Bewitched was an American situation comedy starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery, broadcast on ABC from 1964 to 1972.

Background

The show's focus was the mixed marriage of a nose-twitching witch, Samantha Stephens, and her mortal husband, Darrin. Samantha's mother, Endora, (played by Agnes Moorehead, who won an Emmy for her work in the role) disapproves of Darrin, and many episodes revolve around her using magic to make life difficult for her non-magical son-in-law, whose name she invariably mispronounces as "Durwood," "Darwin," and other variations even less complimentary. (She only says his name properly once in the entire series.)

The only member of Samantha's family that Darrin really likes is the lovable and forgetful Aunt Clara (played by Marion Lorne), an old witch whose powers have begun to wane. All her spells end in disasters. She was in 27 episodes and was not replaced when Lorne died during the fourth season.

Darrin works for an advertising company and his boss, Larry Tate, never learns that Samantha is a witch, despite strange events taking place on a weekly basis. Across the road lives nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz (played first by Alice Pearce, who won an Emmy for this role; following Pearce's death in 1966 the role was played by Sandra Gould). Adding to the fun was the Stephens' witch daughter Tabitha, and the later-added baby boy Adam, and various witches, warlocks, and mere mortals. The program made use of clever-for-the-time special effects to work its magic, and the story lines were imaginative and good-natured. Most episodes ended with Darrin, having been the victim of witchcraft throughout the episode (often with a spell put upon him by Endora), affirming his love for Samantha and acknowledging that, like it or not, he would have to accept witchcraft in his life.

The show was an immediate hit and was second only to Bonanza in its first season. It continued to rate well for another six years, but it lost some popularity when Dick York (who played Darrin) left the series in 1969, owing to health problems, and was replaced by Dick Sargent. The drop in popularity is ironic in light of the fact that Sargent had been the original choice to play Darrin but had been unavailable in 1964.

In 1966 the show saw Samantha give birth to daughter Tabitha, played by fraternal twins Erin and Diane Murphy. Tabitha took after her mother with her witch abilities, adding to Darrin's worries. In 1968 Diane Murphy was fired as the sisters began looking less and less alike.

1969 saw the birth of Adam, played by Greg and David Lawrence. Many see this family addition as the other reason for the continued drop in popularity.

It should be noted that Elizabeth Montgomery wanted to end the series at the conclusion of the show's fifth season, but ABC did not want to drop one of its top-grossers. Since the series was one of the network's few hits, they offered Montgomery and her husband, producer William Asher, significant pay raises for another three seasons. By the series' seventh season, many felt the story ideas had started to run dry with many older episodes being remade. By the last season (1971–1972), episodes were being remade almost word for word. With ratings low, the decision was made to finally end the program.

Bewitched continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication. TV Guide recently listed Bewitched as the 50th Greatest Television Program of All Time.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of Bewitched on DVD in 2005.

Regular and recurring characters

• Samantha Stephens - Elizabeth Montgomery

• Darrin Stephens - Dick York, Dick Sargent

• Endora - Agnes Moorehead

• Tabitha Stephens - Erin & Diane Murphy

• Abner Kravitz - George Tobias

• Gladys Kravitz - Alice Pearce, Sandra Gould

• Larry Tate - David White

• Louise Tate - Irene Vernon, Kasey Rogers

• Aunt Clara - Marion Lorne

• Aunt Esmeralda - Alice Ghostley

• Dr. Bombay - Bernard Fox

• Serena - Pandora Spocks (a pseudonym for Elizabeth Montgomery, meant to be confused with Pandora's Box)

• Uncle Arthur - Paul Lynde

• Maurice (Samantha's father) - Maurice Evans

• Mrs Stephens (Darrin's mother) - Mabel Albertson

Spin-offs and Remakes

Tabitha and Adam and the Clown Family

An animated cartoon made in 1972 by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, this featured a teenage version of Tabitha and Adam visiting their aunt and her family who travel with a circus.

Tabitha

In 1977, a spin-off show entitled Tabitha aired on the ABC network. The show, which ran for less than a season, starred Lisa Hartman as an adult Tabitha.

Japanese remake

The Japanese TBS network, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, produced a remake called 奥さまは魔女 (Oku-sama wa majō) (My wife is a witch) . Eleven episodes were broadcasted on Friday nights at 22:00, from January 16 to March 26, 2004, with a special extra episode broadcasted on December 21, 2004. The main character, Arisa Matsui, was performed by Ryōko Yonekura. 奥さまは魔女 is also the title for the original Japanese broadcasting of the American series.

Bewitched movie

Bewitched is a 2005 movie re-imagining starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. When Jack Wyatt (Ferrell), a failing Hollywood actor, is offered the chance of a career comeback playing Darrin in a remake of Bewitched, all he has to do is find the perfect girl to play Samantha. He finds Isabel Bigelow (Kidman), who really is a witch.

Chilean remake

The Chilean television channel Mega, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, will produce a remake called La Hechizada.

Controversy

The show's witchcraft-related subject matter initially infuriated some evangelical and fundamentalist Christian organizations, claiming that the show displayed the playful use of ungodly powers in a context that characterized them as good rather than the evil some Christians believed them to be.

The show was featured in a recent Jack Chick tract as Satan's favourite television program