Darrin’s Bad Back
Things were not easy for actor Dick York who portrayed Darrin. While filming They Came to Cordura in 1959 he severely injured his back. During Bewitched‘s third season, his health problems even delayed production. The producers and writers worked around it so York was lying down or sitting in most episodes. Thus, his character was often away on business. While filming the episode, “Daddy Does His Thing,” in January 1969, he collapsed and never returned to Bewitched. Next, Dick Sargent was hired to replace him that very month. However, audiences did not seem to like the switch because ratings dropped significantly.
Darrin’s Bad Back
It’s Not You, It’s Deja Vu
Hey, it wasn’t just the finale that pulled from previous work. As Bewitched‘s rating began to drop, there was a correlation with its decline in writing. Once actor Dick Young left Bewitched, fans began to lose interest. A lot of the episodes were simply copies of earlier ones or even other shows’ storylines. Since producer of Bewitched William Asher also directed I Love Lucy, he often copied storylines from I Love Lucy. One such instance was for the episode, “Samantha’s Power Failure.” In that episode, we watched Uncle Arthur and Serena working in a candy factory where they dipped bananas in nuts and chocolate before packaging the bananas.
It’s Not You, It’s Deja Vu