Bewitched (1964 – 1972)

Bewitched was at least one generation before my time, but I caught it in syndication in the late eighties, and I often enjoyed it over cereal before I went to school. It played around Elizabeth Montgomery’s earthbound witch, Samantha, who was married to her powerless and constantly befuddled husband, Darrin.

Complete with a classic theme tune that is still note perfect in my head many years after having watched an episode, Bewitched is one of the best sitcoms of its era that straddled the shift from black and white to colour with grace. The show suffered a little from the exaggerated canned laughter that was very common at the time, but probably suffered a little more from the change in lead male actor towards the end of its run. Bewitched swapped one Dick for another when Sargent replaced York for the final three seasons, and it would be fair to say the latter episodes missed the wide-eyed caricature of Samantha’s original counterpart.

And all right, yes – part of the reason I liked Bewitched so much is because of the cute thing that Samantha used to do with her nose when she was casting a spell. Some guys really get off on that nose twitch that she did… trust me, you’re just going to have to take my word for that.