Why did they switch Darrins on Bewitched?
Dick York left the show at the end of the 5th season due to chronic back problems. York suffered a seizure while filming #167, Daddy Does His Thing just after the Thanksgiving holidays in 1968. This event was brought on by years of constant pain caused by an injury suffered on a movie set in 1959. Dick Sargent was brought on as a replacement at the beginning of the 6th season. A very pregnant Samantha is seen painting a crib in the back yard and Darrin is practicing his golf swing while they discuss names for the baby in # 171 Samantha and the Beanstalk when viewers first saw the new Darrin. The switch was never addressed on the air. Viewers of the show became bewitched by the chemistry between York and Montgomery and the show was an immediate success. This made it hard for fans to accept the new Darrin. For more information on the impact of the switch, please read The Decline of Bewitched.
