Good Witches, Good Media, Good Popcorn
Before 1200 AD: Pagan, nature-worshipping religions, many- most- of which predate Christianity, are practiced openly by both women and men
1233: The Roman Catholic Church begins trying, punishing and torturing suspected witches, a practice that continues for more than 400 years.
1692: During the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, 20 men and women are tried for practicing witchcraft. Eventually all 20 are killed, though none are burned at the stake.
1939: 
The Wizard of Oz introduced us to one of the first "good witches". Albeit she looked more like a fairy princess, but it was a step in the right direction.
1942:The film I Married a Witch appears in theatres, depicting a marriage between a witch and a mortal (no there's no difference, but this is Hollywood folks) and serves as the basis for the series Bewitched
1958: John Van Druten's literally bewitching stage comedy Bell Book and Candle
starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer on Broadway. The 1958 version
stars James Stewart and Kim Novak, fresh from their successful teaming
in Hitchcock's Vertigo. While arguably not in Harrison and Palmer's
league, Jimmy and Kim work together beautifully, instilling a great deal
of credibility in Van Druten's incredible storyline. Kim plays Gillian
Holroyd, a genuine, bonafide witch. Falling in love with publisher
Sheperd Henderson (Stewart),
Gillian casts a spell on him, obliging him to dump his fiancee and rush
to her side. All of this goes against the grain of Gillian's Endora-like
mentor Mrs. De Pass (Hermione Gingold), who does her best to counterract
the love spell.
Meanwhile, Gillian's wacky warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon) courts
disaster by coauthoring a book on black magic with pompous, bibulous
novelist Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs). With Novak, Lemmon and Kovacs
on hand, Bell Book and Candle is virtually the definitive late-1950s
Columbia production:
attractively produced, smoothly paced and adroitly acted. Adapted for
the screen by Daniel Tadarash, the film was a major success in 1958; if
it doesn't play as well today, it may be because its novelty value has
been blunted by endless reruns of Bewitched. One thing we do know;
whenever we've been in a roomful of cat fanciers, at least one of them
owns a pussy named Piewacket, in tribute to Kim Novak's feline companion
in Bell Book and Candle. -- Hal Erickson (courtesy of Boris)
1964: 
The tv series Bewitched airs. The prefeminist series shows a docile housewife, who just happens to be a witch, making every attempt(and failing miserably) to obey her mortal husband's wish that she not use her magical powers. But Sam is still a strong intelligent woman, even if her magic takes no more than a twitch of the nose.
1971: Bedknobs and Broomsticks creates a poignant picture of a kind witch, played by Angela Lansbury, who uses her powers to bring happiness to children during WWII
1987: In The Witches of Eastwick three women (Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Cher) fight the devil (Jack Nicholson-who else?)whom they summoned- accidently- and now must defeat. Of course, the supernatural beauties win, using the Devil's own tricks against him.
1989: Hollywood spouts forth one of the first images of the teen witch, thankfully in positive light. Robin Lively plays Louise in Teen Witch, the story of a wallflower teen who discovers her powers in her 16th birthday.
1996:
The Craft comes to theatres everywhere, bombarding young movie goers with glamourous images of the dark side of witchcraft. The movie sparks much controversy in the Wiccan world, for it attracts young people to magick without any real knowledge, fully believing in the power of "Menon"(sp?), (which is a name I've never heard used for god or goddess, though I could be wrong). On the upside, it does stress the rule of three and communing with nature, and the good witch wins out in the end.
1996:
Sabrina the Teenage Witch airs on abc. Melissa Joan Hart plays Sabrina, the by now classic, slightly ostracized but still cool, I-got-my-powers-on-my-16th-birthday, teen witch, who uses her powers to do things like turn popular Libby, her arch enemy, into a goat. Notice the Rule of Three is still emphasized, though never mentioned. Though certaintly a cheesy sitcom, the ideals are still there.
1998:
Charmed airs on the WB11, actually using the term Wiccan to describe it's characters . Truth be told, this is one of my favorite shows, and I'm impressed with the network and the research it has done. Though a good deal of the magick performed is of the twitch of the nose, flip of the wrist kind, as it always is, the show repeatedly uses very accurate terms. Wicca, the Wiccan Rede, and the Rule of Three are often mentioned. So are things like athames and the Book of Shadows.
So in reality, witches have often been fairly well represented. The magick performed by the tv/movie witches is the instant gratification kind, but it is a movie, fantasy traced here and there with tidbits of solid fact. The information on this timeline was, surprisingly, taken from the October issue of seventeen magazine. If I'm infringing on any copyrights please don't sue me, just e-mail me and I'll take it off.
