The Hoffman Process was birthed by TV sitcom “Bewitched”

Look no further!

Warning: this is a hit piece about Bob Hoffman and his “other-worldly” Psychic Process. None of my previous posts were “hit pieces” although that was the accusation. So I decided to write a real “hit piece” to demonstrate the meaning of the term and to prove that I can do that too, plus have some fun.

Hypothesis: the Hoffman Process, and Hoffman's late night meeting with the other-worldly Dr. Siegfried Fisher is really just a rerun of an episode of the TV sitcom “Bewitched.” Forget about your kindly psychic, or as he is being currently rebranded “gifted intuitive,” Hoffman was channeling Agnes Moorehead, wishing he could secretly, discreetly do the nasty with Dick York, while playing house with Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha.

A bit of background might be helpful here: the Process was revealed to Hoffman when the ghost of his late therapist, Dr. Fisher, appeared at the foot of his bed in a late night apparition, told him about “Negative Love,” illogical logic and nonsensical sense, and took him through a loving divorce with mommy and daddy. Voila! Fisher-Hoffman Psychic Therapy.

“Bewitched” was a TV sitcom broadcast on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It aired on Thursdays at 9 PM. I’d bet real money that Hoffman never missed an episode, and the dates exactly coincide with the creation of Fisher-Hoffman Psychic Therapy. It has all the earmarks of Hoffman’s spirituality--homey, wacky contact with the supernatural world that solves our day-to-day conundrums. It is embarrassingly middle-class. Samantha and Endora could easily walk up to the All Powerful He/She Godhead in the Great Universal Mall when they visit the hairdresser. After the Obligatory Big Warm Unconditional Love Hug, they ask a pressing question about sex or love, and the psychic message blows them away.

There has to be some intermediary because, well, that’s the way the writers get a walk-on gig for a favorite Hollywood British uncle, Maurice Evans. Evans wasn't Leo G. Carroll. Cosmo Topper might have been a precedent for a gentleman psychic but no role model. “Topper” was a sitcom based on the 1937 film Topper, from two novels by Thorne Smith. It was broadcast on CBS from October 9, 1953, to July 15, 1955. But I’m sure that Carroll was not Hoffman’s cup of tea, psychic yes but far too sophisticated and upper class. Hoffman would have rather cultivated Endora (Agnes Moorehead) as a drag persona, funny, down-to-earth, a bit ordinary with run-on banter and big hair. Her daughter Samantha’s goal was to get married and lead a normal life, her supernatural powers appearing at inconvenient but important times. Plus she was entirely overdressed for the role.

But more than anything, I think “Bewitched” domesticates the supernatural world, making it as ordinary as a dinner party in a suburban, but definitely upscale tract house, not a lot of gaudy department store furniture but tasteful with some snazzy throw pillows brought back from Acapulco. Oh, and a few unexpected guests from the Spirit World who tell the truth by god and untangle a few pesky messes of human interactions--much like the esteemed psychologist Dr. Siegfried Fisher who appears out of the blue to give you, an ordinary housewife, oops tailor, a key piece of psychological wisdom that had been missed by all the great minds on the planet. It’s also a world in which gay life might even flourish if it were hidden, because you’re obviously very close to the ambi-sexual godhead, and drag lightens things up. Definitely Hoffman's brand of spirituality.

And, I think this is key, it's a world in which there are no ponderous academics or heavy thinkers. It’s populated and fueled by the rough and tumble world of commercial advertising, wooing clients, creating ad campaigns--very favorable to the unseen world. I’m thinking of a rather famous episode where Samantha doesn't want Darrin's client to use an ugly old witch in his ad campaign (Season 1, episode 7, “The Witches are Out”). Of course she wins and everyone makes money. Perfect denouement. All in all, Sol Saks must have been very happy with the revenue for 7 seasons, even if it was finished off short of the contracted 9. That’s a mistake that Hoffman won’t make with his international licensing scheme for Psychic Therapy.

Ridiculous right? Why do intelligent people believe nonsense?

Wham bang! There you go. That’s a hit piece.

 

Here is a link to my other writing about the Process.

© Kenneth Ireland, 2021