The series was good. The end was not. In the last season, they ran out ideas, or steam, or whatever. The "magic" was all gone. It didn't help that Ms Montgomery and her producer husband were splitting up.
Apparently Ms Montgomery had tried to get out of this season as she felt that the quality of the program had already declined. Her sarcastic attitude this season is thinly veiled. Such a drastic change from the early episodes where she was a woman so deeply in love with her husband, they would overcome any obstacle together.
Like many fans, I did not feel the on screen chemistry between Dick Sargent and Ms Montgomery was very good. Unfortunately, Dick York had some health problems and was asked to leave the show as he had become unreliable.

It's interesting that, for this season, the manufacturers chose to picture the "old" Darrin instead of the new, even though he's not in this season! This season isn't bad, but... it's very clear that the cast knew that it was "over." Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha) really acts like a woman who knows she doesn't have to put up with her "husband" very much longer, as opposed to the dewy, "whatever you say darling" approach of the previous seasons. Budget must have been low, as hardly any of the usual guest-stars appear in this season - no Kravitzes, almost none of Samantha's relatives. "Serena" is used several times (obviously to save money), and Esmeralda appears fairly often; even Endora is conspicuously absent. It's also clear that the child actor chosen for Adam (the youngest child) turned out to be a dud - so even though, early in the season, there's an effort to show that Adam in fact has powers, that is never exploited (because presumably he simply could not act). Finally, the season simply recycles a bunch of scripts from earlier seasons. The season is fine if you want to just round out your collection, but it's a bit of "going out with a whimper."

In Episode #239, "The Warlock In The Gray Flannel Suit", while witnessing the latest argument between her mortal husband Darrin (Dick Sargent) and her grande- dame witch mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead), Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) says, "I think I'm in a rut!" This is precisely the problem with the final season of "Bewitched." The writers, so creative and imaginitive in Seasons 1-7, seem to have gone as far as possible with the series' magical, mixed-marriage premise and began to heavily recycle scripts from previous, far superior seasons.
Season 8 starts out magnificently , with a seven episode storyline, similar to the successful Season Seven "Salem Saga", of "Samantha and Darrin's European Vacation." The two- part opening story involving King Henry VIII (Ronald Long) is especially elaborate. When Esmeralda (Alice Ghostly) straightens Italy's Leaning Tower Of Pisa, she screams, "I'm cured!" And Samantha replies, "You're cured and I'm sick!" Also in Italy, Endora and Samantha bring statues of Venus and Adonis to life. In England, an amorous ghost takes possession of Darrin's body.
In "Hansel And Gretel in Samanthaland," Billie Hayes ("Witchiepoo" from "H.R. Pufnstuff") guest stars as a storybook witch who captures Tabitha (Erin Murphy). Samantha pops into the story of "Hansel and Gretel" to rescue her. Showing which witch is boss, Samantha says, "You're not messing around with any storybook witch. I happen to be the real thing." And she promptly turns Hansel & Gretel's Witch into a fairy godmother. In "Samantha Is Earthbound", Samantha suffers from a gravitational pull that makes her weigh 500 pounds, causing her to fall and sink, Dr. Bombay's (Bernard Fox) "cure", however, leaves her literally in mid-air. In "Serena's Youth Pill", crazy Cousin Serena gives Darrin's boss Larry Tate (David White) a pill that transforms the "silver fox into a red haired devil." At first, Larry reverts back to 1961, then a teenager, and a child. This episode is hilarious, and the sparkle is momentarily back in Elizabeth Montgomery's eyes.
** BEYOND "BEWITCHED": Several real-life realities, in addition to the above- mentioned writers' creative block, brought "Bewitched" to an end. The TV landscape was changing rapidly. By 1971, "Bewitched" aired on Saturday night, directly opposite the astringent social satire of "All In The Family." Compared to Archie Bunker's blustry bigotry, Samantha's special enchantments already belonged to a gentler, more innocent TV era. The series fell to an all-time low of #72 in the ratings. Still, ABC eagerly renewed "Bewitched" for a ninth season. But Elizabeth Montgomery, after 254 episodes, and with her marriage to husband/director William Asher on the rocks, sensibly decided not to continue. William Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery separated in 1972 and divorced in 1974. William Asher went on to direct more TV Sitcoms. Immediately after completing "Bewitched" in 1972, Elizabeth Montgomery appeared in a TV movie for ABC entitled "The Victim." This spooky movie signaled the dramatic turn her career would soon take. Elizabeth shrewdly and deftly avoided being typecast by "Bewitched" and Samantha by appearing in a series of critically acclaimed TV movies, earning Emmy Award nominations for "A Case Of Rape" (1974), "The Legend Of Lizzie Borden" (1975), and the mini-series "The Awakening Land" (1978). The fact that Elizabeth never received an Emmy for her work on "Bewitched" or any of her subsequent dramatic TV movies is absolutely appalling and beyond belief.