The Day Tabitha Arrived on ‘Bewitched’ — and Changed the Show Forever

Lauren Novak January 13, 12:59 pm

Erin Murphy and Elizabeth Montgomery, Bewitched — Everett Collection

What To Know

Tabitha Stephens, the magical daughter of Samantha and Darrin, was introduced on Bewitched on January 13, 1966, marking a shift in the show’s focus to family life and domestic storylines.
Erin Murphy, who primarily played Tabitha, appeared in 103 episodes. She and her twin sister both originally played the part, in order to navigate child labor laws, though producers often relied more on Erin than regulations allowed.
Tabitha’s enduring popularity led to multiple spin-off attempts, including two pilots and a short-lived ABC series in the late 1970s, though none matched the original show’s success.

On January 13, 1966, Bewitched changed forever. In the season two episode “And Then There Were Three,” Samantha Stephens gave birth to a daughter, Tabitha, and with her arrival, the series shifted from a newlywed fantasy sitcom into a more domestic one. The episode itself is remembered for its hospital chaos, Eve Arden‘s guest appearance, and the debut of the mischievous cousin Serena, but of course, it was also the start of Tabitha’s storylines. It is hard to believe that she came onto the screen 60 years ago (Erin Murphy, who played Tabitha, recently celebrated her 61st birthday).

In honor of the anniversary, let’s look back on Tabitha and her role in Bewitched and beyond.

Introducing Tabitha

Tabitha Stephens was introduced as the witch daughter of Samantha and Darrin, inheriting her mother’s powers while being raised firmly in the mortal world. Samantha and Darrin worked tirelessly to teach Tabitha restraint, often reminding her that she “mustn’t twitch,” while Endora and Maurice quietly took pride in their magical granddaughter. Tabitha’s arrival created one of the few moments in the series where Endora and Darrin shared a genuinely kind exchange.

Araya Doheny/Getty Images; Everett Collection

As Tabitha moved from infant to toddler, the role was handled by multiple children, eventually settling on twins Erin and Diane Murphy beginning in season three. Erin Murphy ultimately became the primary Tabitha, appearing in 103 episodes of Bewitched between 1966 and 1972. Born in 1964, she was just two years old when she stepped into one of television’s most recognizable child roles. Decades later, Murphy has spoken candidly about what it took to keep Tabitha on screen under strict child labor laws. Twins were hired specifically because alternating children allowed productions to extend filming time legally. But Murphy has said producers relied far more heavily on her than regulations technically allowed.

According to Murphy, director and producer William Asher would sometimes walk her off set, announce that it was time to bring in her twin, and then quietly bring Erin right back on. The illusion of switching twins allowed production to continue. Murphy has said she was calm and well-behaved, which made the workaround possible, even if it bent the rules. It was the kind of thing, she has noted, that could never happen today. The difference between the twins became more noticeable as they grew older.

BEWITCHED, Agnes Moorehead, Erin Murphy, 1964-72

Everett Collection

Murphy recalled, according to Parade, “There was one episode in the entire eight years of the show where I had the mumps. They brought my sister in for that show [ “Samantha Fights City Hall”] where she had to slide up the sliding board backwards. The network got all these letters asking, ‘Why did you replace Tabitha?'”

Tabitha gets a series of her own

Tabitha’s popularity lingered long after Bewitched ended in 1972, prompting ABC to explore a spinoff series focused on the character as an adult. The idea first took shape in a 1976 pilot titled Tabitha, starring Liberty Williams.

In that version, Tabitha lived in San Francisco, worked for a magazine, and had a brother, Adam, who was a full-fledged warlock. The pilot, directed by Bewitched veteran William Asher, failed to sell. A second pilot aired in May 1977, this time starring Lisa Hartman as Tabitha, now reimagined as a twenty-something production assistant at a Los Angeles television station. Adam was rewritten as her older, mortal brother, shifting the familiar Bewitched dynamic so that he discouraged magic much as Darrin once had. A new character, Aunt Minerva, was added to fill the meddling-witch role once occupied by Endora.

ABC picked up the revised version as a series, which premiered in September 1977 and ran for 11 episodes. Despite appearances by original Bewitched characters such as Dr. Bombay and the Kravitzes, the show struggled in the ratings. After schedule disruptions and a move to a less favorable time slot, Tabitha was canceled in January 1978, finishing near the bottom of ABC’s lineup. Even so, she remains an iconic character in TV history.