I like Aims's take, but I think it was mostly something you could interpret after the fact. No way to be sure, but I doubt they were going for anything more than cute and funny.

I have, in all seriousness, read essays about both of them as proto-feminist(ish) statements...This woman named Susan Douglas wrote this whole book called(iirc) "Where the Boys Are" that's just full of stuff like that. I'm not sure I always agree, but she's passionate and has a fun style.

In the tv series Bewitched, I was always fascinated by the witches' culture, how Samantha would occasionally get disgusted with the normal world, transform herself into that black dress, and go hang out with Endora in that smoky, misty area. I was a clueless, mentally amorphous lump back then, and I'd like to see those bits again--but without the suburban-hell sections. I need a Good Parts Version.

A lot of it was probably unconscious--but it did have a character who had a special quality but was going to be shunned by society for showing it and that tension is what drove the comedy. It's not just what the intent of the makers was, but the underlying reasons why THIS show out of all the shows on the networks that year, became a huge hit? What did people respond to? The writing is mediocre to good (clearly not up to the standards of say, I Love Lucy, in terms of comedy) and the plots are very predictable, so what was it? Why do people still find it interesting?

Not to mention Paul Lynde was a regular.

Honestly, Scrappy, I think Elizabeth Montgomery's charm was a huge part of it, but I would guess also the fantasy of it -- she was truly having it all, a husband and kids and a home, but she still had this magic that allowed her to do so many things other women couldn't do.

Yeah, LOVES me some Elizabeth Montgomery.

the suburban-hell sections

those were probably all the bits I liked. I could watch Elizabeth Montgomery go about suburban life in that awesome mid-century slightly hipper than traditional home ALL DAY LONG. Making cocktails, wearing aprons, having fabulous hair, and then BAM MAGIC - AWESOME!

I am a Bewitched fanatic. Even if they did start recycling plots late in the run, and I never did adjust to the new Darrin.

I wish I could rewatch the TV movie with Elizabeth Montgomery as Lizzie Borden. I remember watching that while I was babysitting and really liking it--wonder if it holds up today?

Was it Hecubus who told me Bill Asher used to think it was sexy when EM used to bring the black Serena wig and wear it, uh, off the clock? Or did I see that on THS? Either could totally be true. I admit, though, that the very first time I heard the Gay Theory of Bewitched, it felt like seeing how small my grade-school playground was...I got over it, but maybe that sort of feeling is upsetting to the "Can't you just be *entertained*?"posse.