Erin Murphy is best known for playing Tabitha Stephens on the 1960s sitcom Bewitched. The series aired from 1954 to 1972 on ABC, and fans watched Murphy grow from a baby into a nose-twitching 7-year-old on the hit series.
But despite its popularity, Bewitched didn’t have an official series finale.
In an October 2025 interview with Remind magazine, Murphy, now 61, revealed she couldn’t share any fond memories about the series finale because there wasn’t one. Instead, the show just ended.
“The reason I have no special memories of the final episode is that it wasn’t supposed to be the final episode,” Murphy explained. “We all had contracts for two more years, our show had been picked up for two more seasons, and we went on hiatus like always, expecting to come back.”
Murphy revealed that series star Elizabeth Montgomery made the decision to stop the show.
“We all received telegrams and letters which explained that Liz had decided not to do the show anymore, and that we wouldn’t be coming back,” Murphy said. “The final episode was just like any other week of the show. None of us knew it was the final episode while we were filming it.”
The actress added that there was no goodbye party at all, just the usual end-of-season wrap party the cast attended before being notified that the show was ending.
A post on a Bewitched fan Facebook group shows a letter that is allegedly from Bewitched producer Harry Ackerman informing cast member Agnes Moorehead that “Bewitched will not be making any more shows.” The apologetic EP added that the series had a “fine run.” The note is dated April 12, 1972, just weeks after the show’s 254th and final episode aired on ABC.
The episode, titled “The Truth, Nothing But the Truth, So Help Me Sam,” was a bit of a knock off of a previous episode, Season 2’s“Speak the Truth.” In both episodes, Moorehead’s Endora character tested her son-in-law Darrin’s honesty by putting a spell on him.
The end of Bewitched came as Montgomery wanted to focus on other acting roles.
According to Bewitched historian Herbie Pilato’s book, Bewitched Forever, Montgomery decided to “leave the party while it was still popping and move on to other projects.”
Pilato noted that while CBS’ All in the Family aired opposite Bewitched in the 1971-72 season, the fantasy sitcom was still popular enough to get a three-year renewal before Montgomery decided to step away.
Bewitched found a new life in syndication the following year and remains on the air today.
As for the show’s ending popularity, Murphy told Closer Weekly, “People like the magical aspect of it. … And I think it translates well to other languages, because it’s a very visual show and there are different things that appeal to different people.”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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