literally put on a pedestal
‘Samantha’ Spells Disrespect to Some
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.
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“Our network is all about celebrating classic television. We put them on the air, and in these cases, we literally put them on pedestals,” said Robert Pellizzi, TV Land senior vice president, in New York. “It’s a fun way to get people to smile and think about their favorite TV shows.”
Since to “put someone on a pedestal” is figurative (meaning to extremely admire), this is the correct use of literally.
It is especially clever in this case, because in addition to figuratively putting the television shows “on the air”, they are literally lifting the statues up in the air.
