We rewatched “My Beloved Witch” on INA Madelen and we are wringing our noses a little

Goofy, mischievous, but all in the service, deep down, of her little husband: “My Beloved Witch”, a sparkling sitcom from the 1960s, was both progressive and conservative. Seeing it again on the INA platform is instructive… and a little tense.

Un animated credits and a bouncy tune recognizable among thousands, and presto, here is the mischievous Samantha who twirls on her broom in a starry sky… And ends up landing in the flesh in a neat villa in the American suburbs. Witch and house fairy: such is the double hat of Madame Stephens, devoted wife of Jean-Pierre (Darrin in original version) and bubbly mother who solves everyday worries by waving the tip of her nose… See again My beloved witchthe first five seasons of which are available in colorized version on Madelen, the INA platform, is a time travel to the heart of white America in the 1960s. Where we understand what made the sitcom successful , broadcast on ABC between 1964 and 1972 (and repeatedly broadcast in France): an irresistible actress (Elizabeth Montgomery), burst gags and croquignolet special effects worthy of a boutique pranks and tricks… The sitcom was for the American public as much a mirror as a bubble of fantasy in a dark social context marked by the Vietman War.

Among the emblematic series of the Trente Glorieuses, My beloved witch occupies a special place in the collective memory: firstly because of its longevity (no less than 254 episodes), but also, and above all, because it remains perceived as a feminist fiction, to the point of being the subject of numerous university studies across the Atlantic. For the first time on the small screen, a mainstream comedy questioned the condition of housewives. An example? In episode 2 of the first season, we discover Samantha working on preparing breakfast. The mission turns into a fiasco: burnt toast, spilled orange juice, terrible coffee… No good at cooking, the devoted wife resorts to magic to present a dazzling table. The series makes fun of the excessive injunctions that weigh on the “good little average housewife”, as the voiceover says, ordered to be perfect. For what purpose? The sequence ends with the husband’s satisfaction, ready for a productive day at the office. Another example: during a cocktail party, the young wife transforms a client of her husband’s into a dog who is very flirtatious with her. Jean-Pierre panics: “You’re just my wife, he’s my situation!” »…

Obviously My beloved witch never claimed to shake the foundations of patriarchy (let’s not anticipate). But she undoubtedly initiated an awareness of the alienation of the woman assigned to the home, like a trapped candy. In a subtle way, Samantha embodies a form of contestation of the husband’s authority, using and abusing spells despite their prohibition. Impossible for her to repress her natural power. In this matter, nothing beats the nerve of Endora, Samantha’s mother, an over-made-up witch who appears at will to destroy her daughter’s way of life and torment this clumsy Jean-Pierre… Suffice it to say that My beloved witch deserves to be seen again for what it is: a fascinating object of ambivalence, oscillating between progressivism and conservatism, as other marital comedies would later do, and in particular Desperate Housewives.

q My beloved witchseason 1 to 5 available on Madelen.