Bewitched: "The Leprechaun"

Premiered March 17, 1966

Darrin Stephens (Dick York) is dismayed to learn that yet another of Samatha's (Elizabeth Montgomery) relatives has come to visit.  The visitor is a bona fide leprechaun named Brian O'Brian (Henry James).  

Brian turns out NOT to be one of Samatha's kinfolk, but is from Darrin's side of the family.  The leprechaun is seeking his last remaining pot of gold, which he'd hidden away in a fireplace in Ireland.

Unfortunately for Brian, that fireplace was transported from the Auld Sod to the US by a wealthy businessman named James Dennis Robinson (Parley Baer) where it holds pride of place in Robinson's mansion! 

Since Brian isn't in possession of the pot of gold, he cannot use his leprechaun magic.  Moreover, Samantha cannot use her witchcraft to obtain the pot of gold as its leprechaun bewitchment prevents this.  So Brian will have to find a way to retrieve the pot himself.  

Matters are complicated by Darrin's skepticism of the whole issue and the fact that Darrin's advertising firm would very much like to obtain Robinson's business.   Darrin goes to Robinson's home to verify Brian's claims and attempt to drum up some ad firm revenue, but is not very successful. 

The leprechaun decides to take matters into his own hands and runs into serious trouble in the form of guard dogs. Robinson himself calls the police and has Brian sent to jail.  Brian uses his one phone call to ask Samantha for help.   She obliges and springs him using witchcraft. Darrin is angry that she interfered and forbids her from helping further. 

Ignoring Darrin, Samantha witches herself and Brian back to Robinson's mansion to search for the pot of gold.  However, it seems that someone else has already discovered its hiding place! 

Will Darrin win another advertising deal for his firm?  Will Brian O'Brian regain his pot of gold or will he be reduced to a mere mortal?   Will Samantha think of a clever way to save the day?  

RigbyMel says: 

This is a slight and silly episode of Bewitched.  It's amusing to see how the sitcom's writers work some leprechaun mythos into the suburban setting -- but also a bit annoying to see how heavily they lean into the "drunken Irishman" stereotype.   

Brian seems particularly dopey for a leprechaun -- they have a reputation for being reasonably clever if not tricky, after all.  Maybe the loss of his pot of gold is dulling his faculties?   That being said,  Henry James is fun to watch as Brian the leprechaun and definitely knows how to work the blarney! 

I liked that they played with the sitcom's formula a bit in this episode as it's one of Darrin's nutty relations (not Samantha's) causing the difficulty.   However, Darrin is a bit less likeable than usual in this episode as well.   He's rather mean and unsympathetic to Brian and to Samantha throughout -- and they come through for him in the end anyway! 

Interestingly, Parley Baer who plays the episode's antagonist Mr. Robinson, appeared on nine episodes of Bewitched between 1966 and 1972.  He played different characters each time! 

"The Leprechaun" is an enjoyable episode of Bewitched with lots of St. Patrick's Day flair but it's not really a classic.

RigbyMel's rating: 

2.5 shamrocks 

J.A. Morris says: 
We should mention that even though St. Patrick's Day is never mentioned in "The Leprechaun," this episode premiered on St. Paddy's of 1966.  So I believe it qualifies as a "holiday" episode.

This is an OK episode of Bewitched.  I agree with most of what my co-blogger says.  If I have any problem with "The Leprechaun," it's that I felt it gets off to a slow start.  It's a "low energy" episode until Brian tries to get his gold back from Robinson.  

There isn't a lot of St. Patrick's Day programming out there, that makes "The Leprechaun" worth watching at least once, but that's about it.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 shamrocks.

Looney Tunes: "The Wearing of the Grin"

Premiered July 28, 1951

It is a dark and stormy night and 12 miles to Dublin.   

Porky Pig (Mel Blanc) spies a "quaint old" castle in the distance and decides to see they can give him a place to stay for the night. 

On the way to the castle, he sees a sign that says "Beware the Leprechauns" and scoffs at the idea. 

Upon arrival, Porky is greeted by a "picturesque caretaker of the auld sod" who introduces himself as Seamus O'Toole  (an uncredited John T. Smith).  O'Toole informs him that nobody lives in the castle - apart from himself and the leprechauns. 

Porky scoffs at this again and demands to be taken to a room, slamming the front door.  This causes a mace above the door to fall, knocking Porky out cold. 

The caretaker is revealed to be a couple of leprechauns (calling themselves O'Pat and O'Mike) who, in true fairy fashion, decide to mess with Porky's head after concluding that he has come to steal their pot of gold. 

When Porky comes to, he is escorted to a room by HALF of the caretaker and doesn't notice at first. When he does notice, Porky is terrified and hides in the bed, which turns out to be a trap door! 

Porky drops down a shaft, landing in a leprechaun courtroom.  There the leprechauns charge and convict him of attempting to steal their pot of gold and sentence him to the "wearing of the green shoes." 

At first Porky admires the nice shoes, but soon comes to realize that they are cursed, as his feet begin a frantic Irish jig that dances him through a nightmarish landscape full of Irish symbols while O'Pat and O'Mike laugh at him. 

Will Porky be able to escape the leprechaun's trickery?  Or is he doomed to the "wearing of the green shoes" for all eternity? 

RigbyMel says: 

This Chuck Jones-directed short is the last solo appearance of Porky Pig in the classic era of Looney Tunes.  Porky was Warner Brothers' breakout star when he debuted, but had since been eclipsed by Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.  

"The Wearing of the Grin" also stands out since there are not all that many St. Patrick's Day themed cartoons out there.   Some might argue that the short doesn't explicitly take place on March 17th, but with all the leprechaun mischief and Irish symbols (like harps and shamrocks), I think it has enough Irish detail to qualify as a "holiday" short.  

The green shoes plot point in this short borrows heavily from Hans Christian Andersen's 1845 fairy tale "The Red Shoes," which concerns a pair of ballet slippers that never let their wearer stop dancing.  His jig through an amazing surrealist Salvador Dali-inspired landscape is quite memorable.  

It's also interesting to note that the title of this short is a reference to "The Wearing of the Green," an old Irish street ballad. 

The animation is a lot of fun to watch and the voice work is - as always - great.  If there's a complaint to be made about this short, it's that the "Irishness" is a bit overly broad and stereotypical, but as this is a cartoon, broad and stereotypical work reasonably well for comedic purposes.  

"The Wearing of the Grin" is a silly and enjoyable short and is worth including in your holiday viewing this March.  

RigbyMel's rating: 

3 shamrocks

The Real Ghostbusters: "The Scaring of the Green"

Premiered November 16, 1987

On St. Patrick's Day Eve,  the Ghostbusters have been called to clean up a pesky ghost at a banquet attended by the mayor.   They get the ghost, but unfortunately, they also manage to zap the mayor's wife by accident (she was fine, her dress got fried though), which lands them in jail.

Deputy Police Chief O'Malley arrives with an offer for the Ghostbusters.   He'll have the charges dropped (and pay for the Mayor's wife's dress) if they help him with a little family problem.   Back in Ireland many years ago, the O'Malley clan stole a leprechaun's pot of gold and was cursed.  The curse says that when there is a full moon on St. Patrick's Day, a Bog Hound will rise and carry off the head of the clan.   Since he's the head of the clan and the conditions are right,  O'Malley wants to avoid a presumably grisly fate.   He says that the only way the Bog Hound an be stopped is with the aid of a four leafed clover.

The Ghostbusters (especially Egon) are skeptical, but agree since this gets them out of jail.   They decide to search the city for a four leafed clover.    Ray (Frank Welker) goes to Central Park where he runs into some trouble with an Irish beat cop. 

Venkman (Lorenzo Music) visits the Botanical Gardens and Winston (Arsenio Hall) visits every florist in NYC (!!).   Venkman manages to find a four-leafed clover and is very excited about it, but Slimer eats it when he gets it back to the firehouse.

Egon (Maurice LaMarche) remains skeptical, thinking that science will solve this problem better than superstition, but goes to the Bronx Zoo anyway.   It turns out that many of the animals have escaped and have fled the Bog Hound, which is prowling the zoo!

Egon and some lions are treed by the Bog Hound!

Egon tries to use his proton pack on the beast, but it fails him and he has to resort to climbing a tree and then fooling the Bog Hound into playing fetch to get away.

Meanwhile, the St. Patrick's Day parade is getting underway and the Bog Hound is still on the loose!  Will the Ghostbusters locate another clover and save the day?  Will science (and ghost traps) or superstition prevail?

RigbyMel says: 

I watched The Real Ghostbusters with some regularity due to having a little brother that was crazy about the show,  but I do not recall ever seeing this episode until deciding to write about it for the blog.

It definitely has lots of St. Patrick's Day thematic elements to play with,  four-leafed clovers,  stereotypical Irish cops, a St. Patrick's Day parade and even a variation on the ghostly black dog myth in the form of the Bog Hound.

Interestingly, the design of the Bog Hound resembles the hellhounds from the original 1984 Ghostbusters film.  

The plot is slight,  but amusing and I've always appreciated the vocal talents in the series, even if they bear little resemblance to the voices of the characters from the original movie.

"The Scaring of the Green" is a light, silly episode of a solid 1980s animated series and might be a nice addition to your St. Patrick's Day viewing.

RigbyMel's rating: 

2 shamrocks