***This is season 5's episodes in order of filming. Season 3 and 4's episodes are on the next page.***

At Harpies Bizarre, there was a thread http://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/index.html?#1282812033 concerning the timeline for Dick York's exit from the show, as not all that much is known about it, and IMO, it's better to try and get the facts straight than rely on rumors. Since Harpies posts disappear into the ether after a certain period of time, I copied them here http://majicst.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bewitchedrelaed&action=display&thread=16. There were a lot of fascinating posts.

Dick York's own account of his last day is here http://www.bewitched.net/filmfax.htm#bewit. I think he says it was "summer" because in California, it would've felt like it.

If anyone knows anything else about this, please post.

The episode list is copied and pasted from a below post here, merely because it's relevant (and I've added some stuff).

The date in which the episodes were aired were not the same order in which they were produced. I think the makers of "Bewitched" purposely staggered the non-Dick York episode airdates around so it seemed like Darrin was there more often.

This production order list was compiled by David*P, with the date the episode was completed, followed by the airdate, then the DVD disc number it's on for season 5:

__________________________________
#142 Samantha Goes South For a Spell 6/27/68 10/3/68 (1)
#144 Darrin Gone! and Forgotten! 7/3/68 10/17/68 (1)
#152 Weep No More My Willow 7/11/68 12/19/68 (2)
#143 Samantha on the Keyboard 7/18/68 10/10/68 (1)
#145 It's So Nice to Have a Spouse Around the House 7/25/68 10/24/68 (1)
#141 Samantha's Wedding Present 8/2/68 9/26/68 (1)
#146 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall 8/8/68 11/7/68 (1)
#164 Battle of Burning Oak 8/15/68 3/13/69 (4)
#148 Is It Magic or Imagination? 8/22/68 11/21/68 (2)
#149 Samantha Fights City Hall 8/29/68 11/29/68 (2)
#147 Samantha's French Pastry 9/6/68 11/14/68 (1)
#154 Samantha's Supermaid 9/12/68 1/2/69 (2)
#170 Samantha & Darrin in Mexico City 9/19/68 4/24/69 (4)
#151 I Don't Want to be a Toad... 9/27/68 12/12/68 (2)
#150 Sam Loses Her Voice 10/4/68 12/5/68 (2)
#155 Cousin Serena Strikes Again (I) 10/10/68 1/9/69 (2)
#156 Cousin Serena Strikes Again (II) 10/15/68 1/16/69 (3)
#153 Instant Courtesy 10/22/68 12/26/68 (2)
#157 One Touch of Midas 11/14/68 1/23/69 (3)
#158 Samantha the Bard 11/21/68 1/30/69 (3)
#159 Samantha the Sculptress 11/27/68 2/6/69 (3)
#160 Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You? 12/11/68 2/13/69 (3) (No Dick York)
#161 Marriage, Witches' Style 1/20/69 2/20/69 (3) (No DY)
#162 Going Ape 1/27/69 2/27/69 (3) (No DY)
#163 Tabitha's Weekend 2/3/69 3/6/69 (3) (No DY)
#165 Samantha's Power Failure 2/10/69 3/20/69 (4) (No DY)
#166 Sam Twitches for UNICEF 2/19/69 3/27/69 (4) (No DY)
#167 Daddy Does His Thing 2/25/69 4/3/69 (4) (Dick York's last episode. Arfies' note: This is the one he collapsed during the making of. However, the completion date here is more than likely when they finished the "mule" scenes rather than the "Darrin" scenes, as they had to change the entire episode's plot due to his hospitalization. Judging by old newspaper articles, York's seizure occurred sometime in January, as an article had him resigning from the show "last Friday," or January 24, probably after a while in the hospital. Originally (judging by York's script on eBay), this episode was to be a two-parter called "Samantha's Surprise," probably referring to when Samantha was going to tell Darrin she was pregnant again (which she later did by phone in the non-Darrin "Samantha's Good News." At the beginning of "Daddy Does His Thing," Sam does mention she has a surprise "for both of us," which she never says later on.) The two-parter later was reused by Dick Sargent as "Daddy Comes for a Visit" and "Darrin the Warlock."
#168 Samantha's Good News 3/4/69 4/10/69 (4) (No DY)
#169 Samantha's Shopping Spree 3/11/69 4/17/69 (4) (No DY)
__________________________________

So it seems like most of the episodes York missed were not on a week-by-week "will he show or won't he?" basis, but instead in one big chunk after he collapsed on the set (with the exception of "Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?")

Judging by the length of time between the completion dates of "Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?" (12/11/68, which York wasn't in) and "Marriage, Witches' Style" (1/20/69), even allowing for a Christmas break, I'm going to guess that York's breakdown happened between those two dates, leaning toward January. In William Asher's interview on bewitched.net, he does say it was "after Christmas." In addition, the script of "Samantha's Surprise" is dated January 6 (?)- it's a single-digit that's kind of hard to read.

Interesting read.

Thanks! I re-watched "Daddy Does His Thing," which as stated, was the episode that "Samantha's Surprise" was turned into after York's collapse.

York does look sort of "out of it," pausing before delivering his lines, but stays through it like a trouper. Maurice gives Darrin a watch that he says will give him magic powers. Darrin refuses, and he turns him into a mule. The "turning-into-a-mule" thing was only supposed to last briefly, then the rest of the two-parter was to follow the plot of what became "Daddy Comes for a Visit, pt. 1" and "Darrin the Warlock, pt. 2." Those two episodes are partial remakes of Season 1's "A is for Aardvark."

Looking at its re-write, "Daddy Comes for a Visit:" Maurice gives Darrin a watch that he says will give him magic powers. Darrin refuses, and he turns him into a dog. Maurice changes him back, then the rest of the episode continues, with the "jackass" jokes replaced with dog jokes. ("Thank you, from the bottom of my withers" becomes "Thank you, from the bottom of my jowls.")

Dick York mentioned his seizure was during a scene where he and Maurice Evans were sitting on scaffolding- a scene which doesn't appear in "Daddy Does His Thing," but does appear in "Daddy Comes for a Visit," when Maurice and Darrin are spying on the Bliss board meeting. Again, the "Samantha's Surprise" script does have characters named Bliss Jr. and Bliss Sr. I wonder how much of the episode York finished, as scenes are often shot out of order.

This is an "inky" : http://www.panavision.com/product_detail.php?imgid=269&id=223&cat=54

Oddly, "Daddy Does His Thing" is credited to writer Michael Morris, while "Daddy Comes for a Visit" and "Darrin the Warlock" are credited to Rick Mittleman and Ed Jurist. "Story" credit is given to Rick Mittleman, even though Earl Barret wrote the original "A is for Aardvark."

In "Daddy Does His Thing," it's pretty obvious they're trying to kill time. Not only with the "mule" scenes, but also when Maurice does a flashback of when he turned Darrin into a mule- not only does he play it as it was, but then BACKWARDS. Must've been interesting for the writers to try and come up with things to fit within the existing footage they had while still trying to make a semi-coherent episode. No wonder it took so long to finish. Elizabeth Montgomery's "baby bump" is slightly bigger in the "mule scenes," too.

I have to go back and rewatch, I missed alot of things.

WOW. Dick York gave his own perspective on that day in his posthumously published memoir:

Hey Arfies, I went back through that message board and tried to read through the two pages and there's some threads that talk about the show "Mad Men" and references to Bewitched. I really don't watch the show but are there many of them?

Is it because the writers are fans of the show or maybe because Liz's daughter is the script consultant for season four or what? Just curious.

Yes- that Filmfax article quotes "The Seesaw Girl and Me," which hadn't been published at that point. I was so happy when it finally came out.


Is she?? I didn't know that about Rebecca Asher! Cool!

I should've linked here instead on Harpies: http://members2.boardhost.com/bewitched/thread/1282812033.html

There's only the one reference on "Mad Men" so far, but it was cool that it was there. I wonder if they even knew that Rebecca Asher was Liz and Bill Asher's daughter? I hope so.

I think they HAD to make a reference to "Bewitched" sooner or later, given that it's 1965 and takes place at a New York advertising agency. I've never seen a full episode yet, but I want to.

I'd find it hard to believe that she'd be working on Mad Men right now in season four and the writers/director(s) not know who she is, wouldn't you? At the same time, I've tried to keep up with her a little by tracking her on IMDB and she does seem to do a couple of shows a year as a script consultant. She did about 40 episodes of Arrested Development and directed the second to last episode of that series. I'm not sure if she's switching projects every year by choice or due to shows being canceled or what. So I guess with all the hopping around it could be possible that the Mad Men crew wouldn't know who she is.

Seems like kind of a pain though. Apparently a script consultant works really close with the director of a show and has to be very organized and have the ability to keep a lot of details straight and maybe even sub for the director on occasions. So I'd imagine once you start to get comfortable with a director on a series, the job itself might get a bit easier for you. So it must be difficult when you are forced to start over again on a new show. Almost like starting an entire job from scratch in some cases, I'd imagine.

Rebecca's apparently the only of Liz's children in the business. And really, she didn't get going in that until a couple of years after Liz passed. I just thought it was ironic that Mad Men referenced the program once with an Asher on the crew of their own show. :)

^ I'm pretty sure that Rebecca is Liz's only child in the business. Liz's eldest, Billy, has a custom-made guitar business (http://www.asherguitars.com/) and I don't know what her middle child Robert does for a living.

The only good part about "Daddy Does His Thing" is the dress that Liz/Sam wears throughout:

The only good part about "Daddy Does His Thing" is the dress that Liz/Sam wears throughout:

Yes I have always loved that dress that Elizabeth wears during that sad episode as well. I think she might have only worn it once on the show. I can't recall seeing her wear it again unlike some other outfits which reappeared in a number of episodes

And you always have to love Maurice with his gigantic martini glasses. :crazy: :lol:

Hello to everyone on this great forum just joined up 2 minutes ago.Big Bewitched fan.
Anyway i did see a video on harpers bewitched site that involved Dick York that he was that broke that he use to collect aluminum cans to literally survive to pay bills.Also when he did die i remember footage on tv they showed when his goatie beard was so long and i think he had a tube up his nose due to years of smoking and would anyone have that picture by the way,thanks.:)

Hello to everyone on this great forum just joined up 2 minutes ago.Big Bewitched fan.
Anyway i did see a video on harpers bewitched site that involved Dick York that he was that broke that he use to collect aluminum cans to literally survive to pay bills.Also when he did die i remember footage on tv they showed when his goatie beard was so long and i think he had a tube up his nose due to years of smoking and would anyone have that picture by the way,thanks.:)

They have clips of him being interviewed by ET and other shows on YouTube in his final years, so you may want to check them out.

I'll have to check them out.

I keep up on IMDB with what Rebecca Asher is doing as a script supervisor and this year she worked on Mad Men and already she's getting credited with another show in 2011. As I stated earlier in this thread, it seems like it would be a huge pain jumping from show to show, but that seems to be what she does. And I wonder, is it just for the challenge, is it due to a conflict with the director(s) or what? Just seems like it would be starting all over from scratch each season to pick up on a new show, but she does so quite a bit. Any theories? Or hey, does anyone even care for that matter? :D I kind of like to follow what she does though since she's Liz's only child in the business. I also wonder if she's got the desire to ultimately be a director or producer like her father was.

Linky:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0038893/

Whatever the case, I wish Rebecca (not to mention Billy and Robert) nothing but the best!! :D

I'm glad you posted this. I'm currently watching season 5, and wondered what order the episodes were produced. Surprised the last episode aired was filmed way back in September! Anyway, this reveals alot.

Also, I noticed they filled the void of Darrin's absence with more frequent appearances of other male characters, Larry, Maurice, Uncle Arthur and Cousin Henry. Mother Stephens was seen more frequently in season 5, also.

Thanks for posting the order they were filmed in. It is interesting how they jumbled some of them up when they did the airing order.

I just watched 'Daddy Does His Thing' and Dick York doesn't look too well in this episode. His voice is a little weaker than usual, but he delivers his lines and is still an excellent actor.

I forgot what a treasure trove this was of articles that came out proving that yeah, people DID care about the Darrin switch after all: https://majicst.proboards.com/thread/16

And here’s the 1969 TV version of “Arsenic and Old Lace” that was originally supposed to star Dick York in Bob Crane’s role. How cool would that have been?

https://youtu.be/MeNiT4wd5cM

Watching that, I kept thinking how much better Dick York would've been...

I put Season 4's episodes in which the order they were filmed, with the completion date then the airdate. Like season 5, it seems most of the non-Darrin episodes were also filmed around the same time period vs. "will Dick York show up or won't he."

Dick York said he got some time off when his father, Bernard York, died (which was December 29, 1967- maybe they let him off before that if his father was sick, as the time period seems to fit). So that would leave "A Majority of Two" as the only non-Darrin episode in season 4 that York missed for an unknown reason. However, since it was completed only a day after "To Twitch or Not to Twitch," the majority of it might have been filmed around that time as well. It's hard to tell.


#109 TOYS IN BABELAND (filmed during season 3 and held over)
3/6/67 9/14/67
#110 BUSINESS, ITALIAN STYLE 6/8/67 9/21/67
#122 I GET YOUR NANNIE YOU GET MY GOAT 6/15/67 12/14/67
#127 IF THEY NEVER MET 6/20/67 1/25/68
#112 CHEAP, CHEAP 6/26/67 10/5/67
#126 SNOB IN THE GRASS 7/10/67 1/11/68
#115 A SAFE AND SANE HALLOWEEN 7/14/67 10/26/67
#114 BIRDIES, BOGIES AND BAXTER 7/20/67 10/19/67
#108 LONG LIVE THE QUEEN 7/27/67 9/7/67
#111 DOUBLE, DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE 8/11/67 9/28/67
#113 NO ZIP IN MY ZAP 8/18/67 10/12/67
#116 OUT OF SYNC 8/24/67 11/2/67
#117 THAT WAS NO CHICK, THAT WAS MY
WIFE 8/31/67 11/9/67
#120 SOLID GOLD MOTHER IN LAW 9/8/67 11/30/67
#118 ANCIENT MACEDONIAN DODO BIRDS 9/14/67 11/16/67
#119 SAMANTHA'S THANKSGIVING TO
REMEMBER 9/21/67 11/23/67
#121 MY, WHAT BIG EARS YOU HAVE 9/28/67 12/7/67
#123 HUMBUG NOT TO BE SPOKEN HERE 10/5/67 12/21/67
#128 HIPPIE, HIPPIE, HOORAY 10/12/67 2/l/68
#124 SAMANTHA'S DA VINCI DILEMMA 10/20/67 12/28/67
#130 MC TAVISH 10/27/67 2/15/68
#131 HOW GREEN WAS MY GRASS 11/2/67 2/29/68
#125 ONCE IN A VIAL 11/9/67 1/4/68
#134 TABATHA'S CRANKY SPELL (No DY) 12/4/67 3/28/68
#129 A PRINCE OF A GUY (No DY) 12/11/67 2/8/68
#133 PLAYMATES (No DY) 1/18/68 3/21/68
#132 TO TWITCH OR NOT TO TWITCH 2/5/68 3/14/68
#136 A MAJORITY OF TWO (No DY) 2/6/68 4/11/68
#135 I CONFESS 2/12/68 4/4/68
#137 SAM'S SECRET SAUCER 2/19/68 4/18/68
#138 NO HARM CHARM 2/26/68 4/25/68
#139 MAN OF THE YEAR 3/l/68 5/2/68
#140 SPLITSVILLE 3/8/68 5/16/68



He only missed two episodes in season 3, which were:

#89 A GAZEBO NEVER FORGETS 10/19/66 12/22/66
#100 AUNT CLARA'S VICTORIA VICTORY 1/25/67 3/9/67

Apparently he took a nasty fall during "Sam's Spooky Chair" (completed 9/29/66), and if you look at season 3's filming schedule (http://www.bewitched.net/filmsche.htm#66-67), there really isn't much filmed in October save for the non-Darrin "A Gazebo Never Forgets." The next episode filmed was "Hoho the Clown" (11/11/66).

This article (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=404185) from Oct. 1967 refers to a chair wire snapping while suspended in air "last spring," damaging York's spine further (who knows which episode, though, since that scene wouldn't have appeared in the final cut). It says he was "in traction for six weeks", and they were able to shoot around him for a while, but then production was held up.

That might be why they had to film the non-Darrin episode in March while he was in traction. The episode filmed immediately before that was "TOYS IN BABELAND" (completed 3/6/67 and held over until season 4), and before that was "HOW TO FAIL IN BUSINESS" (2/27/21) where I *think* Samantha and Endora are midair? Maybe they did it with them instead. The final episode filmed for season 3 was "THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THAR PILLS" (3/21/67).

Unless the timeline or details in the article is off. Maybe he was out around late September, October, and early November 1966 from an accident in "Sam's Spooky Chair" (nothing midair, but there is a scene where Darrin sits on the chair that collapses under him), as that would've been around six weeks. Or if "last Spring" referred to Spring 1966 instead of '67, but the filming schedule for season 2 (http://www.bewitched.net/filmsche.htm#65-66) really doesn't show any gaps (save for EM's maternity leave around October '65 when Robert was born). But there's really not many people alive anymore to ask about it.

With the births of EM's children and maternity leaves at different times, it's difficult to say what a "normal" Bewitched shooting schedule would've been like to compare.

For reference, here is season 3's shooting schedule (http://www.bewitched.net/filmsche.htm#66-67) in order since I did it for the other seasons:

#87 MY FRIEND BEN 6/15/66 12/8/66
#88 SAMANTHA FOR THE DEFENSE 6/15/66 12/15/66
#78 ACCIDENTAL TWINS 6/23/66 10/6/66
#76 MOMENT OF TRUTH 7/6/66 9/22/66
#75 NOBODY'S PERFECT 7/11/66 9/15/66
#82 DANGEROUS DIAPER DAN 7/18/66 11/3/66
#83 SHORT HAPPY CIRCUIT OF AUNT CLARA 7/25/66 11/10/66
#77 WITCHES & WARLOCKS ARE MY FAVORITE
THINGS 8/1/66 9/29/66
#85 OEDIPUS HEX 8/11/66 11/24/66
#79 A MOST UNUSUAL WOOD NYMPH 8/18/66 10/13/66
#84 I'D RATHER TWITCH THAN FIGHT 8/25/66 11/17/66
#80 ENDORA MOVES IN FOR A SPELL 9/2/66 10/20/66
#81 TWITCH OR TREAT 9/12/66 10/27/66
#90 SOAPBOX DERBY 9/23/66 12/29/66
#86 SAM'S SPOOKY CHAIR 9/29/66 12/1/66
#89 A GAZEBO NEVER FORGETS 10/19/66 12/22/66 (No DY)
#92 HOHO THE CLOWN 11/11/66 1/12/67
#91 SAM AND THE MOON 11/17/66 1/5/67
#93 THE SUPER CAR 11/23/66 1/19/67
#94 THE CORN IS HIGH AS A GUERNSEY'S
EYE 12/5/66 1/26/67
#95 TRIAL AND ERROR OF AUNT CLARA 12/9/66 2/2/67
#96 THREE WISHES 12/16/66 2/9/67
#97 I REMEMBER YOU... SOMETIMES 12/22/66 2/16/67
#98 ART FOR SAM'S SAKE 1/9/67 2/23/67
#99 CHARLIE HARPER, WINNER 1/19/67 3/2/67
#100 AUNT CLARA'S VICTORIA VICTORY 1/25/67 3/9/67 (No DY)
#101 THE CRONE OF CAWDOR 1/31/67 3/16/67
#105 BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND INFURIATED 2/7/67 4/13/67
#102 NO MORE MR. NICE GUY 2/13/67 3/23/67
#103 IT'S WISHCRAFT 2/20/67 3/30/67
#104 HOW TO FAIL IN BUSINESS 2/27/67 4/6/67
#109 TOYS IN BABELAND 3/6/67 HOLD (til season 4)
#106 NOBODY BUT A FROG KNOWS HOW TO LIVE 3/14/67 4/27/67
#107 THERE'S GOLD TN THEM THAR PILLS 3/21/67 5/4/67


"Sam's Spooky Chair" was directed by R. Robert Rosenbaum, but the director mentioned in this article (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=404185) during the "chair suspended by wires" incident is William Asher. "How to Fail in Business" is directed by Richard Kinon, "Toys is Babeland" is directed by William Asher, "Nobody but a Frog" is directed by Richard Kinon, and "There's Gold in Them Thar Pills" is directed by R. Robert Rosenbaum. So the only episode that would fit that description of "last Spring" with the director being William Asher would be "Toys in Babeland," which for whatever reason was held over until season 4 (maybe the original script called for the suspended chair? Who knows). But the only large gap in filming during season 3 would've been following "Sam's Spooky Chair," which (I think) biographer Charles Tranberg said Joan York told him Dick had an accident during the filming of.

Edited for accuracy.