How ‘Bewitched’ Inspired Other Television Witches

There may be a lot of witchcraft on television these days, but magic in TV shows is nothing new. In fact, as far back as the 1960s, witches and warlocks were portrayed on screen. One of the earliest and most brilliant examples is “Bewitched.” The show centered around Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Darrin Stevens (Dick York/Dick Sargeant). The pair lived what seemed like a normal life. However, they spent much of their time trying to conceal the fact that Samantha was a witch! This simple comedy concept was a huge hit, and paved the way for future TV witches. Here are three television witches who may have drawn inspiration from “Bewitched.”

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart) was – you guessed it – a teenage witch! She lived with her two witch aunts, Hilda and Zelda, and her magic cat, Salem. Sabrina was like Samantha Stevens in the sense that she spent much of her time hiding her powers from her friends and her boyfriend. Just like in “Bewitched,” Sabrina got into many scrapes while trying to conceal what she was, and it often led to hilarious consequences!

Endora Lennox from “Passions”

Little Endora (Nicole Cox) was born to Tabitha Lennox (Juliet Mills) and Julian Crane (Ben Masters). She showed signs of magic from a very young age, and often made things happen without knowing how she did it. Tabitha found it very difficult to keep her daughter’s powers under control. In “Bewitched,” Samantha’s daughter Tabitha, faced the same problems as Endora. She too showed signs of magic early on, and her mother had to battle to hide what she could do.

“Tabitha” spin-off

After “Bewitched” ended, ABC created a spin-off using the character of Tabitha, unimaginatively titled, “Tabitha.” The show was about Samantha and Darrin’s daughter once she had grown up. Tabitha (Lisa Hartman) worked at a television station with her brother, Adam. Although her TV parents never appeared in the spin-off, many of the original characters from “Bewitched” had roles. Without the original series, “Tabitha” would never have been made.

“Bewitched” was one of the earliest television shows to portray a family of witches. The idea of witches living in the mortal world and trying to hide their powers is one that is still very popular today, both in television and in movies. “Bewitched” really began a trend of this kind of show, and it is still popular today in sitcoms such as “Wizards of Waverly Place.”


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