Number 5 Witch of All-Time: Bewitched Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery)

Number 6 Witch of All-Time: Bewitched Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery)

Elizabeth Montgomery portrayal of Samantha brought witchcraft properly into the nineteen-sixties with a twinkle of her nose, forever changing primetime television and becoming the most mainstream witch in history. The contemporary sitcom, Bewitched, was her vehicle, and the blonde bombshell with girl next door innocence came complete with a bumbling husband who despised her religion, but reaped the rewards anyways, a beautiful daughter, a meddling mother and her husband’s buffoon of a boss. That sits Elizabeth’s character, Samantha, and her little nose trick, which I still haven’t figured out, squarely in the top ten female witches of all-time, at number six.

While the show shared a lot in common with another sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie, what set this show apart was Samantha’s devotion. She was a devoted wife, mother and daughter and even though her husband forbade her from using her formidable witchcraft skills, she still found a way to help him out of personal crisis after personal crisis, with a twitch of her magickal nose.

While Barbara Eden’s Jeannie character was drop dead sexy, (sans the belly button), Samantha did all her magick with a sleek, but chic fashion. Even without the magick, she would have been the perfect wife. She cooked, cleaned, took care of the family and her man, but when you added her magick, she was more than a handful.

Born from a long line of witches, who could appear and disappear at will, and even travel time, Sam’s mother did everything in her power to keep the family tradition alive, despite husband Darrin’s (originally Dick York, later Dick Sargent) protests. Often the catalyst to the shows appeal, the friction between Sam, her husband and her mother was hilarious. Even though fictitious, the show’s appeal lay squarely on Elizabeth Montgomery’s realistic portrayal of Samantha. It was kind of like Lucille Ball meets Glinda the Good Witch of the East, set in modern times, of course, at least at the time of its production. The show was simply beloved by millions, men, women and children alike.

Now, I must give the creators and writers credit as well. The brain trust of this series knew that in order to reach mainstream America with a witch story, they had to make her appealing and tasteful. If I possessed the kind of powerful magick that could make anything appear from out of nowhere, I would certainly be courting the kind of wealth of the likes of Bill Gates and the children of Sam Walton (Walmart). I would be a philanthropist, a world traveler, a playboy along the lines of Bruce Wayne. But Samantha never aspired to those heights. She kept it simple, and kept her powers in check, only using them when she felt necessary. Perhaps that was the most impressive thing about Samantha. She put her family and their hopes for the 1960’s style American Dream first. Kudos, Samantha Stephens!

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