WGN episode - "Darrin and Samantha in Mexico City"

[Rezny@gmail.com]

This was the last episode with Dick York as Darrin,and was a pretty good way to end his run as Darrin.I enjoyed the scene where Darrin spoke Spanish and,thanks to Endora's spell,he disappeared every time he spoke Spanish,and later on the plane to Mexico City,where he (quite reluctantly)and Samantha did their disappearing act-first he did,appeared again,then she did,(she had popped back to the house)totally befuddling and baffling the stewardesses.Later on,in the meeting between the Spanish board members AND the English speaking board members,it was imaginative when Samantha twitched and Darrin spoke Spanish to the Spanish board members and then spoke English to the English speaking board members.My score 8/10 good-to-very good,What did the rest of you think of this episode?

[MickeyMac]

Dick York missed several episodes in season 5 due to his injury. I think he came back to do this episode because he knew it would be his last.

[Arfies]

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) 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.

[novarrofan]

I love this episode. The scenes when Darrin disappears when he speaks spanish are priceless and show Dick York in top form . Love the way the stewardess refers to Samantha as a "cute blonde". One of the best parts is in Darrin's big speech at the end when Samantha decides to teach Larry a lesson and makes the spell so that Larry hears everything in Spanish!! Thats so funny and David White (such an underrated actor) is wonderful in his befuddlement in that scene.

Originally Posted by rrezny@usnetizen

This was the last episode with Dick York as Darrin,and was a pretty good way to end his run as Darrin.I enjoyed the scene where Darrin spoke Spanish and,thanks to Endora's spell,he disappeared every time he spoke Spanish,and later on the plane to Mexico City,where he (quite reluctantly)and Samantha did their disappearing act-first he did,appeared again,then she did,(she had popped back to the house)totally befuddling and baffling the stewardesses.Later on,in the meeting between the Spanish board members AND the English speaking board members,it was imaginative when Samantha twitched and Darrin spoke Spanish to the Spanish board members and then spoke English to the English speaking board members.My score 8/10 good-to-very good,What did the rest of you think of this episode?

[novarrofan]

It is very obvious that "Samantha and Darrin in Mexico City", even without the benefit of production order numbers, was an earlier episode that was held back to make it look like Darrin was still on the show towards the end of the season. The same thing happened with "The Battle of Burning Oak" too. You can tell these two are earlier episodes simply by looking at Dick York's appearance. In "Mexico City" and "Burning Oak" he is still fresh and healthy looking (which amazingly he still was in these early season five episodes even though his health problems were really terrible by then) and seems to still have great mobility whereas you look at his actual last episode "Daddy Does His Thing" and he has noticeably lost weight, he looks pale and gaunt in the face and for his few scenes he hardly moves at all. That episode breaks my heart everytime I watch it knowing what was about to happen during its production.

Originally Posted by Arfies

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) 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.