Bewitched

darkshadows38

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that's a decent movie actually i just love those old beach movies i always have
 

Miss Texas 1967

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I like the show but the charm is a bit dulled for me by the way Darrin treats Sam. I get that it's a moment in time thing but it was unfair then and bothers me now.
 

darkshadows38

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did anyone know that Dick York apparently did fall in love with Elizabeth Montgomery i dunno when that was he'd be on his back lying down resting it when he wasn't filming and would just stare at her and it like anyone would creep her out like anyone would feel that way. one thing i noticed when watching her being interviewed though she never Spoke to York again i don't think. she never did bring him up at all once he left i don't think at least not to anyone in public anyways she never said a bad word about him as far as i can tell. but she ended up getting closed to Dick Sargent later on in life. if i recall if my memory is right they didn't get along when they were on the show but than i could be wrong on that
 

Crimson

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Dick York had severe back issues that caused increasingly significant production delays. I don't think the producers of BEWITCHED were unsympathetic towards his issues but, at the end of the day, they had a business to run; the entire cast & crew couldn't be continuously delayed due to one person.

Apparently Dick Sargent had been the first choice for Darren. I'm inclined to think that if he had been cast in the first season, BEWITCHED wouldn't have been a hit. Despite being friends, he and Liz had absolutely zero on screen chemistry together.
 

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William Froug, the producer of the third season, stated in an Academy of Television interview that during his first production meeting when he joined the show, Montgomery stated, “We have to get rid of him!” He asked a colleague after who Montgomery was referring to, and he was told it was Dick York.
 

Grant Jennings

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Dick York was very attracted to Elizabeth Montgomery and he let her know it - despite the fact they were both married to other people at the time. York was prescribed narcotics to deal with his chronic back pain; over time he became more dependent on the narcotics and began to increase his dosage. The narcotics lessened York's inhibitions and his behavior toward Elizabeth Montgomery became less professional and more inappropriate.

Elizabeth Montgomery's discomfort with Dick York along with the departure of Danny Arnold as writer/producer and the ABC executives' request for broader comedy all combined to change the tone of Bewitched from a romantic comedy to one that stressed the fantasy/magical elements of the plot. Though William Froug was credited as producer in season three, William Asher was producer in all but title by that time.

Though it is often repeated that Dick York's back pain led to his increasing absences and eventual departure from Bewitched, his dependence on narcotics played a larger role. In January of 1969 York suffered seizures due to an overdose of narcotics which required hospitalization. While in the hospital, York spoke with William Asher and the two decided that York would not be returning to the series. A lot of interesting stories have circulated since York's departure about the various scenarios the producers considered to explain his absence but William Asher made up his mind very quickly how he wanted to handle the situation: within days of his conversation with York, he reached out to Dick Sargent and told him to be sure to be available when filming of the sixth season of Bewitched began that Summer. Asher told Sargent that, provided ABC and Screen Gems agreed, he would replace Dick York as Darrin Stephens.
 
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Treeviewer

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I like the show but the charm is a bit dulled for me by the way Darrin treats Sam. I get that it's a moment in time thing but it was unfair then and bothers me now.
The logic rests heavily on the fact that Sam kept her witchcraft a secret until after the wedding as well as her own supposed desire to live as a mortal, but one would think that eventually all concerned would admit that that was just not practical.
 

Miss Texas 1967

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The logic rests heavily on the fact that Sam kept her witchcraft a secret until after the wedding as well as her own supposed desire to live as a mortal, but one would think that eventually all concerned would admit that that was just not practical.
I just don't like how poorly Darrin treats Sam about such ultimately unimportant things. Why on earth did she need to be an ordinary housewife the "normal" way if there was an easier way? He certainly wasn't the one doing the work nor was he actually affected by it. Most of the time if he'd just let her do her thing they'd have ended up with less problems than they actually had (which I get means the plots would have had to be different, but it could be done). The quote on the previous page about bigotry sends the message that they wanted to push a message of tolerance and while yes, Endora needed to tolerate Darrin better because she was rude to him, Darrin could do with giving the same courtesy.
I think the show is fun and aesthetically pleasing but I always find myself less frustrated by the relationship between Jeannie and Tony for the express reason that Darrin's attitude needn't have been as it was.
 

darkshadows38

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was that Season 3? Dick York Fell in love with Elizabeth Montgomery he wasn't just attracted to her, there's a video on you tube where he was interviewed before he died my guess not long before he died where you can tell he was still in love with her. one of the reasons she i think she wanted to get rid of him was to take a guess one of the reasons anyways her at the time Husband was apparently Cheating on her at the time so it prolly hit too close to home. or so i hear course him staring at her also gave her the creeps and it's quite sad cause York was the Better Darren and a lot of it no doubt has to do with the fact that he was actually in love with her
 

Grant Jennings

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I just don't like how poorly Darrin treats Sam about such ultimately unimportant things. Why on earth did she need to be an ordinary housewife the "normal" way if there was an easier way? He certainly wasn't the one doing the work nor was he actually affected by it. Most of the time if he'd just let her do her thing they'd have ended up with less problems than they actually had (which I get means the plots would have had to be different, but it could be done). The quote on the previous page about bigotry sends the message that they wanted to push a message of tolerance and while yes, Endora needed to tolerate Darrin better because she was rude to him, Darrin could do with giving the same courtesy.
I think the show is fun and aesthetically pleasing but I always find myself less frustrated by the relationship between Jeannie and Tony for the express reason that Darrin's attitude needn't have been as it was.
I love that people have reevaluated Bewitched; whereas Darrin was conceived as a sympathetic "everyman" and Endora was the "meddlesome mother-in-law" many people have come to view Darrin more critically and Endora more sympathetically (similar to Frankie and Sable on The Colbys). Several people involved with Bewitched said they deliberately intended the show to be analogous to real life mixed marriages. Darrin and Samantha decided to conceal Sam's true identity while in real life many couples concealed the race, ethnicity or religion of one of the spouses.

The gay community has embraced Bewitched and I think it's clearly because we can identify with Samantha: she is told to conceal who she truly is. The fact that the part of herself Samantha has to conceal is wonderful - literally magical - sends a very powerful message.
 

darkshadows38

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i never gave it much thought to be honest to me Endora who does have her moments also has her moments by the time the show ended you'd think that she'd warm up to Darren but nope. but i'm not really thinking that deep into it anyways either
 

Grant Jennings

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was that Season 3? Dick York Fell in love with Elizabeth Montgomery he wasn't just attracted to her, there's a video on you tube where he was interviewed before he died my guess not long before he died where you can tell he was still in love with her. one of the reasons she i think she wanted to get rid of him was to take a guess one of the reasons anyways her at the time Husband was apparently Cheating on her at the time so it prolly hit too close to home. or so i hear course him staring at her also gave her the creeps and it's quite sad cause York was the Better Darren and a lot of it no doubt has to do with the fact that he was actually in love with her
It was before the start of production of season three that Elizabeth Montgomery told William Froug she didn't want to work with Dick York. York may have developed romantic feelings for Montgomery over time but initially it was her physical attributes, specifically her legs, that appealed to him. As a beautiful woman working in show business during the 50s and 60s I imagine Elizabeth Montgomery had to tolerate a lot of inappropriate comments and unwelcome advances; York's behavior must have been especially bad or so frequent that Montgomery simply couldn't tolerate it any longer. Everything I've read leads me to believe the collapse of Montgomery and Asher's marriage and their mutual infidelities came later. I'm inclined to think that Asher's failure to support his wife when she stood up to a co-worker's sexual harassment did irreparable damage to their marriage.
 

Grant Jennings

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i never gave it much thought to be honest to me Endora who does have her moments also has her moments by the time the show ended you'd think that she'd warm up to Darren but nope. but i'm not really thinking that deep into it anyways either
A logical story arc would have been for Endora, who was an intelligent woman who loved her daughter and grandchildren, to eventually warm to Darrin (we even catch a glimpse of this when Tabitha is born) but by the time it would have made sense for that to happen the the cast and crew had "checked out": the writers were simply writing re-treads of earlier, better, scripts and Elizabeth Montgomery was no longer emotionally invested in the series.
 

ClassyCo

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I've been on a BEWITCHED kick as of late. I've had the complete series for a while, and during some downtime, I've popped in a few episodes and watched them.

Overall, I find it to be a very rewarding and enjoyable comedy. A lot of the praises is due to the cast; and not just the top billed actors like Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, and Agnes Moorehead, but to the fleshed out ensemble, consisting of a variety of talents, such as Paul Lynde and Alice Ghostley.

I understand the mysticism surrounding that first B&W season, but I honestly feel like BEWITCHED was made for the color screen. I mean, the show is a fantasy, and color and fantasy traditionally go hand-in-hand. (And, yes, I know some might present the argument that the show was initiated as a romantic comedy and evolved into a more formulaic comedy.)

I've been enjoying what I've been watching. I haven't been taking in major doses, but enough to satisfy my curiosity.​
 

Crimson

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BEWITCHED was long one of my favorite classic sitcoms, but my enjoyment of it has taken a serious hit in recent years. The older I get, the more I realize Endora wasn't the "villain" -- she was right. Samantha was an idiot and Derwood was a jerk.
 

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I saw an interview with Dick Sargent once, where he was asked why Darrin didn't want Samantha to use magic
He replied, humorously, by saying that well, there was no show without that dynamic LOL!
Dick York was a hard act to follow, but I think Dick Sargent was a good enough choice
in a no-win situation.
 
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