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Old 11-25-2005, 01:35 AM
lostnfound117 lostnfound117 is offline
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Bewitched

*During the second season, five babies played Tabitha Stephens. Cynthia Black in the episode where Tabitha is born. then it went to twins Heidi Gentry and Laura Gentry. The final set of babies in season where Julie Young and Tamar Young. In season three the Young Twins had been replaced by fraternal twins Erin Murphy and Diane Murphy. By season five the role was solely played to Erin Murphy although Diane did appear in a number of episodes afterwards - always wearing a wig.

*Although fraternal twins Erin Murphy and Diane Murphy shared the role of Tabitha Stephens up until the middle of the fifth season, Diane only played Tabitha on her own in one episode - Samantha Fights City Hall.

*During the first six years, practically every car in sight is a Chevrolet, because the car company was one of the show's original sponsors.

*The 4 April 1968 episode "I Confess", was interrupted by ABC during its original airing for news coverage of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King

*Many of the plots from earlier shows were repeated later.

*Elizabeth Montgomery didn't actually twitch her nose to cause Samantha's magic to occur; she twitched her upper lip, causing her nose to follow.

*Almost all of the female witches' character names end with the letter "a", including Samantha, Endora, Esmeralda, Clara, Hagatha, Enchantra and Tabitha. Some exceptions include Abigail Beechum (Maurice's private secretary) and Mary (friend of Bertha, Endora and Clara).

*The show's now-famous animated opening credits were created by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

*The role of Samantha was originally offered to Tammy Grimes.

*Helen Hunt and Jodie Foster were once considered for the role of Tabitha.

*The theme music to the show was a variation of the Chevrolet jingle, "See the USA in your Chevrolet". There would be a scene in the opening credits where Samantha's broom turns into the Chevrolet logo.

*Jim Backus was the first choice to play Abner Kravitz, but turned it down, because he was already working on Gilligan's Island.

*Darrin graduated from the University of Missouri class of 1950.

*When it became clear that Dick York could not continue with the series, William Asher considered canceling it, not only because of York's departure, but because he and Elizabeth Montgomery wanted to move on. However, the ratings were still high enough that the network wanted the show to go on. Dick Sargent was brought in to replace York, but there was still one problem: how to explain why Darrin looked and sounded different. Many people working on the show came up with ideas, but Asher thought the viewers understood this was an actor playing a role, so he decided that the best explanation was no explanation.

*In the episode "Hippie, Hippie, Hooray", we see Larry and Louise Tate in their kitchen. It's the same set used as Tony Nelson's kitchen from I Dream of Jeannie.

*The exterior of the Kravitz house is the same exterior as used in The Partridge Family and The Donna Reed Show.

*During the hiatus between the 1968-1969 and 1969-1970 seasons, the network reran all 14 episodes in which Dick York did not appear in hopes of making it easier for fans to accept Dick Sargent as the new Darrin.

*Samantha's maiden name was never revealed.

*After the third season, it was often not known if Dick York would be well enough to work any given week, because of his back pain issues. "Darrin-less" scripts were therefore on hand, or scripts were made Darrin-less (often by giving his lines to Larry Tate). Most sources tend to assume York missed thirteen episodes from his back pain issues, when in reality, most of the episodes York "missed" were actually filmed after he had already left the show (in season five). They were then aired mixed with episodes he had completed. At least one of the two episodes he missed in season three had nothing to do with his back pain issues, but was because his father had died.

*After her initial five-year contract was up, Elizabeth Montgomery announced she would move on to other things. Desperate to keep the show going, the network gave her part ownership as part of her new contract.

*Irene Vernon (the first Louise Tate) was let go by the Ashers from the show after season two because of her association with producer Danny Arnold, who left at that time.

*Running for eight seasons, this was the longest-running of the so-called "fantasy sitcoms" that dominated the airwaves in the mid-1960s (i.e. The Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, etc.), as well as the last surviving example of the genre when it went off the air in 1972 (a year after All in the Family ushered in a new era of reality sitcoms).

*The names of Samantha and Endora parallel the Biblical story of the Witch of Endor (I Samuel 28). In the passage, Saul consults a medium (traditionally referred to as a witch) at a place called Endor to bring up the spirit of Samuel. Thus the parallel: witch, Endor, Samuel...witch, Endora, Samantha.

*Despite popular stories, Dick Sargent was never William Asher's and Elizabeth Montgomery's original choice for the role of Darrin. Dick York was always their first choice. Sargent was only considered for the role when Tammy Grimes was still being considered, before Asher and Montgomery became involved with the show.

*There were some protests when the show was about to premier, primarily from viewers in "Bible Belt" states who were afraid that the show was going to promote devil worship.

*Rehearsals for the pilot were set to begin on November 22, 1963. However, they were postponed because of the assassination earlier that day of President Kennedy, who was a good friend of William Asher.

*The series marked the first time that a married couple was seen in the same bed together. Prior to this, most shows featured married couples in separate beds.

*Agnes Moorehead was chosen to play Endora after a chance meeting with Elizabeth Montgomery and William Asher at a Bloomingdale's department store.
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