Serena stops the show!

Me and Brooke with Sam

In addition to enjoying some Hocus Pocus sites while in Salem last month, I also did what any tourist in that town is required to do and took multiple pictures of and with the statue of Samantha from Bewitched. It graces the town square and has a commemorative brass plaque in the sidewalk that sings her praises: 

Hair of gold, eyes that twinkle

A nose that neatly twitched

Clever, charming and enchanting

Samantha left us all Bewitched

The statue and plaque are courtesy of TV Land, in honor of a few episodes of the show that were filmed in and around Salem in 1970. A notable plot point of those episodes is when Samantha is stalked by an antique bedwarmer from the House of Seven Gables. It follows Sam and Darrin to their car and Darrin is thrown in jail for stealing it. Serves that loser right for always cramping Sam's witchy style!

Samantha never really sang in the show, but her sort-of identical, way cooler and hotter cousin Serena sure did! Like Samantha, Serena was also played by Elizabeth Montgomery (although in the credits she's Pandora Spocks), but in a black wig and a much hipper wardrobe. Serena is the wild and uninhibited witch I always wanted Samantha to be. She'd never end up with a bore like Darrin telling her to spend all day doing housework rather than using her powers to get it done in a flash. She'd smash her guitar over his head, like she almost does in one of today's clips.

Elizabeth Montgomery had a fine voice, but was intimidated to sing at gigs or on the show as Samantha. She said she took comfort in the spunky role of Serena, though, so she rocked it out a few times to so much acclaim she was asked to perform in nightclubs and on variety shows! My favorite Serena gem is "I'll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind":

Ugh, don't you want that guitar to land right in Darrin's smug smacker? Good thing Serena's song went on to be a hit at the witches' Cosmos Cotillion. Serena sang a couple other times in the show, proving both that Elizabeth Montgomery had quality pipes and Serena was seriously the coolest. Here she is singing "The Iffin' Song" and "Rock-A-Bye Baby." Dig it if you can, mortals!