Most of my favorite episodes of Bewitched are in the latter years of the series, as ripples of the psychedelic counterculture seeped into the mainstream. Case in point: the gloriously kooky Serena, Samantha's offbeat and sexually-charged cousin, who you know must have been toking something up there on Cloud 9. Serena was hip, she was fashionable, and she was musical, too...must have been so much fun for Elizabeth Montgomery to play--a welcome break from the white-bread, establishment, Kennedy-era Samantha character. So different was Serena from Samantha that producers gave the alter ego an identity of her own....the closing credits always identified "Pandora Spocks as Serena" for each of Serena's mesmerizing guest appearances.
It was always amazing to me how Serena could be such a "hottie" and Samantha could be such a "nottie". While Elizabeth Montgomery was no Ann-Margaret (woo-woo), she did have some cheesecake shots of herself in a one-piece back in the day that proved she had a good figure.
ReplyDeleteShe had to be wholesome and goody-goody, I think, because she was a married lady and later a mother. Serena allowed her to be sexy and naughty.
ReplyDeleteSamantha did look hot in her black witch outfit, though--it was very much a negligee. She didn't wear it often, though, only when flying with Endora.
-C