(first posted 9/22/2011) One of the best classic television shows for the car nut is the ABC supernatural sitcom Bewitched. Beyond the magical spells and campy acting was some of the best integrated marketing of any television show. As a show that functioned on a few levels as a civil rights allegory, what car could be more attuned to fitting into suburban Americana than the all new for 1964 Chevelle Malibu?
The Chevelle line was a runaway success for Chevrolet, even if it was a belated response to the 1962 Ford Fairlane. Reminding many critics and customers alike of the revolutionary 1955 Chevrolet standard line, the Chevelle naturally over time assumed its place as a classic Chevrolet.
In its first season, Bewitched ranked #2 in the Nielsen ratings. Along with making scene shots easier, convertibles play a part in the fantasy of glamorous suburban life that sitcoms wanted to portray. What’s more carefree than briskly whisking yourself through the daily drudgery of suburban life in a spanking new convertible, top down? Also, what better way to lure television viewers into looking at the showroom goods by showing off the most glamorous model in the most prominent non acting role on a runaway hit television show.
Although not the only Chevrolet, or General Motors product shown on Bewitched, the Chevelle Malibu got a prominent placing over other Chevrolet Products, such as the Impala (Chevrolet’s bread and butter at the time), Chevy II and Corvette. Although the Stephens family would adopt a Corvair for the 1966 portion of season 2, the choice of featuring the Malibu is auspicious. The all new for 1964 A-bodies were marketed to the type of American represented by Darren Stephens (30 something, upwardly mobile, college educated). It all ties together that a fictional Ad Man would drive the type of dream he was trying to sell, right?
It would explain the random adoption of the Corvair post Unsafe at Any Speed. Chevrolet wanted to prove there was nothing wrong with the Corvair. An Advertising executive would probably take home a Corvair to think of ways to spin the virtues of it out of the tailspin it was facing by 1966.
And like any failed marketing campaign, it was quickly withdrawn and replaced with the newest sensation. For season 3 The all new (and also belated response) Camaro was the latest blue Chevy convertible to take center stage at 1164 Morning Glory Circle. It also marked the last significantly new Chevrolet to take that slot. As Bewitched faded in the ratings, Chevrolet diversified and started falling flat. The concept of Chevrolet being the suburban bourgeois car of choice became as dated as the fantasy tale of a supernatural suburban housewife.
By the end of the series, Bewitched was #72 in the ratings, about as popular as the massive B-Body convertibles were in the early 1970s. The personal politics of All In The Family, and the personal feel of a Monte Carlo (or better yet, a Cutlass Supreme) were more in sync with popular tastes. And would the real Darren Stevens (that young up-and-coming ad exec of 1964) really still be driving Chevys in 1972? If so, it would probably have been a Corvette instead of this Impala.
Notably, from this point forward, automotive marketing didn’t place cars directly into shows they were sponsoring. In the “Me” decade, such direct, obvious marketing ploys turned off viewers. The grand experiment of product placement wouldn’t be as blatant for another 30 years. And not as unified in scope as the Chevrolets featured on Bewitched.
I seem to recall that the Brady Bunch prominently featured Ford products, particularly a “Bunkie Beak” Country Squire…
I remember Carol driving station wagons, but I thought they were Plymouths or Dodges. I also thought Mike drove some sort of Mopar convertible. But I was around 6 when the show first came on TV, so the memories may be somewhat imprecise…
The Bradys were a Mopar family until the final season, when Mike Brady drove a 1974 Chevrolet Caprice convertible.
I remember one episode where Bobby poked an umbrella through the convertible roof of either a Barracuda or Challenger – car that was rare even when it was new!
Actually Mike had three Chevy convertibles, a blue 1972 Impala, then a red 1973 Caprice and a red 1974 Caprice.
The Beverly Hillbillies did a pretty good job of placing Chrysler Corp vehicles. Mr Drysdale always had an Imperial and Miss Jane was usually driving a full size Dodge convertible, Jethro usually drove the old truck, don’t remember if that was also a Dodge.
The Clampett’s truck was a 1921 Olds jalopy truck according to ‘Cars of the Stars’ by George Barris and Jack Scagnetti. There was an episode where they built a hot rod version of said truck which had ‘Olds 442’ in script on the side of the hood. Hot rod version was built from a 1925 Olds.
found it
Both Mike and Carol drove Plymouths up until Chrysler quit making convertibles. Then Mike drove a Chevy. I’m not sure if Carol still had Plymouths or not.
He drove a Plymouth Fury and Barracuda convertible until Chrysler discontinued rag tops in 1971, In 1972 until 1974. He drove a full sizes Chevrolet Impala and Caprice Classic convertibles.
The Brady Bunch was produced by Paramount Television, which featured Mopar cars, primarily though Mike Brady did drive some Chevy ragtops.
The Quinn Martin cop shows (like The FBI, Cannon) were a Ford Motor house.
On The Streets of San Francisco and The FBI. Quinn Martin used Fords and the bad guys and the wealthy drove Lincolns or Thunderbirds.
I beg your pardon, Greg took his driver’s test in a Dodge
What a cool way to cover the mid-’60s Chevy line. Like most shows back then, nearly all vehicles on the screen were one make, in this case Chevys.
The IMCDb brings us this ’66 C-series truck, from the Bewitched third season, episode eight: “Diaper Dan, the Stephens’ diaper service man, is also secretly under the employ of the A.J. Kimberly Advertising Agency, and plants a listening device in Tabitha’s rattle so he can steal McMann and Tate’s ideas, and its clients. Endora and Samantha finally discover the spy, and use their magic to teach him a lesson.” The things you can quick-click on the internet…..
I always wondered why it kind of stopped short of the true mid market brands (Buick, Olds Chrysler). Like, The Beverly Hillbillies and My Favorite Martian seemed to be particularly Dodge heavy, I Dream of Jeannie a Pontiac paradise.
Let’s not forget the Chevrolet commercial tagged onto My Three Sons either.
For several seasons of The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Drysdale drove a Chrysler Imperial.
The truck in the Beverly Hillbillies was, if I remember correctly, an Oldsmobile?
A huge fan of Maj. Nelson’s convertible Goat. One question: Why is Diaper Dan’s truck pink???? Seems to me that this paint scheme automatically alienates 50% of his constituency.
Diaper Dan’s constituency were mothers, who, it was thought, would prefer pink to other colors. Most fathers did not change diapers in the 1960s.
My Three Sons, the Douglas family was usually seen in Pontiacs, full size Safaris.
Mannix had great cars.
For its first three seasons (1960 through 1963), “My Three Sons” was sponsored by Chevrolet. Steve Douglas’ drove a brand new Chevrolet station wagon each year. Eldest son Mike drove a hot-rodded 1939 Chevrolet convertible.
Pontiac took over sponsorship of “My Three Sons” beginning with the 1963-64 season.
For the first four seasons. It was “Chevrolet”.
Just noticed this comment. Fun fact: The Kimberly Advertising Agency was the firm Clark Gable worked for in the 1947 film adaptation of Frederic Wakeman’s “The Hucksters”. Someone in the writing room was having a bit of fun that day.
The Stephens home was ostensibly at 1138 Morning Glory Circle in Westport, CT. The real house still exists on the Warner Brothers “Ranch” lot in the Valley.
1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, CT
The first convertible looks hip-and-trendy for 1964; the last one looks like (as they all were) “this is what we really need for the in-car shots”, and sort of incongruous. A young ad man and his wife might have a sporty convertible early in their marriage, but four in a row? By 1972, Mom’s gonna want a wagon.
As a side note, I didn’t realize “Bewitched” ran quite that long.
Also by 1972, I would think most well to do families in a Rail Suburb (The original title of Bewitched was to be “The Witches of Westport”) would have been 2 car families, right?
I could see Darrin still having a convertible still, but more realistically he would have had a Monte Carlo. While Samantha would have had either a Malibu or a Kingswood. But by the eighth season I don’t think anyone cared.
As a 10-year-old kid in 1972, I knew that Bewitched was very old hat by then. The hot comedies at that time were All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
While the opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show featured Mary driving her 1970 Mustang hardtop to Minneapolis, neither her show nor All in the Family featured any exterior scenes during the actual show itself. On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, virtually everything took place either at work or in Mary’s apartment, while All in the Family largely took place in the Bunkers’ house.
I do recall, however, one episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show when Mary accompanied her friend Rhoda to get tires for Rhoda’s Falcon (which sort of served as a punch line in the early 70s.
I remember that episode, too, come to think of it. Remember the episode where Rhoda “borrowed” Mary’s 1970 Mustang, and ended up buying her a new one (either a 1972 or 1973 model)?
In later seasons, there was a shot of Mary washing that new Mustang in the opening credits.
The switch away from suburban family comedies to urban “filmed before a live audience” comedies in the early 70s killed the parade of provided cars in sitcoms. Dramas continued for awhile, especially the Quinn Martin ones as you noted.
I wonder if any of the people who managed those promotional placements are still around, both on the car co. side and at the studios. Would be interesting to hear from them. They did some interesting things, like giving Mike Connors a ’72 Cuda convertible that never existed.
My favorite was always Hazel, which managed to squeeze in the entire Ford lineup over the course of the season, from Falcons to Continentals to Econolines.
It was a nice touch to put the Stephens family in Westport – it was a favorite haunt of ad men in the Mad Men era, some of who I got to work with when I started in advertising in the late 80s. While the phrase “Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it” was fairly well known from those days, there was also a variation that went “Put it on the train and see if it gets off in Westport.”
On the Malibu convertible in the fourth photo, check out the crooked left taillight and mis-aligned chrome trim on the upper right of the trunk lid. Today people would probably refuse delivery of the car just for those two flaws alone. How times have changed!
Damn that’s a good eye.
Yeah…good eye! That was pretty much par for the course then. It took Lexus (or was it Honda?) rolling marbles down panel gaps to get Detroit’s ass in gear about flaws like this.
I think on Leave it to Beaver most if not all cars were Plymouth
Most were Plymouth’s, but in 1957 Ward drove a Ford. Recall a funny episode where the Beaver broke the passenger window in the Ford and didn’t tell Ward. Ward, thinking he broke the window, had it replaced without telling Beaver. A few days later they were riding in the Ford, with the passenger window down. Ward told him to roll it up and Beaver was terrified, as he would now be caught. To his utter astonishment the window was unbroken. Funny stuff to this then 7 yr. old.
Early leave it to Beavers were Fords ,but most later episodes were Mopar sponsored I believe.
Actually the whole bootlid is misaligned, maybe a “friday” car
Friday car, nothing. That IS how they were made back then. My boss and I discuss regularly about how most “restored” Mustangs are far better put together than the originals.
And hey (Andy) lets not forget that Andy Griffith had new a new Ford police car every year with credits listing things like “Automobiles furnished by the Ford Motor Company”. This was pretty much standard for the sixties.
I don’t know if they’d refuse delivery. Today, most likely, someone would buy it then send pics and a sob story to a blog or forum about how they didn’t notice it because the sun was in their eyes and now they want GM to give them a new DTS for all their troubles..
My favorite is to see a “Bewitched” driving scene and (you know one where the scenery is scrolling by) and have a palm tree pop up in “Connecticut.” That always made me laugh watching it in syndication in college.
Or the fact that there’s the San Gabriel Mountains in the background a lot, such as in picture 2. Or in some freeway scenes it’s obvious they’re using the Hollywood Freeway. Actually that happens in the episode where the first two shots come from, with special guest star June Lockhart!
What, the San Gabriels aren’t replicated all over the country? (When I first moved to the SG Valley, I was surprised by how much the landscape looked like “M*A*S*H”.)
Yeah, kind of like in the original True Grit where “Arkansas” looks strangely like, say, Colorado, in the fall, aspen trees in full golden splendor?
Watching the original TG (for the first time, mind you) and i’m wondering the very same thing about the colorado countryside !
Well, the movie version of “Oklahoma!” was filmed in southern Arizona, not in Oklahoma. There are mountains and hills all over the place, along with mesquite trees and ominous summer monsoon thunderstorm clouds in several scenes.
“Scranton” in “The Office” is actually Panorama City, in the San Fernando Valley–I always try to find a palm in the exterior shots, but they’ve been really careful about continuity thus far.
The most artistically important appearance of a 1964 Malibu in popular culture was in the 1984 cult classic “Repo Man”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/
About 1971 I bought a 1965 Malibu sedan with a small bock V8 and powerglide. I liked the car, but the tranny went tango uniform after a couple of years. $100 from the junkman.
“Bewitched” was one of the few shows in which Chevrolet played any role, or as I recall did a lot of advertising. Bewitched and Bonanza were pretty much it until ’69 or so. Also wasn’t a lot of the Chevy advertising kinda bland in comparison to Ford’s catchy jingles or MoPar’s adaption of recurrent Top 40 hits like “Do You Know The Way To San Jose”, “Sunday Will Never Be The Same” or “The Beat Goes On”…
’68 Mustang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRx2xzz7cJc
’68 Plymouth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCUWU3sbfrU
’69 Dodge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9KZzrbJkcI&feature=related
I remember a lot of shows using Chrysler products or Fords…and as mentioned above, “I Dream Of Jeannie” was Pontiac heaven. The Brady Bunch used both MoPars and Fords…check the credits.
Aaron Severson’s excellent history of the ’67 Impala references Chevy’s “lackluster marketing and advertising” in those days. They could probably excuse it back then as 1 out of every 4 cars sold had a Bowtie and some were starting to worry about GM’s 50+% market share becoming an anti-trust issue.
http://ateupwithmotor.com/family-cars/147-chevrolet-impala-1965-1969.html
Of course one of my favorite Chevrolet sponsored shows is Route 66.
Beyond Buzz and Todds Corvette , all the supporting cast of vehicles are Chevrolet’s.
The occasional Cadillac is thrown in when a wealthy person is part of the plot.
How “parallel” that you mention this. Just yesterday, I randomly taped the episode shown, with June Lockhart in the backseat of the 64 Malibu. It was a B & W episode, unlike that photo.
Did you happen to run across that episode on TV yesterday?
The color photos are screen shots from the DVD re-release of the series. Apparently Bewitched was shot in color, but then aired in Black & White for 1964-66.
If you go to Crackle.com you can watch the first 2 seasons in color. On Hulu you’ll find the black and white episodes.
Actually, it was shot in black-and-white for the first couple of seasons, and the episodes were later colorized.
If I recall correctly, starting with the 1966-67 season, all shows were to be broadcast in color. I guess I’m dating myself, but I can still remember that it was a big deal for my grandmother to buy a brand-new color television in 1969.
The blue and green cars have the same plates
This show was freakin’ HILARIOUS with it’s sharp dialogue and subtle yet simultaneous over the top camp.
“Terrible idea Darren. I love it! Great idea Darren.”
You would sometimes catch a glimpse of the Stephen’s house in outdoor shots of the Partridge Family, where Mr. Kinkaid drove a ’71 Malibu. It also turns up on commercials from time to time.
I seem to remember new Darren driving a ’69 Impala Super Sport and Larry Tate drove a ‘Vette.
I’m old.
Join the club!
Either the Stephens’ house or the Cleavers’ house was used on Desperate Housewives.
IMDB says the house appeared in lots of shows, movies and commercials, and is still on the Warner Bros. Ranch lot in Burbank. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057733/trivia
Now back to Chevys :-).
Here’s a picture of Larry Tate (Darrin Stephen’s boss) in his yellow Corvette.
Larry seemed more of a Caprice man to me, or maybe a Cadillac.
I couldn’t agree more. Today seeing a gray haired older guy driving a Corvette is no big deal. But back then most older guys wouldn’t be caught dead in a ‘Vette. More like a Caprice, Bonneville, Electra 225 or a 98 as well as Cadillac. My uncle, who would have been about the age of Larry Tate, always berated Corvettes and never understood why anyone would buy such a “cramped, hard riding thing”. He drove a Buick Electra 2 door.
I spotted a good vintage commercial featuring the cast of Bonanza, Bewitched and the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (I think the guys from U.N.C.L.E used GM models during season 1 while they switched to Chrysler products in season 2).
Stéphane! Glad to see you’re still around! I’ve missed your commentary on TTAC for a while now. It’s good to get the French Canadian perspective on automobilia.
Thanks 🙂
I recently viewed the first season of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” on Netflix, and, in several episodes,Napoleon Solo was shown driving a white Lincoln ragtop.
Heck, even their fantasy cars were Chevy powered. Their “Super Car” was a custom Citroen DS with a turbo Corvair engine powering the front wheels. The “Super Car” was also known as the Jupiter 8 and the Kitty Car, real name The Reactor.
I was watching a show the other night and they were talking about a feature on a Prius. Not subtle at all. Followed by a Prius commercial.
Great article! As mentioned above, Chevrolet was not the only GM make featured on Bewitched, at least in later seasons. One of my favorite episodes was where they traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, for a vacation — their (rented?) car is a 1970 Pontiac convertible, either a Catalina or a Bonneville. In quite a memorable scene, Endora lands and rides around on top of the boot while they’re driving it! I love the 1970 Pontiac nose so I always remembered that episode from childhood.
It was a 1970 Bonneville. Chevrolet stopped sponsoring “Bewitched” after the 1968-69 season because they felt they were reaching the same audiences with every episode. (They dropped “Bonanza” for the same reason that year, too.)
I found the clip with the ’70 Pontiac —
http://youtu.be/Hs-jSxal7_4
From 7:15 to about 10:00.
I think it’s a Bonneville.
One of my favorite shows growing up, and Chevy played a part since was my favorite cars. First seasons had Chevy as sole sponsor, with cartoon of Sam/Darrin riding the Chevy Bow-Tie in end credits.
Anyway, there were some color episodes that had Samantha driving a ’66 Caprice wagon, but are rare. I always assumed they had a wagon in the garage after that, and was not shown.
Camaros were used after their Corvair, 1967-69. Then after Dick York left the show, Darrin had Impala convertibles, from 1969-72. The pic of the ’72 is very rare since it was only in one episode. Larry had a yellow Corvette, in last few seasons, also.
This is just from my memory of Darrin’s ragtops: 64 Chevelle, 65 Corvair, 67 Camaro, 68 Camaro, 69 Impala, 70 Impala, 72 Impala.
The 1970 Bonneville droptop used in Salem Mass. shows was their rental car. The only other GM car seen was a ’64 [?] Cadillac limo that the mayor of Westport CT rode.
The 1969 Dark Blue, Impala I think was a Caprice. It had the hide away lights. It was the car he took Sam to the hosp. in. It was loaded out, the Rally wheels and with the door opened, it had power windows. Love the 70 Bonneville they used in on location. It was a great show, love Lizzy.
Just found your insightful comments while doing odd search for these 60s convertibles I cherish & miss so much. Read comment thread to end waiting for someone to note Chevy’s successful product placement comeback in Hawaii Five 0.Still works! When I got a new car last year, couldn’t take my eyes off that show room Camaro, even though my lifestyle requires an Equinox. Left sad about that. And don’t even get me started on desires Steve’s girl friend’s royal blue Vet induced!
The epitiome of classic TV. I always will picture her in that great harem outfit saying “Yes Master” Wait a minute…….wrong show!
You only showed cars the Stevens’ drove, but all the other cars seen on Bewitch were not showed or even mentioned. Several times a few of Samanthas aunts show up inside the Stevens’ in a car driven by a driver named Rasputin, or it was a car that drove itself and it was called MacBeth. These cars were all obviously before 1920. I want to know makes and models these cars were you never mentioned these cars at all.
I am still waiting to find out about older antique cars that were used on Bewitched and I still see no one answering my question. There was at least one antique car seen in several episodes of series (it was antique, even for Betwitched. I believe it was shown in 2 different models, one was an open version (open on the sides, but still with doors and a top. The other model was completely enclosed, and it was seen in the episode, entitled ‘The trial and error of Aunt Clara’. They called the car Macbeth, in this and other episodes it had no driver, but in the first episode of when this car was seen and driven by a person named Rasputin. Can’t anybody tell me what make and model was this particular car? I have been looking off and on for quite awhile and on the internet to find this information and have so far have struck out. Somebody out there somewhere has to know what kind of car this was. Is there anyone who can help me with this information and I sure would like to see a picture of it? By it’s looks, I would guess that it belongs to the 1910s and the 1920s.
There also appears to be a 1906 Holsman Runabout used at least once, as well as a 1920’s Rolls Royce. Quite a lot of antiques popping up inside the house!
http://www.imcdb.org/movie_57733-Bewitched.html
The enclosed car (Macbeth) on “The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara” was a 1916 Baker electric car, according to imcdb.org. The open cars used in three episodes were all Excalibur series I: First used in Season 5, episode 21, again in Season 5, episode 27, and finally in Season 7, episode 5, according to imcdb.org. By the way, Excaliburs used a Chevrolet frame and drivetrain, I believe those frames and drivetrains were from the Corvette. Excalibur automobiles were a modern reproduction of a 1927 Mercedes SS using modern compenents, and were made from 1964 on, I believe they are still in production today.
Didn’t Larry Tate drive a Vette Stingray for a while?
Larry Tate did drive a Corvette (usually yellow) from 1969 to the end of the series (1971?). They were always the latest model, as were all Chevrolets driven by principal characters. In those years from 1969 to 1971, Darrin drove both new new Impalas or Caprices (full size coupe or convertible). One notable exception was in the Salem episodes, both Larry and Darrin drove new (1970) Pontiac Bonneville convertibles.
The epitiome of classic TV. I always will picture her in that great harem outfit saying “Yes Master”. Wait a minute…….wrong show!
It’s amazing that practically everyone on television back then drove a convertible, even though they were by far the rarest bodystyle in America. Here’s a few off the top of my head. My fellow CC’ers undoubtedly have many more:
Darren’s Chevrolets, Maj. Nelson’s GTO, Bob Cummings 1960 Plymouth Fury, Mr. Baxter’s (Hazel’s boss) 1964 Ford, Efrem Zimbalist’s T-Bird (77 Sunset Strip), Tom Lopaka’s 1960 Olds 88 (Hawaiian Eye), Raymond Burr’s Cadillacs, Mr. Drysdale’s Imperial, Jane Hathaway’s Plymouth, Mr. Douglas’ Lincoln Continental (Green Acres), Clark Kent’s Rambler, the Ricardo’s Pontiac Star Chief, Wilbur Post’s Lark (Mr. Ed), Buzz and Todd’s Corvette (Rt. 66).
Actually it Lois Lane who drove a Nash Rambler convertible, Clark Kent drove a much more expensive Nash Healey convertible.
Don’t forget “Mr. Ed” which was initially sponsored by Studebaker. Wilbur’s Studebaker Lark was prominently featured in the show. (Going against the grain, it was not a convertible.)
Probably a big reason why convertibles were used in so many shows is that it allowed as much “exposure” of the principal characters as possible.
BTW, while The Beverly Hillbillies used Chrysler products almost exclusively, just this morning I saw a “clip episode” where Mr. Drysdale’s limo was a Cadillac.
I also thought I was the only person to pick up on the “civil rights”/equal rights aspect of Bewitched.
Probably the only show that used cars in many episodes WITHOUT appearing to favor any particular brand and consequently “mirrored” reality was Adam-12.
I catch odd episodes of CHIPS every now and then and just cry when I see cars we now consider to be classics tossed around/trashed like the auto equivalent of Kleenix.
I like the 64 / ’65 Malibus ~ as mentioned they mimicked the ’55 Chevy being balanced design ~ no matter what angle you looked at one from , it looked nice and well proportioned .
I stupidly fell asleep driving in my cherry ’65 Malibu and wrecked the living crap out of it and was lucky to survive .
-Nate
My favourite years for the Chevelle and Malibu are 1964 through 66, and 1970 and 71.
You guys beat me to it , yes Mr. Ed. was Studebaker sponsored. Neighbor drove an Avanti and sometimes a Champ pickup shows up. In continuing with the last two days of Opel, how about Max’s GT in Get Smart. Anybody remember Gerry Anderson’s UFO? What did Ed Straker drive? Adam-12 for the AMC fans. A show I liked as a kid was Movin’ On with a Kenworth for the stars, but I much prefer the crackerbox GMC that is in several episodes. Carspotting in old shows is fun.
Straker drove this ‘disguised’ Ford MkIV Zephyr built by Alan Mann Racing.
http://www.gerryanderson.co.uk/finding-strakers-car/
One of the neatest things about UFO and Straker’s car is that the show depicted a future in which England had finally stopped driving on the wrong side of the road! (Note driver position in the photo.)
There was lots of American iron on this show, I guess to portray the future on a budget. I recall a ’66 Toronado, ’67 Camaro,’67 Firebird & a ’68 Javelin (interior only, spotted by my sharp eye :). Also a ’65 Mustang &and a 64 Galaxie were both driven by Straker in different episodes in flashbacks to the past. From a present perspective, Strakers ride has a vaguely mid-70s Firebird meets Monza vibe going on, at least from the front.
Max’s car in the opening of “Get Smart” changed several times over the series though. It was indeed an Opel GT at one point, for another season or two, it was a Sunbeam Tiger convertible, and I think it may have been a Karmann Ghia ragtop at one point as well.
“All In The Family” wouldn’t have had a Cutlass, though (if they had any outdoor scenes at all). I can see Archie driving Mopars, specifically a 1965-8 base Fury former taxi with three-on-the-tree and power nothing. At some point in his time at 702 Houser St. George Jefferson would acquire his first Cadillac, and after the Stivics move next door they’d buy something small and foreign, maybe a secondhand Datsun 510 or even a not-too-ancient VW bug.
If they had ever done any outside shots at all, that is.
”GEE OUR OLD LASALLE RAN GREAT”,ALL IN THE FAMILY,, THE OPENING SONG LYRICS.
Those were the days
Didn’t need no welfare state.
Everybody pulled his weight
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.
Those were the days
I had no idea these were available:
Mission Impossible used Mopars for the most part, but every so often would have a GM product, usually a Chevy of some kind. Dictators and rich creeps almost always had a Benz limo. Once in a while, they would have some oddball car that got the following reaction from my dad, “What’s that ugly thing?”. Most of the time, I would know, either because a neighbor had one, if it was small, foreign, and unreliable, they usually had one, for a year, or because it was in a book I had called (Something like) “Odd cars of the world”.
Jim Phelps had a ’67 Mercury Park Lane convertible in the first & second season, Roland had a ’68 Charger.
In the 1963 movie “Johnny Cool,” which starred Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery, Ms. Montgomery drove two different Ford convertibles: a 1957 which her character, Dare Guiness, bought from a used car salesman played by Joey Bishop and a 1962 Sunliner.
Elizabeth Montgomery was, IMO, one of the most beautiful (and sexy) women ever to appear in motion pictures and television. By all accounts I know of she was also funny, very intelligent, kind, and classy. Darren Stephens was one lucky guy.
Agree on your assessment of Elizabeth Taylor.
How about Broderick Crawford and the 1955 Buick Century in “Highway Patrol”? I seem to remember reading that car was actually a 3-speed manual.
The Buick was reportedly on loan from the CHP, and was an actual cop car. The others that followed were only props. The first couple of seasons are on Hulu, and You Tube has a few too. I always liked the Buick episodes the best.
I wander how many folks bought cars based on what their favorite TV show used.
I don’t think any gear head ever did. But I might be wrong. I know I never did.
Back in the mid-70s during the CB craze, there was a big bald guy in our neighborhood who had a dark copper ’75-ish Buick Century with dog dish hubcaps. Guess what his CB handle was?
“Kojak'” maybe? Who loves ya, baby?
Even in the black and white episodes of Bewitched , Darin and Samantha had a Corvair.
there was an early episode where Darin and Samantha were in the rain when the car ran out of gas and it was a 1965 Corvair 4 door hardtop. I think the car may have a even been painted evening orchid.
I still maintain that the first gen Chevelle was one of the dullest cars ever foisted off on an unsuspecting American buying public.
The face that this car was the darling for many a car insurance company’s advertisement in the mid 1960’s speaks volumes about it’s dullness.
Yes ~ that’s *exactly* why it was such a hit ! simple and plain , very balanced design , pleasing to look at from any angle and they rode nice and were good performers even when fitted with Power Glide and 230 C.I.D. i6 engine .
Not everyone wants a sharp red convertible .
-Nate
Opinions, like your gas mileage, may vary.
Yes of course ~ that’s why both the ’55 Chevy Sedan and the ’64 Malibu were HUGE sellers .
-Nate
“Notably, from this point forward, automotive marketing didn’t place cars directly into shows they were sponsoring. In the “Me” decade, such direct, obvious marketing ploys turned off viewers..”
Well, Aaron Spelling’s 1970’s shows were Ford commercials, with Charlie’s Angel’s each getting a new compact. Two Mustang II’s and an orange Pinto, in 1976-77.
Mary Tyler Moore show had her Mustangs, and a few other ‘me decade’ shows had prominent cars.
Prominent cars? how about the Ford Torino in Starsky & Hutch and the Dodge Charger in Dukes of Hazard (but the sheriff and his deputies drove Matadors IIRC).
What about the James Bond movie Live and Let Die with Roger Moore – every car in that show was a 1973 Chevy Bel Air or Impala except of course for the red “Pimpmobile” (a highly “customized” El Dorado, what else?).
Maybe the Hazzard County sheriffs used Matadors at one point, but the main sherrif’s cars I remember from Dukes of Hazzard are intermediate Furies and Coronet/Monacos.
I noticed one earlier episode Sam and Tabitha drive past a new red camaro with rally stripes. Sam’s blue convertible camaro also had rally stripes. Darren pulls up behind her in a station wagon. From that episode on the camaro lost its stripe and all the front and back emblems.
Did Chrysler tend to product place, both in films and TV, like crazy when sales were tanking badly? Or did I just imagine that?
I wonder what ever happened to the witches coven car “MacBeth” from the Bewitched series
I’m so glad you posted this. Does anyone know what the car IS? I’m not savvy enough about this time period to tell.
It’s a 1916 Baker Electric, the last year they made them before merging with other car companies. Jay Leno has one. Look on YouTube for a cool video! This particular car showed up on Dennis the Menace and a few movies. No idea where it is today.
I remember one scene where Samantha walked out of a PTA or some other meeting of women and the lot looked like what I imagine Reggie Jacksons house looks like, camaros, chevelles, novas, (most if not all were SS badged) and a vette if memory serves.
Perhaps the rear-engined Corvair rubbed off on Tabitha Stevens. In the VERY short-lived spin off series “Tabitha” (1977), she drove a VW Beetle Cabriolet. Picture is from the pilot and shows the VW with Lisa Hartman (now Lisa Hartman-Black) as Tabitha.
In the “Me” decade, such direct, obvious marketing ploys turned off viewers. The grand experiment of product placement wouldn’t be as blatant for another 30 years
This is perfect timing, as I had this exact conversation with a friend about this last week, and how COVID has or has not changed this perception. Specifically the example of Dua Lipa’s music video “Levitating” being paid for by TicTok. I’m of an age where neither gets marketed to me, but I am familiar with Dua. The video uses the TicTok logo as the arrow in an Art Deco style elevator, and they obviously get the first rolling credits. We both have other friends who outright have said it’s tacky, etc. but we both agreed the likelihood of even having the video isn’t likely if they didn’t trade for marketing. It’s an interesting question of perception and the subliminal.
It’s interesting to compare Darren Stevens’ somewhat pedestrian Chevys with what another famous up-and-coming sixties TV ad executive, Don Draper, chose for his cars.
Draper? – didn’t he roll a scummy dodge upstate NY while pissed? I noted he had a 59/60 Olds sedan at the start – but literally had to be dragged to a Cadillac showroom mid series.
I think it was a 1960 Buick LeSabre. Then, for some weird reason, went with the ’61 Polara.
After the Caddy, he got a ’64 Imperial convertible.
There was an Olds and a Buick, one a hardtop and the other a convertible. There’s a fan theory that he wrecked *those* driving drunk and went to the Dodge post sedan for its’ ruggedness just in case.
How about that present-day up-and-coming ad exec, Dre in Black-ish? They seem to ping-pong between product-placement Buicks and not-product-placed Mercedes. Since his agency has the Buick account in-series, the consistent way to handle it would be for Dre’s company car to always be the latest-model Buick that’s the center of the advertising push while Rainbow drives a Benz that’s only replaced at 3-year intervals consistent with a standard consumer auto lease.
But no, every time either one of them is shown in a car it’s a different one and the only consistency is that it ‘s one of those two makes.
I’ll just leave this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ap430l55Gw
(Mr. and Mrs. Kravitz sell Chevs)
The rear trim misalignment in that 3rd or 4th picture seems typical.
I can seen Darren driving the Corvair as a hip car. But rather than a Malibu, “sporty and up and coming”;would have been better served with a LeMans or Cutlass IMO…
In season two episode 16 of bewitched the magic Kevin Darren appears to be putting their luggage under the front hood of the vehicle as they pack up why is it or how is it that possible if it isn’t a Chevy Impala that he was driving
That’s a Chevrolet Corvair—with the engine in the rear.
In season two episode 16 the magic cabin why is Darren Stevens putting luggage into the front of the car under the hood? I thought the beetle was the only car made with the trunk in the front. So at minute marker 17:45 what make and model is that? It is almost the same picture that is in this post above but the author did not attribute each of the pictures to a make and model specifically so I cannot tell which picture he might be talking about which to me was a bummer.
The episode where Sam helps the kid with his soap box derby car has a Chevy wagon with the 396 flags on the front fender. I believe it was a 67 Caprice with woodgrain on the sides.