Everyone knows — or should — that in their last TV season, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo moved to Westport. The “I Love Lucy” episode in which the hapless redhead accidentally destroyed a Minuteman-like statue is part of town lore.
Samantha "Sam" Stephens
But who knew that Samantha “Sam” Stephens — the blonde witch from the popular “Bewitched” show — was also a Westporter?
Alert “06880” reader John Suggs spotted this character bio on TVAcres.com:
Samantha is a homemaker. She is blond, beautiful, and a witch. Born on June 6th on the eve of the Galactic Rejuvenation and Dinner Dance, Samantha’s fate was to fall in love with a mortal human named Darrin Stephens who works as an advertising executive for McMann and Tate ad agency in Manhattan.
Above the entry was her TV address: 1164 Morning Glory Circle, Westport, CT. The name sounds like a Westport road — even though it’s not — but the street number doesn’t. The Post Road is the only place we go above the hundreds.
The website listed her “phone numbers”: 555-7328 (or 2134, 2368, 6161). Except for the “555” — the one used in every TV show and movie, so folks don’t start calling actual numbers — it sounds legit. Back in the 1960s and early ’70s, it was a special Westport status symbol to have more than 1 phone line.
And, of course, back in the day every man in Westport worked for an ad agency.
The Ricardos and Sam are not the only Westport TV characters, of course. Rod Serling sometimes worked his hometown into “Twilight Zone” scripts.
We’re on the lookout for more local television connections. “Bonanza” is probably out, but if “Bewitched” could be set here, everything else seems game.