Our favorite witch Samantha Stephens just celebrated 50 years of being on television on September 17th of this year. It's hard to believe 50 years have passed because it really feels like yesterday that I was watching the show. Now that I think about it, that was about 30 years ago. Geesh, time sure does like to fly.
Bewitched aired from 1964 to 1972. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, a witch who decides to break the rules and marry a mortal man. Her husband Darrin, knows of her powers and encourages her to keep her promise of living as much of a mortal life as possible.
Sam and Darrin encounter noisy neighbors, odd witch related relatives, a overbearing mother, Darrin's boss, and a heap of other colorful characters throughout the nine years it was on air. Sam and Darrin eventually have two children, Tabitha and Adam.
Poor Darrin is usually in the middle of the magical mayhem that Sam truly doesn't want to happen but it happens any ole way. Bewitched is known for creating something called the "Darrin Syndrome" in which the first actor who played the character of Darrin Stephens is replaced by a second actor without any explanation to the fans of the show. Needless the say, ratings dropped considerably after the first Darrin, Dick York, was replaced with Dick Sargent after York left due to health reasons.
Bewitched is also known for other things such as; Samantha's nose twitch, the characters regular drinking habits (site dedicated to that HERE), a second character created for Montgomery named Serena who was "named" Pandora Spocks, as well as their special effects.
Bewitched is one of those feel good and fun shows that you can sit down with your family and watch together. It is rare to find a show on television today where you can sit together as a family and not worry about cursing, violence, and sexual innuendos left and right. Bewitched has certainly stood the test of time and it is as enjoyable today as it was 50 years ago.
You can find Season One available on Hulu HERE as well as all the Seasons on DVD on Netflix. You can also purchase the complete series of Bewitched HERE at Amazon.
If you would like to read more about this magical show, check out these websites:
Have you ever seen this show? Can you believe it has been 50 years since it first aired on television? Is Samantha your favorite witch, if so, why?
One of my favorite show, it remind me my childhood because in France it was still a lot on TV in the 80's!
ReplyDeleteDarin was called Jean-Pierre in french... funny, isn't it?
I was just watching it this morning! It's one of those shows I never get tired of, although I must admit to having a preference for the episodes with the original Darrin and Mrs. Kravitz.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun tribute post! I grew up watching repeats of this show and my folks catch them as they aired back in the day. I then re-watched them all in high school, as they were on shortly after I got home and were one of the few vintage shows on the channels we got back then. It's such a campy, fabulous classic and one that I hope to enjoy with my own kids (or nieces and nephews), if I have them one day.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica