Bewitched wasn’t canceled by the network. Discover the real reason Elizabeth Montgomery ended the classic sitcom after eight seasons.
For eight seasons, Bewitched was one of television’s most charming and successful sitcoms. Elizabeth Montgomery’s Samantha Stephens — the witch who tried to live as an ordinary suburban housewife — became an instant American icon with her signature nose twitch.
The show premiered on ABC on September 17, 1964, and ran until March 1972. It produced 254 episodes and stayed popular for years. Yet it ended not because the network canceled it or because ratings collapsed beyond recovery.
The network still wanted the series to continue.
What actually happened
By the later seasons, behind-the-scenes pressures had grown. Original Darrin Stephens actor Dick York left after season 5 because of severe back pain and related health issues stemming from an earlier film injury. Dick Sargent stepped in for the remaining seasons — a change many viewers noticed and some never fully accepted.
At the same time, Elizabeth Montgomery’s marriage to the show’s producer and frequent director, William Asher, was breaking down. The couple had three children together and had built the series as a professional and personal partnership. As the marriage unraveled, continuing the show became increasingly difficult.
According to accounts from people close to the production, including the son of executive producer Harry Ackerman, Montgomery made her position clear: she would only return for additional seasons under certain conditions involving Asher’s role. Those conditions were not met. She chose to walk away.
The series had been renewed for seasons 9 and 10. Montgomery’s decision ended it after season 8. The final episode, “The Truth, Nothing But the Truth, So Help Me Sam,” aired on March 25, 1972 (some records list March 12 in certain markets). It was a light comedy episode rather than a grand series finale, reflecting the unexpected nature of the stop.
After the magic
Montgomery and Asher divorced the following year. She deliberately moved away from the light comedy that had defined her for nearly a decade. She took on more dramatic television roles, including the Emmy-nominated A Case of Rape and the title role in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.
Cast members later confirmed the show was never formally canceled by ABC in the usual sense. They had expected to return. The decision came from the star who had carried the series from the beginning.
Why the story still resonates
Bewitched remains a cultural touchstone. Reruns, nostalgia, and the 2005 film adaptation keep Samantha’s world alive. The real ending is less sensational than some online claims about a single “infamous scene” or banned footage, but it is more human.
A popular show that still had network support stopped because its leading actress decided her personal life and future career mattered more than continuing. That choice closed one of the defining sitcoms of the 1960s and early 1970s.
The nose twitch lives on. The decision that ended the series was simply the star choosing a different path.
