Diane Murphy

Creator Sol Saks' inspirations for this series were the film I Married a Witch (1942), developed from Thorne Smith's unfinished novel The Passionate Witch, and the John Van Druten Broadway play Bell, Book and Candle, which was adapted into the 1958 film.

In I Married a Witch, Wallace Wooley (Fredric March) is a descendant of people who executed witches at the Salem witch trials.

As revenge, a witch (Veronica Lake) prepares a love potion for him.

She ends up consuming her own potion and falling for her enemy.

Her father is against this union.

In the film of Bell, Book and Candle, modern witch Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) uses a love spell on Shep Henderson (James Stewart) to have a simple fling with him but she genuinely falls for the man.

Both films were properties of Columbia Pictures, which also owned Screen Gems, the company that produced Bewitched.

Sol Saks received credit as the creator of the show; he wrote the pilot of Bewitched but was not involved with the show after the pilot.

Asher felt personally affected by the event, as he knew Kennedy; he had produced the 1962 televised birthday party where Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President".

The pilot concerned "the occult destabilization of the conformist life of an upwardly mobile advertising man".

For that first episode, "I Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha", Academy Award-winning actor José Ferrer served as the narrator.

First season producer and head writer Danny Arnold set the initial style and tone of the series, and he also helped develop supporting characters such as Larry Tate and the Kravitzes.

Arnold, who wrote for McHale's Navy and other shows, thought of Bewitched essentially as a romantic comedy about a mixed marriage; his episodes kept the magic element to a minimum.

One or two magical acts drove the plot, but Samantha often solved problems without magic.

Many of the first season's episodes were allegorical, using supernatural situations as metaphors for the problems any young couple would face.

Arnold stated that the two main themes of the series were the conflict between a powerful woman and a husband who cannot deal with that power, and the anger of a bride's mother at seeing her daughter marry beneath her.

Creator Saks, executive producer Harry Ackerman, and director William Asher started rehearsals for the pilot on November 22, 1963; this coincided with the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Bewitched is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972.

It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife.

The show was popular, finishing as the second-rated show in America during its debut season, staying in the top ten for its first three seasons, and ranking in eleventh place for both seasons four and five.

The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and on recorded media.

Bewitched was created by Sol Saks under executive producer Harry Ackerman and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, Dick York (1964–1969) as Darrin Stephens, and Agnes Moorehead as Endora, Samantha's mother.

Dick Sargent replaced an ailing York for the final three seasons, 1969–1972.

Hanna-Barbera produced the opening and closing animation credits.

In 1997, the same magazine ranked the season 2 episode "Divided He Falls" #48 on their list of the "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".

A beautiful witch named Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) meets and marries a mortal named Darrin Stephens (originally Dick York, later Dick Sargent).

While Samantha complies with Darrin's wishes to become a normal suburban housewife, her magical family disapproves of the mixed marriage and frequently interferes in the couple's lives.

Episodes often begin with Darrin becoming the victim of a spell, the effects of which wreak havoc with mortals such as his boss, clients, parents, and neighbors.

By the epilogue, however, Darrin and Samantha most often embrace, having overcome the devious elements that failed to separate them.

The witches and their male counterparts, warlocks, are very long-lived; while Samantha appears to be a young woman, many episodes suggest she is actually hundreds of years old.

To keep their society secret, witches avoid showing their powers in front of mortals other than Darrin.

Nevertheless, the effects of their spells—and Samantha's attempts to hide their supernatural origin from mortals—drive the plot of most episodes.

Witches and warlocks usually use physical gestures along with their incantations.

To perform magic, Samantha often twitches her nose to create a spell.

Special visual effects are accompanied by music to highlight such an action.

The main setting for most episodes is the Stephenses' home at 1164 Morning Glory Circle, in an upper-middle-class suburban neighborhood, either in Westport, Connecticut, or Patterson, New York, as indicated by conflicting information presented throughout the series.

Many scenes also take place at the fictional Madison Avenue advertising agency McMann and Tate, where Darrin works.

Annual semi-regulars:

During its run, the series had a number of major cast changes, often because of illness or death of the actors.

In 2002, Bewitched was ranked No. 50 on "TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time".