Darrin and Non-Darrin episodes in the first 5 seasons:

I always enjoyed all 14 Non-Darrin episodes on Bewitched, thought they were all superb with some
like Marriage Witch's style, Samantha's Power Failure, Samantha's Good News, A Gazebo Never Forgets
and Tabitha's Weekend being Brilliant and as good as any Darrin episodes, i also like Samantha's
Shopping spree very much, i always wanted to be Samantha's personal mannequin .

What i especially liked about the Non-Darrin episodes is that they gave one an opportunity to see Samantha's life at home at
1164 MGC, away from Darrin, Larry, Clients and McMann & Tate, to see what happened in her life while Darrin was away at work &
gave us a different and fresh feel to her and the show itself.

Going off on a tangent a bit like that kept the show fresh and allowed us to see what was going on at times during the week
at 1164 MGC in between our weekly visits there.

An extra bonus was seeing Samantha interact in both different contexts and similar ones that she did so with Darrin normally
only with different characters like Larry, a client, a relative, as well we got to see more of Serena & Uncle Arthur and her
Witchly relatives and friends which alone made it all very much worth our while.

Even in season 5 we only had 25 % of the shows Darrinless, with Darrin present 75 % of the time, same as Endora was for the first
7 seasons, if it was good enough for Endora then it was good enough for Darrin in my view.

If Darrin was absent 4 or 5 episodes of a 30 to 36 episode season then that harmed neither the season nor the premise, and instead was a positive in the ways i have referenced, it added to the show not detracted from it.

The two & four episodes respectively Darrin missed in seasons 3 & 4 were a bonus and should have been the case even if it were
possible for Dick York or whomever played Darrin to have been in those episodes for the reasons mentioned.

In Season 5 he missed eight episodes which was pushing things somewhat & on the cusp of where it would have hurt the show and made it a different premise from what it was intended to be, but it did not go over that point at eight Non-Darrin episodes nor did it hurt the show or it's premise, especially as they were able to sprinkle in Darrin episodes in amongst the eight he missed.

In summation Season 5 was one of the best seasons of the show & most creative and was not harmed in the least by having Darrin absent for eight episodes, more then that and it would have had the opposite effect, but as it was not it did not.

My only issue with some of the non-Darrin McMann and Tate plots is that clearly Darrin was supposed to be in them and they wrote his character out, giving his part and/or dialogue to Larry (who has to come over to the Stephenses with a client for some reason) or even Sam. I understand that they were forced to, but it makes some of the plots feel off. The one that is the saddest is Samantha telling "Darrin" over the phone that she's pregnant with Adam. I actually like the rest of that episode with Maurice, Endora and the secretary, but that ending part is a bummer, knowing that Dick York was already off the show.

I agree with Schmoe about non-Darrin eps with Sam "sitting in" for Darrin with Larry and a McMann and Tate client. There would be absolutely NO REASON for Sam to close a deal that Darrin would normally be closing. If he was there, they could host said client and she'd probably prepare dinner for the client and his wife. But without Darrin present it made for an odd script having Sam basically BE Darrin to help secure a contract. No reason for Larry Tate to call on her to do that. I mean, where's hubby and why isn't he doing his job?

I do agree with the OP about the other non-Darrin eps where you get to see Sam as she would be with her family. Those come off pretty well and you really don't miss Darrin too much over the half hour and they were set to air in an order where you knew he'd be back in the next episode anyway so no need to question his not being there or even worry about it.

My only issue with some of the non-Darrin McMann and Tate plots is that clearly Darrin was supposed to be in them and they wrote his character out, giving his part and/or dialogue to Larry (who has to come over to the Stephenses with a client for some reason) or even Sam. I understand that they were forced to, but it makes some of the plots feel off. The one that is the saddest is Samantha telling "Darrin" over the phone that she's pregnant with Adam. I actually like the rest of that episode with Maurice, Endora and the secretary, but that ending part is a bummer, knowing that Dick York was already off the show.

Definitely not the kind of news you tell the father over the phone.

:)

I always thought it was weird telling him over the phone about Adam also.