Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) is a witch who falls in love with a mortal, Darrin Stephens (Dick York). They marry after Sam agrees to keep her supernatural powers to a minimum. Darrin is an executive of an advertising agency, conventional and boring, and the Stephens live in a suitably bland suburban home at 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, Connecticut.
Samantha's mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead) is opposed to "mixed" marriages and basically hates Darrin. Other witches in the cast include her father Maurice (Maurice Evans), Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne), Esmerelda (Alice Ghostley), Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox) and cousin Serena (Elizabeth Montgomery). Darrin's boss is Larry Tate (David White), and the snoopy neighbour is Gladys Kravitz (Alice Pearce and Sandra Gould) married to Abner Kravitz (George Tobias). Samantha's maiden name is never revealed. Her birthday is June 6 and she is centuries old.
(Samantha and Darrin on their honeymoon)
Darrin: "I wish I had a drink."
(drink appears in his hand)
Darrin: "...an Old Fashioned?"
(an Old Fashioned drink appears)
Darrin: "...and a straw?"
(straw appears in drink)
Darrin: "You're a witch!"
Samantha: "That's what I've been trying to tell you."
Situations invariably arise that require Samantha to use her powers by casting spells and chanting incantations, although usually she simply twitches her nose. Darrin is not amused, but the TV viewing audience certainly is. BEWITCHED is a very funny family comedy with nice visual effects, refreshing to watch because they are not computer generated. It's a sophisticated sitcom that gently explores topical subjects and social issues in an entertaining fantasy.
Darrin: "Sam, don't expect your mother to be gracious. She doesn't do imitations"
Endora: "I will not stand here and be insulted by something which is 94 percent water."
Darrin: "Oh, yeah! Well what about something which is a hundred percent hot air?"
Samantha: "Darling, I've been trying for weeks to give this house a thorough cleaning. These carpets are filthy."
Darrin: "How can you worry about dirt on the rugs when we're about to see the surface of the moon?"
Samantha: "The moon could use a vacuuming too. All that dust... yech."
(after finding out Samantha's been to the moon before)
Newscaster: "With the evidence of this and future space voyages, we may be closer than we think to actually shooting a man to the moon."
Darrin: "I could save them the trip."
The theme music is by Howard Greenfield and the opening credits were done by Hanna-Barbera Productions. There were 9 producers and 21 directors, primarily William Asher, who directed 76 episodes. He married Elizabeth Montgomery on October 26, 1963, shortly before they both signed on BEWITCHED.
In the middle of the second season the Stephens have a baby girl, Tabitha (Diane and Erin Murphy). At the start of the sixth season, son Adam (David and Greg Lawrence) is born. Tabitha is half witch, Adam is completely mortal. Dick York suffered from a bad back and left the series after 5 seasons. He was replaced by Dick Sargeant for the last three seasons. Sargeant is equally good, but has never been as popular. There was once a rock band called "The Real Darrin".
BEWITCHED premiered on ABC Thursday, September 17, 1964. The last show was broadcast Saturday, July 1, 1972. Of the 254 episodes produced, 74 in are in black and white, and 180 in colour. Some reviewers use the figures 252 and 256. Many of the plots from earlier shows were repeated later.
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery, daughter of actor Robert Montgomery, was born in Los Angeles on April 15, 1933. She died of cancer May 18, 1995. She felt typecast by BEWITCHED and played many very different roles in TV and movies, but she'll always be remembered as Samantha.
TABITHA (1977-1978) is a belated spin-off of BEWITCHED and focuses on the grown-up Tabitha played by Lisa Hartman. Her brother Adam (David Ankrum) is also in the show. Tabitha works as a production assistant on a TV talk show. The only character from BEWITCHED is Dr. Bombay. Only 12 episodes were produced before ABC pulled the plug on January 14, 1978.
BEWITCHED (2005) is a comedy film inspired by the TV series. Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman) is a witch who marries failing movie star Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrel), who is looking for an actress to play Samantha in a TV remake of BEWITCHED. A ludicrous flaw in the plot is that Isabel's wish to be "normal", not a witch, is achieved by portraying a witch on TV. Michael Caine plays Nigel Bigelow and Shirley MacLaine plays Endora. Film critics panned the film, yet it earned $128 million at the box office, with a budget of $85 million. It was the last major movie to be released on the VHS format.
