I love "Bewitched" as much as the next person and I watched it all the time on Nick at Nite, until they took it off and put it on Hallmark Channel. I was trilled at the thought of it being back on, but I cannot stand the way that local channels always massacre the show (and the same goes for "I Dream of Jeannie"). They always show seasons 3-8 only, but never ever the first two black and white seasons! I have been noticing that for years and years now and it's no surprise that the syndication owners never got on these channels for not airing all 252 episodes of "Bewitched". It's just not right to air a series in the middle like that, because it destroys the flow and continuity of the show. Everything was established in the first two seasons and I consider the first 72 black and white episodes the foundation of the entire series. Without a foundation, the series just sinks. Why start the series at episode #73 when Tabitha got her powers, when you should at least start it when Sam and Darrin first met! Come on now! When I first saw "Bewitched" in black and white, I never knew that different people played the various characters that we all know and love in the color seasons. I would love to see Alice Pearce get off at Samantha's tricks, or Irene Vernon with her sweet rendition of Louise Tate. Plus, in the black and white episodes, all of the rules of witchcraft were established and if you air a series in the middle like that, it just confuses people. I think some of these local channels need to get their act together! I know I should be glad that the show is back on, but I, and probably a bunch of other "Bewitched" fans, would love to see the original black-and-white episodes along with the color ones, the way Nick at Nite used to do it. Hell, if they can show "The Andy Griffith Show" with black-and-white and color, why can't they do the same for "Bewitched" or "I Dream of Jeannie"? If I owned the show and saw something like this, I would take away the syndication rights from the networks until they get their acts together!

A very good point. The same thing happened years ago (the early-to-mid '70s), when the local TV station in my area (KCOP, channel 13) aired reruns of Bewitched. They started from the episode you mentioned, #73. At first, I thought the series began then (there were no Bewitched books back then). When I read that the first episode aired back in '64, I knew that the station was not showing the early years. I thought they skipped only one season, then I learned that they skipped two. Anyway, it just does not make sense to ignore two full seasons. Who cares if it is B&W? One of my favorite episodes is "A Is For Aardvark" from the first season. I never saw it until Nick @ Nite ran the first 8 (I think 8) episodes of the show in the early '90s. I was GREAT finally seeing the very first episode and the other ones, especially when Darrin meets Endora. Just think, I had to wait 20+ years to see the first two seasons!

During the 80s, local stations became very reluctant to show B&W episodes if they could get color shows. The syndicators of "Bewitched" felt that there were enough color episodes of the series to stand alone, so they didn't include the B&W episodes in the syndication package. The few stations that still showed B&W episodes in the 80s were still showing the package as it had been sold in the 70s, when the early episodes were included. The same thing happened with "I Dream of Jeannie", which had one season worth of episodes that weren't in color.

I also didn't realize that "Bewitched" had B&W shows until the late 80s. And I also think it's a shame when those episodes are dropped from reruns -- they're the best shows! They seem a lot fresher, and have more of a romantic comedy feel than the later ones. Hallmark probably feels that showing the B&W shows will make their channel feel too retro, so they only bought the color shows.

There are quite a few other shows out there that are shown "piecemeal" like this -- "Petticoat Junction", "Gunsmoke", and "Mannix" to name a few. What a shame.

[This message has been edited by TV Guy (edited 09-28-2001).]

Yea, that bugs me alot too. I really Miss Jennie and Bewitched. Theres this one channel on my Cable Company (#12) it shows an hour was bewitched and Jennie everyday, but they never show Black and White ones. And i didnt even know it was in Black AND white when i first started watchin REruns

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I <3 LUCY!
Lucy" I saw a sign that said take one so i took one.After that i took anything even if it didnt say take on. I took a bright new bicycle, a shiny new penny. I even took a little boy... yeah but my mommy made me take him back."