Erin Murphy’s Reflections on Bewitched

Erin Murphy, known for her role on the classic sitcom Bewitched, recently made an interesting admission. She joined the cast with her twin sister Diane to play Tabitha Stephens, the child of Darrin (Dick York) and Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery), when she was 18 months old. Despite her early involvement in the series, Murphy revealed she has never watched the black-and-white episodes that aired before she joined.

Discussing her time on the show with Brandon Davis on NPR’s Front Row Classics podcast, Murphy shared, “I’ve never seen the black-and-white episodes. I keep thinking that one day I’ll watch them, perhaps sharing the experience via a platform like Facebook live, but it hasn’t happened yet.” While she has caught some clips, she has never viewed a full episode from those seasons.

Murphy and her sister were cast for the role of Tabitha for the show’s third season, which was also its first in color. She explained that the producers wanted to expand Tabitha’s role, opting for a new set of twins as they transitioned to color.

“I brought color to Bewitched,” Erin reflected while discussing the transition from black-and-white to color and the expanded role for her character.

Bewitched ran for eight seasons on ABC, concluding in March 1972. The main cast included Agnes Moorehead, Dick Sargent, and David White, alongside the Murphy twins, Montgomery, and York.

Murphy also remembered spending much of her childhood on set, mostly interacting with adults. She fondly recalled episodes featuring her character in preschool, which allowed her the company of other children, something she valued given the usual adult-dominated environment.

“Working with the ‘grown-ups’ on set marked the ‘golden era’ of television and Hollywood,” she remarked, noting the novelty of TV during her early years on the show.