Bewitched in Salem
[A] fictional psychologist named Dr. Robert Hartley (aka Bob Newhart) is commemorated with a bronze-couch statue on Chicago's Michigan Avenue. A bronze image of Mary Richards, played by Mary Tyler Moore, tossing her tam stands on Seventh Street in Minneapolis.
A bronze statue honoring Jackie Gleason in his role as bus driver Ralph Kramden, from "The Honeymooners," greets travelers at New York City's Port Authority bus terminal. And in Raleigh, N.C., the real Andy Griffith presided at the dedication of a statue depicting Sheriff Andy Taylor and his son, Opie, headed off on a fishing expedition.
And now TV Land wants to put a statue of Samantha from Bewitched in Salem, Massachusetts.
But a few Salem witches aren't happy about it:
Witch plaques and statues abound in Salem. But when city leaders recently announced plans for a new bronze effigy – a statue honoring the fictional witch Samantha Stephens from the television show "Bewitched" – some in Salem felt the devil was at work.
"It is kind of disrespectful, because we are striving to get away from that TV image," said Melissa Coombs, 23, who said she has been a witch since she was 14.
Coombs, who works in a witch store, said: "This is a religion, not something to make fun of. As it is, people come into the store and think we can make stuff move for them."
We sympathize with the disgruntled witches. It's hard to get respect for a bogus religion. This could help set their cause back to 1692 levels.
