Classic TV's "Bewitched" debuted on the ABC network on September 17, 1964. It lasted eight seasons, through July 1, 1972. Although it wasn't television's first special-effects comedy, it sparked a trend for supernatural sitcoms in the 1960s, even beating NBC's Star Trek in the ratings. Produced and directed by William Asher, the director of various beach party movies (and husband of the show's star, Elizabeth Montgomery), "Bewitched" was a totally fresh television concept inspired by the 1942 film "I Married a Witch."
The premise of this series deals with what could be viewed as an interfaith marriage between Samantha--a non-stereotypically beautiful witch--and Darrin--an uptight mortal who insists that his wife refrain from using her magical powers. Much of the appeal of this highly rated program is due to its mixture of childlike fantasy and sophisticated social satire. With Darrin working as a copywriter, the show pokes fun at the highfalutin' world of advertising as well as modern suburban life of the time. Also adding to the show's cosmopolitan tone is the presence of two renowned theatrical actors, Maurice Evans and Agnes Moorehead; portraying Samantha's metaphysically separated parents Endora and Maurice. Both were long-established stage actors and Evans would write his own lines when the script called for a Shakespearian quotation.
A fascinating aspect of this series as it continued into the 1970s was its duality. Not only did two actors (Dick York and Dick Sargent) consecutively play Darrin; two actresses played nosy next-door neighbor Gladys Kravitz (the second one had previously starred as Miss Duffy on network radio's Duffy's Tavern, the direct ancestor of the tv series Cheers), and two actresses played Louise Tate, the wife of Darrin's boss, Larry. To this day, it is still quite rare for a sitcom to have this many substitutions in its main cast of characters without changing the characters' names.
"Bewitched" first aired on Nick at Nite on September 4, 1989.
Visit "The Stephens' Trunk" on the Nick At Night website for downloadable goodies, as well as sights and sounds of Bewitched and other Nick / TV Land series. And don't forget to watch "Bewitched" on Nick at Nite.
Here is a classic episode: #138 "The No-Harm Charm" Darrin’s brochure for the multi-million dollar Omega Bank mistakenly lists the bank’s assets as $100. Larry suggests he take some time off. Darrin thinks he has Uncle Arthur’s magic charm for protection and he sets out to salvage the Omega account (the lucky charm turns out to be a decorative bolt Uncle Arthur unscrewed from the top of a lampshade).
There was a 2-part ep. inspired by "It's A Wonderful Life." It starts with #126 - When one of Darrin's old girlfriends returns to steal him away from Sam, Endora sends him back in time to before he had met Samantha, to see if he could be happy without her.
Syndicated reruns of Bewitched began running again on individual tv stations nationwide on 9-20-99. They are not following original broadcast order. They don't list ep titles / descriptions on the syndicator's website: ScreenGemsNetwork, but they do have general info and the show's original 1960s biographies (so none of actors are refered to in past-tense), and it starts with the sights / sounds of the opening color credits at their Bewitched screengems website. Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie are also currently seen on TV Land, any times shown are EST & Pacific:
This page has been updated. Current broadcasts are listed on the new Bewitched pageAnother interesting site for color pictures and sounds is the unofficial: www.bewitched.net
The Dr. Bombay episode on NBC series "Passions" starring Bernard Fox aired 9-17-99. A character in the non-comedy daytime serial named Timothy - sidekick to the evil 300 year old witch Tabitha (played by Juliet Mills of Nanny & The Professor, despite the name this character is no relation to Tabatha of Bewitched) calls for Bombay in the traditional Bewitched way and poof, there he is in safari outfit for a 2 minute cameo. Then the mean-spirited soap opera went on with it's regular plot. 7-7-01 & 7-14-01 TV Guide issues had a cover story/fictional diary from Passions. The actor who played Timothy has since passed away.
By the way, TVG has reported that the ad firm Princeton Video Image shows how good it is at product placement using existing video by placing a box of modern SnackWell cookies box in the kitchen of Abner & Gladys Kravitz from an episode of Bewitched. "But," asks TV Guide, "can they replace Dick Sargent with Dick York? Until then, we'll take our classic reruns without modern-day voodoo."
Here's a bit of witch trivia you probably don't know:
Remember when Darren & Samantha visited Salem for 4 episodes? In 1890, an American silversmith designed a small souvenir spoon with a picture of a witch on it for the bicentennial of the Salem Witch Trials. The memento became very popular and soon inexpensive silver-plated souvenir spoons were being made nation-wide for the tourist trade. Small souvenir spoons had been made for tourists in European cities before 1890, but they were solid silver and therefore much more expensive. Some early souvenir spoons decorated with fragile enamel have sold for as much as $1200 at auction, according to Martha Stewart.com
