ABC apparently was a wee bit short on new programming for their Saturday morning lineup in 1971. Oh, sure, there were three new series: Lidsville, Curiosity Shop, & The Jackson 5ive (all previously reviewed), and the network reacquired Jonny Quest to help fill the lunch-hour bridge to American Bandstand. In what amounted to a noble experiment, the network decided to air repeats of one of their primetime shows, Bewitched, which was entering its 8th and final season, in the center of the schedule. The experiment lasted a year, and then, after the series was cancelled, if memory serves, Bewitched was shifted to weekday mornings.
Everyone knows the story about a good natured witch (Elizabeth Montgomery) and her mortal husband (Dick York, later succeeded by Dick Sargent). By the time Bewitched was slotted on Saturdays, Samantha & Darrin had added two children, Tabitha & Adam, who would later spin off into a 1-shot ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, "Tabitha & Adam & the Clown Family". Tabitha, of course, would get her own primetime show four years after Bewitched ended, but the magic, dare I say it, had worn off.
Attached is the open to season 3:
ABC would try a similar experiment a few years later, but it would only be a 1-shot to fill time when there was a delay with the 1979-80 season's start.
Rating: B-.
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