Bewitched is a sitcom that aired for eight seasons beginning in 1964 and running until 1972. It was created by Sol Saks and produced by Harry Ackerman (and, in effect, by William Asher (who also directed several episodes) and his wife and series star, Elizabeth Montgomery). Along with Montgomery, the main cast included Dick York (for the first five seasons), Dick Sargent (for the final three seasons), Agnes Moorehead, David White, and Erin Murphy (from season three onward). The supporting cast included George Tobias, Alice Pierce, Sandra Gould, Irene Vernon, Kasey Rodgers, Marion Lorne, Maurice Evans, Mabel Albertson, Paul Lynde, Bernard Fox, and Alice Ghostley. It also featured several guest stars, some of whom would go on to larger roles on other shows, such as Adam West and James Doohan, and others who would appear in several different roles on the show, such as Parley Baer, Bernie Koppel, and Dick Wilson. Willie Mays, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart also played themselves in guest-starring roles.
In the series, Montgomery plays a witch named Samantha who falls in love with a mortal man named Darrin Stephens (initially played by York, then by Sargent after York left the series due to a back injury). Darrin wants to live a normal, middle-class life and objects to Samantha's use of magic. Samantha's relatives object to her marriage to a mortal and constantly interfere in their lives, using various spells on Darrin (especially Samantha's mother, Endora, played by Moorehead). The series is mostly a story-of-the-week procedural, with a handful of longer story arcs every so often. Most episodes involve Darrin making a snarky comment to one of Samantha's relatives, who then casts a spell on him, making his day miserable and making him look foolish until he apologizes.
This is a complete series released in 2025 to commemorate the series' 60th Anniversary. It is a 22-disc set. The packaging is not great. The discs are packaged in a large keep case (which requires the discs to be stacked on top of each other) that can be held in a decorative outer slip box. As of this writing, the individual seasons are only available on DVD. There are multi-season bundles on Blu-Ray, and this complete series set. The bonus features are exclusive to this release. The A/V quality is good, but some episodes definitely look better than others. The first two seasons are in black-and-white (as they aired), and the rest are in color. The bonus content is mostly audio commentaries on select episodes. Each commentary features historian (and Elizabeth Montgomery biographer) Herbie J. Pilato and a surviving cast member (usually one of the guest-starring children) or a surviving crew member. Dick York's son appears on some of the commentary tracks to offer perspective on what he remembers about his father's time on the series. On the final disc, there is a half-hour documentary about the series, hosted by Pilato, featuring interviews with some of the people who appeared on the commentary tracks. Finally, there is a booklet written by Pilato that provides information about the series, the people who starred in or appeared in it, and an episode guide. Unfortunately, Murphy, who is the only living main cast member, does not appear on any of the commentary tracks or in the documentary.
The series is good but dated. Some of the things that occurred on the show (like the roles of men and women, casual smoking, etc.) would never be included in a series (especially a sitcom) made today. Other things about the series were very progressive for its time. The show used the witch-mortal relationship as a metaphor for real-world social issues of the time, such as civil rights and women's rights. The series also featured several black guest stars and extras and had an episode that directly tackled racism. People who are big on continuity in a TV series will probably get frustrated while binge-watching it, as the writers often recycled storylines and used many of the same guest stars in different roles. Ultimately, while it is not without its flaws, the series is good and will definitely be a blast from the past for those old enough to have watched it when it originally aired or in reruns. Some of the humor in the show is very different from what you see on modern sitcoms, but even so, there are some very funny moments, even if the show may not have younger audiences laughing out loud regularly. So, if you are a fan of older TV series, this is absolutely worth picking up.
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