Why was Dick York missing on many of the color episodes?

[BewitchedFan]

Originally Posted by Arfies

Probably a perfect storm of not only the usual back pain and painkiller side effects, but also pneumonia, the flu, and insomnia. From http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/yorkarticle1980.htm :

Pressures -- both emotional and physical -- built atop pressures. And, eventually, York crashed. "I'd been fighting off pneumonia for a month, then got the flu. I hadn't been able to sleep for a week. One day, my body just totally gave up. I went into convulsions. I saw the color drain from my wife Joey's face when she saw me in the hospital. I saw what it did to her. And I made a decision: 'I can't play this kind of game anymore.' "

Poor guy.

Wow, this guy was in bad shape. I give him so much credit for going through all of this while filming 5 entertaining seasons of Bewitched. It must've been a struggle.

[BewitchedFan]

Originally Posted by Arfies

I crack up at "Marriage, Witches' Style." Mainly for the scene where Franklin and Serena are pretending to be total klutzes to "out-mortal" each other.

My first time seeing that episode was only a few months ago when I bought the Season 5 DVD. For some reason, when Bewitched used to be shown on Nick at Nite, they kept skipping that episode. Not sure why. But yeah, it's one of the better non-Darrin episodes. My only complaint with it is that Elizabeth's stand-in can OBVIOUSLY be seen in certain shots, particularly in the final scene. Not sure who is responsible for that, but that person must've been drunk or something?? I mean, why on earth would they allow Liz' stand-in to fully face the camera??

[ansara1]

It's also interesting how in several season 5 episodes it is obvious Dick York basically filmed one scene that is shown in two scenes - one at the end and one at the beginning. For obvious reasons that was done in his last episode filmed, "Daddy Does His Thing" but another one I can think of shot like that is "Darrin, Gone and Forgotten". It's almost as if he shot a beginning and closing scene to technically be in the episode but is missing for most of it. It seems like he really isn't in "I Don't Want To Be A Toad, I Want To Be A Butterfly" and "Samantha's Super Maid" much either...and I can't remember if he was in the episode "Mrs. Stephen's, Where Are You?".

Also - I know they used stunt people but for him to have such bad back problems there were a few scenes that it LOOKED like York did that appeared physically taxing for a person with back related health issues. One I can think of is in season 4. In the episode "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" Serena (posing as Samantha) twitches and maks the rug buckle up. As Darrin goes to answer the front door he trips over the rug and falls on the floor. It looked like York did that himself. Maybe he didn't actually take the fall but as I recall it appeared he did. Also, in "Samantha Goes South For A Spell" the scene when 'Rance Butler' tosses Darrin out the door and onto the walkway looks like it would hurt a healty person - and it LOOKS like York is the one who falls to the ground. It also APPEARS that at least in some of the scenes shot when Darrin falls from the trellis and hits the ground that York is doing some of that too. Maybe not - I certainly don't know how he did it - especially hearing stories of how York would have to lie down between scenes, etc.

Originally Posted by BewitchedFan

Wow, this guy was in bad shape. I give him so much credit for going through all of this while filming 5 entertaining seasons of Bewitched. It must've been a struggle.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by ansara1

and I can't remember if he was in the episode "Mrs. Stephen's, Where Are You?".

He wasn't.

[ansara1]

Okay. Thanks

Originally Posted by catlover79

He wasn't.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by ansara1

Okay. Thanks

No problemo!!

[DemandYourPickle]

I just find this part amusing...sometimes when I'm watching certain episodes of Bewitched, I'll start to get depressed thinking that he won't appear in that one, like in many of the episodes in season 5. But then, all of a sudden, he'll pop up out of nowhere when you least expect it! He'll suddenly show up in his office talking with Larry or coming home from work or something. So my thoughts end up like this:

"*Sigh* ...this is going to be another episode without--oh, no, wait! There he is!"

[Arfies]

Originally Posted by ansara1

Also - I know they used stunt people but for him to have such bad back problems there were a few scenes that it LOOKED like York did that appeared physically taxing for a person with back related health issues. One I can think of is in season 4. In the episode "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" Serena (posing as Samantha) twitches and maks the rug buckle up. As Darrin goes to answer the front door he trips over the rug and falls on the floor. It looked like York did that himself. Maybe he didn't actually take the fall but as I recall it appeared he did.

Yes, I believe that is York. I don't know why they made him do that.

Also, in "Samantha Goes South For A Spell" the scene when 'Rance Butler' tosses Darrin out the door and onto the walkway looks like it would hurt a healty person - and it LOOKS like York is the one who falls to the ground. It also APPEARS that at least in some of the scenes shot when Darrin falls from the trellis and hits the ground that York is doing some of that too. Maybe not - I certainly don't know how he did it - especially hearing stories of how York would have to lie down between scenes, etc.

That episode I believe used a stand-in- his hair is a lighter brown than York's.

[Arfies]

Linking back to this thread in which I list the "Bewitched" filming dates chronologically, which episodes don't have Dick York in them (they actually were filmed in large chunks, rather than randomly, as they were aired), and why I thought so: https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards...d.php?t=272755

To summarize: He missed his first episodes in season 3, namely "A Gazebo Never Forgets" (10/19/66) which appeared in a chunk of time where nothing was happening after the filming of "Sam's Spooky Chair" (9/29/66), which biographer Charles Tranberg said Joan York reported Dick taking a nasty fall in, probably aggravating his back and holding up production for a while. He also missed "Aunt Clara's Victoria Victory" (1/25/67), which may have been when York had the flu, since he talked about missing episodes for that too.

Season 4: He missed a large chunk around the time his father died- 12/29/67, which York talks about them letting him off for (possibly he was sick first). So that would leave "A Majority of Two" (2/6/68) 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.

Season 5: Although there were episodes earlier in the season where Dick York almost doesn't appear (but he's in a few scenes, like "Darrin Gone! and Forgotten!," "Samantha's Super Maid," "I Don't Want to be a Toad..."), he actually doesn't miss any episodes until the end, namely "Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?" (12/11/68), and then the rest of the season following his collapse during the filming of "Samantha's Surprise" (1/9/68), which would later be re-edited into "Daddy Does His Thing."