Be It Ever So Mortgaged

 is the second episode of the first season of Bewitched. The episode was completed by September 11, 1964.

Plot
Darrin is buying a new house and wants Samantha to take a look. She and Endora arrive at 1164 Morning Glory Circle. Endora does not like it and wants to leave, but Samantha stays and the two of them zap up plants and trees to get an idea of how to landscape the yard.

Across the street are their new neighbors, nosy Gladys Kravitz and her retired husband Abner Kravitz. Gladys has been watching the construction of the house from the beginning and now she sees Samantha's and Endora's magic in action. She tells Abner, but he does not believe her.

Samantha and Endora go inside and decorate the interiors to get an idea of what Samantha would like. Gladys peeps in the living room window and is shocked into hysterics to see a fully furnished house.

As with the landscaping, Samantha makes the furnishings disappear. They will take out a loan to buy their own furniture. Endora leaves and Samantha waits for Darrin. Gladys is determined to find out what is happening and goes to the new house to find out. Darrin answers the door and kisses Mrs. Kravitz, thinking she is Samantha's mother. Gladys screams and runs back home. She tries to explain these things to her husband, but Abner is convinced that his wife is losing her mind.

Endora cynically watches from the roof as Darrin and Samantha embrace and enter their new home.

General

 * This episode marks the first appearance of Gladys and Abner Kravitz.
 * Endora reads a magazine entitled "Harpies Bizarre", which is an allusion to the magazine "Harper's Bazaar".
 * The title alludes to a line in the folk song, "There's No Place Like Home" - Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
 * In the last scene, Endora breaks the fourth wall and says to the camera about Samantha's marriage, "Believe me. It'll never work."

Casting

 * Jim Backus was the original choice for Abner Kravitz, but he turned it down because of his commitment to "Gilligan's Island".

Production

 * This episode was completed along with the next five episodes by September 11, 1964. All scenes without Samantha were filmed previously and Elizabeth Montgomery came back from maternity leave to film her scenes which were then inserted into the episodes.

Cast

 * Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens
 * Dick York as Darrin Stephens
 * Agnes Moorehead as Endora
 * Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz
 * George Tobias as Abner Kravitz
 * José Ferrer as the Narrator (uncredited)