I always thought Aunt Clara and Darrin had some pretty sweet moments together, and Darrin was really sweet to her.

BUT Darrin was always kinda grumpy with Esmarelda. I always found that strange b/c the 2 women were really similar in character I thought.

I think Darrin liked Aunt Clara better because she was a lot older than Esmerelda. He had more respect for Aunt Clara since she was a senior citizen, plus she was family.

I think it was mainly Darrin was fed up with Samantha's family and witchcraft.

I always thought Aunt Clara and Darrin had some pretty sweet moments together, and Darrin was really sweet to her.

BUT Darrin was always kinda grumpy with Esmarelda. I always found that strange b/c the 2 women were really similar in character I thought.
When Darrin first met Aunt Clara, (she popped in while Darrin's parents were visiting) he made her feel unwelcome, by suggesting that she not use witch-craft. When Samantha learned that Aunt Clara abruptly left, she told Darrin that if he did or said anything to hurt Aunt Clara, she would never forgive him.

There after, even though he would get annoyed with her using witchcraft, he respected the fact that Samantha always looked out for Aunt Clara, and was more patient with her than Endora, Esmerelda or the other relatives.

Plus she was Sam's favorite Aunt and she meant a lot to her.

I think Aunt Clara was a more sympathetic character. She was older and didn't seem to be on a manhunt like Esmarelda.

It was the "other" Darrin that was nasty to Esmeralda. In fact he was nasty to everyone. He was just plain nasty!

I wonder if the Dick Sargent Darrin would have treated Aunt Clara with the respect she deserved.

I wonder if the Dick Sargent Darrin would have treated Aunt Clara with the respect she deserved.

That's just what I was going to ask... lol

And I wonder how Dick York Darrin would have treated Esmarelda?

Back about 3 years ago, I posted these thoughts about Darrin & Aunt Clara:

"Since we're on the subject of Aunt Clara. I always liked the fact that in spite of her well intentioned "goofs", Darrin seem to have sympathy for Aunt Clara. When I was a kid watching the show, I had the impression that of all of Samantha's family, it seemed that he genuinely liked Aunt Clara. Probably because she supported the marriage."

One thing we seem to forget is that Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) died in 1968, during the '67-'68 seasom, when Dick York was still Darrin. Dick Sargent AND Alice Ghostley (Esmerelda) both appeared beginning in the 1969-1970 season. In fact, while Sargent and Ghostley were close to each other during their years on the show (they were both "new kids on the block"), it could be that the "kinder, gentler Darrin," even after five years of marriage to Samantha, was still fed up with witches, even the newer ones.

I wonder if the Dick Sargent Darrin would have treated Aunt Clara with the respect she deserved.

Probably. I always though Sargent's Darrin was nicer to Endora. He wasn't exactly sweet to her, but he was not as nasty to her as York's Darrin was.

Probably. I always though Sargent's Darrin was nicer to Endora. He wasn't exactly sweet to her, but he was not as nasty to her as York's Darrin was.

I think Sargent had the luxury of playing a character who was more or less used to the live he was living. It made sense for his version of the character to be softer or more 'beat down', while York had to do the heavny lifting of getting the character through the initial clashes

Probably. I always though Sargent's Darrin was nicer to Endora. He wasn't exactly sweet to her, but he was not as nasty to her as York's Darrin was.

Even Elizabeth Montgomery commented that by the time Sargent came along as Darrin, he had been married to Sam for five years, and by that time, she thought, Darrin would be more tolerant of his mother-in-law, the witch.

And there are even scenes in the Sargent years that indicate Darrin and Endora were actually beginning to enjoy each other! :eek:

Aunt Clara was Samantha's favorite Aunt, and you could tell they each truly loved one another. I think Darrin warmed to Aunt Clara because of that, and because she was actually always very nice toward him, unlike any of the other relatives.

Esmeralda was considered move like "hired help", and Darrin didn't really want her coming around.

When Esmeralda came in Dick York was already gone, so she only had interactions with Sargent, and Sargent wasn't nice to anybody, not even to Samantha.

It’s funny to read everyone’s thoughts on this. I used to think Sargent’s Darrin was the nicer one when I was young, and I always disliked when they went back to the meaner Darrin in the rerun cycle. Now that I’m older, I realize that Sargent’s Darrin was just as nasty, just in a quieter way. He didn’t yell and get excited like York’s Darrin did, but his nasty, sarcastic comments more than made up for his lack of excitability. For example, Dr. Bombay always dropped whatever the hell he was doing to help Samantha when she needed him. Yet Darrin II constantly referred to him as “that quack Bombay”.

Aunt Clara was sweet and lovable. Esmeralda was rather odd and creepy (as a friend on mine always said).

When Esmeralda came in Dick York was already gone, so she only had interactions with Sargent, and Sargent wasn't nice to anybody, not even to Samantha.

Actually York was nastier to Samantha than Sargent, in fact, sometimes York looked like he was about to hit her.


Sargent was nicer and more relaxed than York.

York was definitely feistier and more hot-headed, but Sargent just came across as "cold" for some reason.

He didn't like to see Esmeralda's glasses floating in the air???

Darrin was pretty much told off by Samantha after he gently spoke to Aunt Clara and Aunt Clara ended up leaving, in the episode where Samantha meets his parents for the first time. He knew how much Aunt Clara meant to Samantha, and tried not to hurt her feelings, even though he didn't have faith in Clara's abilities and didn't really want her around. He never wanted to hurt this fragile little old lady's feelings.

Plus, Aunt Clara was very supportive of Samantha and Darrin from the start, while Endora and Maurice were against the marriage.

Darrin didn't seem to care about hurting Esmeralda's feelings until after those hurt feelings caused Esmeralda to half disappear. He was definitely nastier to Esmeralda, but Sargent still played Darrin with less "fire." He didn't go as berserk as York did when the character was frustrated or angry.