Are Endora and Maurice divorced or separated or ?
Topic says it all. Opinions?
Good question. Do witches get divorced? Considering their lifespans, it would be depressing to spend that much time with a disagreeable spouse!
When I was a child I assumed that they were divorced because they didn't live together. Whenever they were both at Sam's house the dialogue was something like. "Nice to see you again."
Actually in the first season it was apparent that they were living apart. I think it's the episode when Maurice comes to visit and disapproves of his mortal son-in-law. He makes him disappear and Endora insists that he bring Darrin back or she'll make his life miserable and says, "You know I can do it!"
She threatens, "I'll move in with you!"
I don't think the word 'divorce' is ever mentioned though. It just seems that Maurice and Endora went their separate ways after several hundred years of wedded "bliss". ha ha
Thanks. Just wondered if I had missed an episode that might have clarified that.
There have been references to Maurice being Endora's spouse an vice versa, but then Maurice always seemed to have a beautiful "assistant" he doesn't mind anyone, including his own daughter, seeing. Endora seemed more jealous of the assistants youth than jealousy of a husband cheating.
I always thought divorced but now you have me wondering. I'm surprised that my memory is not so sharp on the show as it was broadcast endlessly growing up during the 1970's and 1980's in syndication. 7:30PM weeknights.
shareMaybe there were different writers who weren't really good at paying attention to previous scripts? They seemed divorced at times and at other times Maurice was introduced as Endora's husband..
Yeah, continuity was not a big thing on 1960's American television. You would think that the regular cast might have said something but then again even the stars were treated like time clock punching slouches.
shareI just assumed they had an open marriage. Since they were not mortals, they could get away with it.
I think Endora messed with Samantha (even when Darrin was not around) because she wanted something to do. Yes she could flirt endlessly. But she privately envied Samantha who had 'something' to do. That's probably why she was jealous of the 'assistant' even those who were not part of an affair. The women were doing things she was not enjoying.
You hit on a whole other topic that I've discussed with fans before! Some of Sam's relatives like Endora and Serena seemed to be constantly looking for SOME meaning to their empty party going lifestyles.
Sure, it would be fun to jet off to an exotic location and have "lunch with the Prince" or visit Paris on the spur of the moment. But the witches we saw were jetsetters without the jet. ha! Everything in the world was at their fingertips and as a result, nothing was very special.
Sam had a solid marriage, love and a purpose in life. They just lived the lives of perpetual adolescents.
I don't think of them as perpetual adolescents. But Endora did have to give up stability with a partner in order to be the swinging single (as does Serena)
relationship stability was 'exotic' to them. And Sam wanted it because it had not been a part of her upbringing until then (her parents). She was 'countercultural' to other witches
I don't think Sam's relatives or the Witches Council for that matter, had a problem with 'relationship stability'. I don't think it was a foreign concept to them. It was the "mixed" aspect of Sam's marriage.
I don't recall Endora ever being upset with her daughter wanting to be married.
Her grief came from Sam's marriage to "that mortal" and that her daughter's ready embrace of Darrin's way of life.
There surely must've been SOME happy witch marriages! In the first season there's an episode "A Strange Little Visitor". Sam babysits a young boy whose parents have to attend a conference. They were a witch couple named Brocken. James Doohan, later of Star Trek fame, played Walter Brocken. They were only onscreen a few minutes, but they seemed like a happy and stable couple.
However, I do see Endora and Serena, among other witches, as living aimless lives and behaving like they never left adolescence. I guess it would be tempting to have everything you ever wanted simply by casting a spell or snapping your fingers. They roamed around the cosmos with no purpose and were SO touchy when Darrin made any critical remarks about them.
Why did they care so much about what a "mere mortal" thought of them? Because they were immature (despite their vast years) and they acted like touchy teen-agers.
Interesting analysis.
But it's almost as if you're saying monogamy is the only viable lifestyle. Endora and Serena were single and liked to party. So if they settled down into monogamous marriages and lived like Sam & Darrin, would they be more productive people?
The entire show is a contrast between the domesticity of the Stevens household against the jetsetting lifestyle of the witches.
Do you think the moral was that if one is not married and bourgeois, then they are like adolescents?
Oh no! Sorry if I gave the impression that monogamy is "the only viable lifestyle". I was responding to the previous poster who indicated that "relationship stability" was exotic to the witches. There are plenty of married people who like to go out and party....a lot!
I meant to say that relationships weren't exotic or strange to the witches. What really put a bee under their pointy hats was Sam's mixed marriage! Of course someone like Aunt Clara had no problem with Darrin. And even Uncle Arthur seemed to have a grudging affection for his nephew-in-law.
It was Endora and Serena who could NOT understand why Sam chose a life of "drudgery and housework". They simply couldn't get it that she found satisfaction in taking care of her family instead of flying off to the latest Cosmos Cotillion. They were, of course, entitled to their lifestyles. But they were living rather aimless lives. At least it looked that way to me. All they seemingly did was have a good time.
Sam didn't run down their choices. But they had plenty to say about HERS!
Well I'm wondering if the overall premise of the show was that "married with children" was the paradigm. This was the prosperous 60's right as the hippie counterculture was beginning to grab hold of society.
The idea was that Sam had made the noble choice to forgo the witch's cavalier lifestyle and live like your average middle class American. Of course that appealed to all the married couples watching the show.
I know this is beyond the scope of the show and wouldn't pass the censors at the time. But I would suspect the witches had open relationships where monogamy and sexual exclusivity were not required. Perhaps Endora and Maurice were still married, but they didn't mind if their spouse had other sex partners.
Yes true, it was the time of "married with children" banging into a freewheeling hippie counterculture.
I've always felt that Endora, et al, just had a problem with Sam embracing a mortal lifestyle and marrying a mortal.
I never really thought of Sam as being "noble" since that seems to imply she was making a big sacrifice for Darrin and she wasn't happy with her choice. But she was happy. She fell in love. She found something more satisfying than flying around the world and partying all the time.
In the real world I have noticed that the happiest people are usually the ones who have found a higher purpose in life than just having fun. There's a satisfaction in doing something besides indulging your every whim. It certainly does NOT always have to be marriage and children. You don't need to be married to live a mature lifestyle. Many people work hard, try to be good citizens, volunteer,etc.
There's an old Bonanza episode, "Thanks for Everything Friend" when Adam is rescued from drowning in a river by a guy named Tom. Tom was a nice guy. But he was a drifter, gambler and just liked to have a good time.
Adam liked him. But he finally told him that after a while, you have to do something with your life. He said, "You have to be of use to someone besides yourself".
As far as the monogamy issue you mention, I still just think that the witches problem was Sam's monogamy with a mortal!
One could assume that but I'm surprised that would get by the network censors during the 1960's. I would think that would be a bigger sin than a single bed or a belly bulge (pregnant) or divorce.
shareperspective is everything though.
If you 'have' to participate in any lifestyle (whatever realm it is) how much freedom do you really have?
Samantha was the one with freedom because she chose what she wanted to do--vs what anyone expected, whether it was witch or mortal.
re monogamy or not--i assume they got around it by keeping people fully clothed and not showing them in any direct situations
It was of course implied especially with certain characters. But because they were not showing anything openly/directly, the network could not be blamed if viewers proactively used their own imaginations.