Was Dick York's departure the beginning of the End for Bewitched?

[Dick York was Darrin]

Originally Posted by Monliz

I think Sargent's episodes were more watchable. There were a lot of times where Yorked looked like he was about to hit Samantha


Sargent had to be angry a lot of times too, but he never looked like he was gonna commit domestic abuse, Sargent played the role in a way that made you believe he was incapable of hitting Samantha

Sargent was better at playing Darrin, York was a nervous wreck and he made a lot of episodes unwatchable, he was annoying.

Oh Jesus... Now you're arguing that York was somehow near the point of violence.

You anti-Yorkers really are unhinged.

[Monliz]

For the show's reputation, they should broadcast only the the last three season with Sargent.

From the first 5 season, they should only broadcast the 14 episodes that York didn't appear.

This would be the best for Bewitched, because the new generation wouldn't remember Darrin as an abuser, in this day an age, York's mannerism of playing Darrin it makes people see him as male chauvinist.

[Babalu]

Originally Posted by Monliz

For the show's reputation, they should broadcast only the the last three season with Sargent.

From the first 5 season, they should only broadcast the 14 episodes that York didn't appear.

This would be the best for Bewitched, because the new generation wouldn't remember Darrin as an abuser, in this day an age, York's mannerism of playing Darrin it makes people see him as male chauvinist.

That's like saying that NBC should rerun The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson but only with guest hosts.

Every bad thing in the show happened to Darrin but he was the bad guy.

He was turned into animals, banished to other times, had his life turned upside down by every kooky character on the show but he was the bad guy.

"Male chauvinist" !!!

Unbelievable.

[Dick York was Darrin]

Originally Posted by Babalu

That's like saying that NBC should rerun The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson but only with guest hosts.

Every bad thing in the show happened to Darrin but he was the bad guy.

He was turned into animals, banished to other times, had his life turned upside down by every kooky character on the show but he was the bad guy.

"Male chauvinist" !!!

Unbelievable.

Ignore Monliz. Really. Even in real life. She's the type of person that you don't remember meeting, but she is somehow accusing you of some horrible slight. Or worse. Give her a very wide berth.

But on the subject of Bewitched, she has taken her anti-York hatred to every level you can imagine, accusing Dick York of all kinds of things that have no basis in reality.

It's clear that Elizabeth Montgomery had issues with men. She had many estrangements, with Dick York being one of them. It truly is a shame because Elizabeth Montgomery with Dick York made that show great. And without Dick York, the show plummeted.

Yes, there were a few episodes from seasons 6 to 8 that were good, but overall, the quality of the show dropped after York was forced to leave.

[Schmoe56789]

Originally Posted by Monliz

The number of TV households (homes that had a TV set) in 1964-65 was 52.7 million and in 1969-70 was 58.5 million. This means that more people watched Bewitched in the Sargent years, than in the York's year.

This is not an opinion, it's a fact.

It's actually not a fact. Last year, I looked into a few of the ratings items being discussed here and this is what I found from some preliminary research: As you said, the number of TV households (homes that had a TV set) in 1964-65 was 52.7 million and in 1969-70 was 58.5 million. Assuming for now that these numbers are correct, season one of Bewitched (1964-65) had a 31.0 rating, which means that 31% of TV households viewed it, which would be 16.337 million households. Season six (1969-70) had a 20.6 rating, which means that 20.6% of TV households viewed it, which would be 12.051 million households. So, even though there were more TV households overall by the 1969-70 season, there were still fewer TV households viewing the show compared to season one. Now, this doesn't account for TV viewers, but it doesn't appear Nielsen ratings produced those numbers until the 1990s.

Season 1 (64-65): 16,337,000 households
Season 2 (65-66): 13,947,150 households
Season 3 (66-67): 12,900,420 households
Season 4 (67-68): 13,317,450 households
Season 5 (68-69): 13,572,250 households
Season 6 (69-70): 12,051,000 households
Season 7 (70-71): could not find ratings information
Season 8 (71-72): 7,017,300 households

I'm not sure what the number of households was for season 7, but since Bewitched was not in the top 30, it would have been viewed by less than 11,599,300 households (the amount for the #30 show that season).

[Hazel Anyday]

To answer the question put forth. Yes.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Schmoe56789

It's actually not a fact. Last year, I looked into a few of the ratings items being discussed here and this is what I found from some preliminary research: As you said, the number of TV households (homes that had a TV set) in 1964-65 was 52.7 million and in 1969-70 was 58.5 million. Assuming for now that these numbers are correct, season one of Bewitched (1964-65) had a 31.0 rating, which means that 31% of TV households viewed it, which would be 16.337 million households. Season six (1969-70) had a 20.6 rating, which means that 20.6% of TV households viewed it, which would be 12.051 million households. So, even though there were more TV households overall by the 1969-70 season, there were still fewer TV households viewing the show compared to season one. Now, this doesn't account for TV viewers, but it doesn't appear Nielsen ratings produced those numbers until the 1990s.

Season 1 (64-65): 16,337,000 households
Season 2 (65-66): 13,947,150 households
Season 3 (66-67): 12,900,420 households
Season 4 (67-68): 13,317,450 households
Season 5 (68-69): 13,572,250 households
Season 6 (69-70): 12,051,000 households
Season 7 (70-71): could not find ratings information
Season 8 (71-72): 7,017,300 households

I'm not sure what the number of households was for season 7, but since Bewitched was not in the top 30, it would have been viewed by less than 11,599,300 households (the amount for the #30 show that season).

Yep.

[ansara1]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

The occasional re-use of old scripts couldn't have helped matters...!

But with some exceptions like Ozzie & Harriet and My Three Sons, sitcoms did not go on for runs of a full decade -- which was what Bewitched was approaching. It seems doubtful that, even without cast changes, viewers could've hoped for more than 8 seasons. Other fantasy series of the era like I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, It's About Time, and The Addams Family all fell far short of a run like that.

I Dream of Jeannie really didn't fall "far short." Five seasons is a long and respectable run, especially in those days. If NBC had left it on the same night like ABC did Bewitched (Jeannie moved to a different night every season it was on the air), had promoted the show better, and hadn't forced Sidney Sheldon to marry the central characters, it definitely could have gone on at least one more season. NBC had a bad habit of moving shows around like that (aka Star Trek for one example), not promoting their shows very well, and the season before NBC executives "forced the marriage" on I Dream of Jeannie for publicity and then canceled the series, they did the exact same thing to Get Smart. They learned nothing from their first mistake. Luckily for Get Smart, CBS picked it up for one more season. Again, NBC executives weren't too bright. I Dream of Jeannie was either in the top 30 against heavy competition (The Jackie Gleason Show in season 1 - being the only show up against it to EVER beat it in the ratings some weeks AND in season 4 it was up against Gunsmoke). At least one other season (most likely two) it won its timeslot and came in just short of the top 30 (#34).

Whatever the reason - be it rehashed scripts, the Darrin change, or a combination of the two - Bewitched fell from # 12 in season 5 to # 25 in season 6 and was never in the top 30 after that. Elizabeth Montgomery wanted to end the show after season 5 but ABC was struggling and Bewitched was one of its only big hits. They offered her and William Asher so much money they agreed to stay. I love the show and everyone in it, but it really seemed very different in the last few seasons. As much as I love it, I think the legacy of the show would have been better had Elizabeth followed her instincts and ended it after season 5. Just my humble opinion.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

The occasional re-use of old scripts couldn't have helped matters...!

But with some exceptions like Ozzie & Harriet and My Three Sons, sitcoms did not go on for runs of a full decade -- which was what Bewitched was approaching. It seems doubtful that, even without cast changes, viewers could've hoped for more than 8 seasons. Other fantasy series of the era like I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, It's About Time, and The Addams Family all fell far short of a run like that.

While I realize long running sitcoms can sometimes reuse ideas, as a Bewitched fan it’s always interesting to me to see later season shows that not only reuse plots however at times lift entire dialog verbatim from early season episodes.

As for Bewitched, it was unusual by the 1960s for any filmed series to recycle so explicitly. I think the Darrin swap is the main reason for this remaking practice, as a new costar seemed to give the show added permission to revisit old material — for a variety of reasons: to legitimize Dick Sargent, to overwrite Dick York, and most importantly, to eradicate any need for the black-and-white years in syndication.