there is any uncertainty, I can confirm that the Biwitched parody is quite gay, at least.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:50 AM on March 25, 2021


Absolutely. That show was a love letter to classic American TV (at least early on.)

The director of WandaVision, Matt Shakman, was a 80's sitcom child actor who went on to direct a mindbogglingly amount of TV. There probably was not a better person on earth to make WandaVision and write that love letter.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:28 PM on March 25, 2021 [5 favorites]


I haven't the time/patience/stamina to search through his archives, but has he discussed the mid-80s Showtime sitcom "Brothers" by some of the writers behind the Mary Tyler Moore Show & Cheers?

It was groundbreaking and award-winning, but seems to have dropped from everyone's radar (gaydar?). I've scoured histories of LGBTQ portrayals in media, and it's rarely mentioned.

The story centered on three adult brothers: the oldest worked construction, the middle a retired footballer who ran a sports bar (shades of Cheers), and the baby of the family, who comes out in the opening episode.

You can find low-quality video of many episodes on YouTube.
posted by cheshyre at 4:13 PM on March 25, 2021


I vaguely recall an appearance by a cousin warlock even more queer than Arthur, who would conjure football players to tackle people while making suggestive remarks.

The Darren Stevens character was scripted more chill in the beginning, there was an early episode where they hosted a cocktail party for Sam's extended family and he was somewhat more amused than judgemental about their flamboyant eccentricities. His role became more uptight after that.

'Twas the late-1960s golden age of American TV sitcoms, when popular shows used film-edit tricks to introduce fantasy elements (mentioned in the top) and scriptwriters often sneaked in surreal and absurdist concepts. Bewitched was in the avant of this phase, along with Beverly Hillbillies, Isle of Gilligan, I Dream of Genie, The Monkees, and Green Acres. A good time to be young and watching TV.
posted by ovvl at 4:35 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]


Bewitched must have come on after school or something because I watched a lot of it. I love that the gayness of it all was talked about so openly amongst the cast and crew.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:07 PM on March 25, 2021


I can see Paul Lynde rolling his eyes in approval at this post.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:16 PM on March 25, 2021 [8 favorites]


...has he discussed the mid-80s Showtime sitcom "Brothers" by some of the writers behind the Mary Tyler Moore Show & Cheers?

I don't believe he has. Possibly an upcoming episode!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:27 PM on March 25, 2021


This makes so much sense. I always thought of Bewitched as coded for interracial marriage (illegal in several states when the show started) and/or passing, but a queer reading fits even better.

Poor Dick Sargent. I didn't like Darrin #2, he seemed so sour and buttoned up compared to Darrin #1, but hearing what the actor was going through, the internal tension must have been profound. I'm glad he was able to come out later in life and he looks so much happier in the "reunion pitch" interview!
posted by basalganglia at 7:17 PM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]


Seems sort of like the Village People... gay was right there the whole time, the squares did not have any gaydar at all in those primitive times.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:40 AM on March 26, 2021


I love Matt Baume's attitude so much - he's so relentlessly positive in understanding some often very disappointing portrayals of LGBT+ people in the past. It would be such as easy gig to come to with a 'god wasn't this all a disaster' tone, but he's much more subtle that that.

He's also a really good interviewer on the Sewers of Paris, it's great hearing so many people stumble into realisations about how they understand their own sexuality with the lines of questioning he takes. I often recommend it to friends as being like a gay Desert Island Discs, which it very much isn't, but seems a vaguely accurate enough description to hook people in...
posted by garlicsmack at 4:02 AM on March 26, 2021


Finally got to actually watch the video and it was indeed enjoyable. It's interesting, but understandable I suppose, that Baume chose not to talk about Agnes Moorehead more, given that she's long been claimed as being a lesbian icon of sorts, but with some continued debate over her status. Digging into that would have been a bit too complicated for the video's streamlined approach to the clearer elements supporting the idea of Bewitched being gay.

I also have to disagree just a tad with Baume over Sargent's imagined reunion idea. Baume suggests Sargent's idea contained something of a mixed message, but I think Sargent was closer to getting the metaphor right than Baume in a kind of meaningful way. If you think of Darrin and "Sam" as a gay couple, Sam is the one who is comfortable being open with who they are, while Darrin is repressing the truth of the relationship. In that sense, it is Darrin that needs to "come out" as the partner more concerned about fitting in to "normal" society. To be entirely on point though, the epsiode would need to show Darrin always had some magic in himself all along too, but since the mortal/witch divide had been the long established hook of the show, the metaphor couldn't really be entirely untangled without difficulty in that way.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:22 AM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


What a great post/video! I watched so much Bewitched on TBS when I was a kid. And The Munster's & I Dream Of Jeannie. As a latchkey kid who spent long hours at home alone, I always found these shows so funny and alluring. They had a valance of friendliness to them, somehow. This video helps me understand why.
posted by Bob Regular at 5:46 AM on March 26, 2021


Well, it spawned the most queer of all anime subgenres, the Mahou Shoujo/magical girl show.
posted by MartinWisse at 8:34 AM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


the mid-80s Showtime sitcom "Brothers"

Eldest brother "Lou" on that show was played by Brandon Maggart (see him on Sesame Street here) but you may also know him as Fiona Apple's dad. This is the kind of trivia my brain really likes keeping around.
posted by 41swans at 12:40 PM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


I so wish Sargant had gotten that Bewitched reunion special he was daydreaming about. I kinda teared up a little. Way too blunt and hit-you-over-the-head-with-message? Yeah, sure. But it's not like sixties and seventies sitcoms are SUPPOSED to have been models of subtlety, so why not?
posted by Xiphias Gladius at 4:34 PM on March 26, 2021


I loved this; thanks so much for sharing!
posted by cyndigo at 7:00 PM on March 30, 2021


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