I can honestly say watching BEWITCHED as a child sparked my imagination more than any other one thing. The color, the imagery, the hidden messages of acceptance and being who you are meant to be.....all had a very profound effect on who I decided I was meant to be. I always played BEWITCHED as a child, memorized incantations, mimicked Endoras caftans with our brightly patterned sofa throws in my basement family room. I totally escaped thru BEWITCHED and I DID learn not to question so much AND to always believe in the magic hidden beneath the surface. Samantha tried so hard to fit into a mold that couldnt hold her. She compromised sure, but never could truly commit to mortal life. I saw the suburbia that swelled around me as "Mortal Life" and I simply tried to always find a way of blending in AND keeping my magic powers. If my older brothers tried to pick on me, I would simply "POP" out, and disappear from the situation. The old you cant see me trick that children love to believe in. I longed to hang out on a cloud somewhere in the stratosphere and pop over to PAris for some afternoon shopping and still be home to meet my MORTAL family for dinner. My grandmother was very much ENDORA with her flair for extravagance and her very strong place in the family. She indulged my every whim, wrapping me in one of her big soft sweaters, hailing a taxi cab and whisking me off to some twinkling carnival on the seedy part of the city. She chased search lights you see. My mother would have died to know I was out in the heart of Detroit past midnite!!!. My Maw would stroll with me down the neon legnths of the carnival, eating candy apples and riding the Salt and Pepper Shaker. She would get her fortune told from a gypsy woman and flirt with the man at one of the many midway games. Every day I would hurry home from school at lunchtime to see what the Stevens family was up to on channel 7. It was perfect!!!. Tomato soup with a grilled cheese and Samantha to entertain me. although hidden behind the humor BEWITCHED taught very valuable lessons on race issues, and equality, and seeing the good in people. It also dispelled stereotypes. Witches could be pretty, and fashionable. How hot was Samantha in a Pucci shift with her LV roll bag?? Gorgeous. TV Land has affforded me the luxury of watching BEWITCHED at 2am!!!! Thats Sweetie Primetime! It's talented cast with Agnes Moorhead, Paul Lynde, Liz Montgomery, Dick York and Sargeant, and everyone from Mercedes McCambridge and Julie Newmar to Maurice Evans, to Isabell Sanford all made my childhood brighter. Without a show like BEWITCHED as a constant in my childhood, I would not have the fertile imagination I have been blessed with today.
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