I’m thinking Bewitched type magic, and I Dream of Jeannie.
I think “My Favorite Martian” predates these two by a year or so…but is that the first one of this genre?
Weren’t his abilities the result of him being Martian? In which case either it doesn’t count, or that TV show about a superpowered Kryptonian predates it.
The first appearance of Witch Hazel in Looney Tunes was 1954, ten years before bewitched. Though, funnily enough, the name of the episode was Bewitched Bunny.
Her first ever appearance was two years earlier, but in a short film rather than on a tv show.
Would that have been on TV? My understanding is that, until the 70s, the Looney Tunes were aired on the big screen (and only on the big screen).
Ahah, no it looks like they were broadcast on TV shortly after release in the cinema.
If animated stuff is discounted, I’d throw in Lassie and every human who’s able to understand what she’s saying. Alternately, there’s probably some cowboy show where the sheriff kills more bad guys than the total population of his town…
I was born in 1955, and I grew up watching Looney Toons on TV.
Do ghosts count as magical? Topper, with Leo G Carroll, came on TV in 1953. It was based on the 1937 movie of the same name starring Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, and Billie Burke.
Ninja’ed.
I was about to bring up Topper as well.
The wonderful Anne Jeffreys who played the ghost Marion Kerby (all these years I thought it was “Kirby”) was the last surviving regular. Dying in 2017, age 94.
Stephen Sondheim co-wrote eleven episodes.
Among the guest stars who went on to later fame include Natalie Schafer, Kathleen Freeman, John Banner, Nancy Kulp, and Hugh Beaumont.
My Favorite Martian was created in 1963 by John L. Greene, who also wrote for Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, as well as many other shows.
But @terentii is right that Topper, based on a 1937 movie of the same name with Cary Grant and Roland Young as the title ghost, predates any of the 1960s shows.
Nitpick: Cary Grant was the nonconventional, fun-loving ghost George Kerby, Marion’s husband. Roland Young played stuffy old Cosmo Topper, George’s banker.
I see from Wikipedia that TV Cosmo’s boss Mr Schuyler was played by an actor named Thurston Howell. I wonder if he was any relation to Jim Backus? 
“The Great Gazoo” first appeared on “The Flintstones” in 1965. BTW, he was voiced by Harvey Korman.
Thurston Hall. Though, the actor’s name may well have been inspiration for the character’s name.
My Mother the Car aired in 1965.
Which premiered in 1965, a year after Bewitched, and which was created in response to the success of Bewitched in its first season (#2 in the overall Nielsen ratings, and the top-rated situation comedy).
See above, as far as coincident timing. Also on The Flintstones in 1965 was a crossover episode with Bewitched, which featured Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York voicing the animated versions of their characters.
You’re, right. I completely misremembered the plot.
Huh. I guess I need new eyeglasses. 