Darrin Goes Ape

 One of Serena’s funniest appearances is in her next episode, Darrin Goes Ape. After an altercation with Serena, Darrin is turned into an ape while Samantha is out with Tabitha and Adam. Problems arise when Gladys Kravitz notices the gorilla, and calls the police to investigate the Stephens home. Following the pattern of hilarious, Serena makes another appearance in Samantha’s Psychic Slip, an episode which is often labeled as corny. In this segment, Samantha is suffering from a severe bout of hiccups. As a result, strange things are popping in and out after each hiccup. To make matters worse, Darrin’s mother phones Samantha, and asks her to go shopping with her. As they are leaving, Serena arrives to take care of Tabitha and Adam.

Once season eight approached, Serena would only appear in three episodes, the first being, Samantha And The Lochness Monster, which is the third installment of a seven part story arc in which Samantha and Darrin are vacationing in Europe. This particular episode takes place in Scotland, and focuses on the Lochness Monster, who is really an old suitor of Serena’s.

In her second last appearance on the series, she starred in an episode titled, Serena’s Richcraft, where she finds herself powerless. Due to inhabiting no witchcraft, she falls hard for Darrin’s client. Serena’s final appearance is a memorable outing titled, Serena’s Youth Pill, and I classify it to be among my favorite episodes where Serena is featured. In this episode Serena reunites with Larry Tate, whom she calls “Cotton Top”. When Larry unexpectedly pays Samantha and Darrin a visit, Serena entertains him while Sam and Darrin are out. During the visit, Serena gives Larry a youth pill that makes him younger until eventually he’s a child again.
The idea of having an identical cousin emerge on the scene was a clever one. Originally, Serena was going to be Samantha’s long lost sister, but after some serious thinking, Elizabeth decided that she wanted it to be more imaginary, and thought it would be more creative if Serena served as Samantha’s look a like cousin, who at times can be a carbon copy of Samantha. It has been said that Serena was based on Elizabeth’s real life cousin, Amanda. However Montgomery denied those accusations, stating that even though her and Amanda were very close as children, Amanda was not the inspiration for Serena.

Once Serena was fully decided on, cast and crew members faced a tough decision when it came to deciding what Elizabeth should be billed as for playing Serena under the credits. Montgomery herself suggested that she be called Lizzie, but a Bewitched co-worker hinted that they didn’t like that name, and wanted her to be billed as Pandora’s Box. Elizabeth however stated that her choice was a little subtler and funnier. After taking it into consideration, they eventually decided to bill her as Pandora Spocks, a subtle not to the famous Greer myth of Pandora’s Box.
Playing dual roles in a movie or a television series is no easy feat. In fact many stars have shied away from it, fearing that they would get lost in translation, but Elizabeth who was always eager to display her full potential as an actress, was more than ready to take on that challenge, and it is with no doubt that she enjoyed doing it. As Serena, Elizabeth was given the chance to be free spirited, and totally wild. The character of Serena was certainly a lot more hipper than the role of Samantha, an amiable and conservative housewife who takes pleasure in preparing breakfast and dinner for her husband, and tending to the needs of her children.

Employing dual roles in movies and television productions can be difficult. In Bewitched however, this was easily achieved. In the scenes that required both Samantha and Serena to be present, Elizabeth Montgomery’s stand-in Melody McCord was used to help fulfill the process. Seventeen years later in 1989, Elizabeth reflected back on the experience, and explained the following for the Samantha-Serena transformation process.
After Serena’s last appearance, Bewitched would only run for seven more episodes before terminating in March 1972. In the years that followed, Bewitched has continued to evoke fond memories, and occasionally it is still being referenced to in today’s popular culture.
This entry is part of the Dual Roles Blogathon, which is hosted by Ruth at Silver Screenings, and Christina at her blog, Christina Wehner. It is with apologies that my entry is late.