A lot of things that happened back in the sixties while filming television shows would never fly in this day and age! One thing, for example, was that cast members would often drink on the set of “Bewitched.” in fact, they were even filmed drunk at times. Sometimes if you saw them drinking on the show, they really were drinking! Even the producer, William Asher, would drink on set!
The drinking was so expensive that there were even stand sites created that would calculate the number of times a character was seen drinking and each episode. Sounds like a pretty fun drinking game!
Darrin Wasn’t The Only Character to Be Swapped
“The Darrin Syndrome” was contagious! The producers were at it again, they did not stop at the replacement of Darrin, they also swapped out Samantha’s neighbor Gladys.
Originally the role of Gladys Kravitz was played by actress Alice Pearce. When Alice left the show, she was replaced by another actress named Sandra Gould. As if they thought nobody would notice, the producers just swapped out these actors without so much of an explanation. It is funny when you think about it! Do you think this would ever fly today? Probably not!
Bell, Book, and Candle
The creator of the show “Bewitched,” Sol Saks, has said that the inspiration for the show was a movie called “Bell, Book, and Candle.” in this movie, the main role is a blond beauty just like Samantha.
Actress Kim Novak portrays a beautiful young witch who lives in New York City. In this movie, she really loves her neighbor but does not like the fiance of the neighbor. She uses her magic to put a spell on him to fall in love with her, however, it all back by her is when she ends up falling in love with him as well, especially since he is a mortal.
Enter Dick Sargent
Poor Dick York was suffering and in a lot of pain due to his torn muscles and injuries from filming “Cordura.” This was, of course, affecting him on set while filming episodes of “Bewitched.” One day while they were filming season 5 of the show, there was a replacement doctor on set. Dick was experiencing pain, and this doctor administered some B-12 to Dick while he was on his lunch break. At this time, Dick began to have a seizure on set, and they had to rush him to the nearest hospital.
After this incident, the next few episodes of the show had no Darrin in them, and Dick York never did return to the show. At this point, they hired a replacement Darrin, actor Dick Sargent.
Record-Breaking Drinking Habits
It was no secret that drinking was excessive on the set of “Bewitched.” However, it was rumored that the rules around drinking were a little bit more strict when they had the child actors on set. When they had kids on set, they were supposed to have iced tea in their drinks to look like alcohol.
Not only did they drink a lot on set, but they also mentioned various bars or clubs all the time on the show. It was as if they had nothing else on their mind! Some of the bars and clubs that were mentioned in the script were, Joe’s Bar and Grill, The Diamond Slipper, Hearthstone Bar, Happy Times Bar, and then, of course, Dundee’s Bar which is referred to as the best in town!