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Perhaps the first witch to have her own TV series was Samantha Stevens, the main character in the 60s sitcom 'Bewitched'. The series began in 1964 and was hugely successful, running for 254 episodes. In contrast to our own modern day career girl witches Samantha was a housewife and mother with a mortal husband, Darrin, a young witchy daughter Tabitha, and later in the series a mortal son Adam. Samantha promised Darrin when they married that she would no longer use her witchcraft, but well... it didn't work out that way. Even if she had kept her promise, Samantha had a wide array of colourful witchy relatives and acquaintances who would still have disrupted the quiet suburban lifestyle Darrin craved. Although spells and incantations were part of Sam's magic the essential ingredient was her trademark nose twitch. Apart from the odd occasion when she didn't feel like doing the housework the mortal way, her magic was mostly utilised to sort out messes caused by others' witchcraft. The problems often involved historical figures who had been conjured into the present or family friends and important business clients who had been turned into various sorts of animals.
The appeal of the series was universal and, it appears, timeless, as it is still regularly screened in many countries all around the world.
In 1977 a spin-off 'Tabitha' was produced. Samantha's daughter had grown up remarkably quickly (well, she was a witch after all!) and was now a 22 year old production assistant on a TV show. The producers tried to update the format of the show to match the changing times but the series didn't make anything like the same impact as the original, running for 77 episodes.
For more on Sam, Tabitha et al, try Vic's Bewitched Site, a great site from a true fan!
The lighter side of modern witchcraft is dealt with in the current series 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'. The show seems to consciously try to capture the flavour of 'Bewitched' with its weekly mix-ups and misunderstandings, and a good supply of wacky relatives. It is based on a long running character in Archie Comics. Sabrina has an official web site: Sabrina the Teenage Witch
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