MovieChat Forums > Bewitched (1964) Discussion > Dick Sargent was no Dick York

Dick Sargent was no Dick York


Dick York was very funny....Dick Sargent was not at all funny.

reply

[deleted]

Ah, more ignorance from lilsusieq86 (what else is new, right?).

How could Sargent be "the ruin" of Bewitched? For starters, the show
had already pretty much run its course by season five (the non-Darrin
episodes are fairly dreadful). Secondly, Sargent's first year (the
show's sixth) is actually stronger than York's last. DS may not
have possessed York's overall talent, but he was more than adequate
in the show and never terrible. Thirdly, the series continued for
three more seasons. Agreed, the last two years come nowhere near
the first six, but that's hardly Sargent's fault. The scripts would've
been just as stale with York, and Montgomery would've been just as
tired as she was with Sargent.

Dick Sargent was more than competent in the role, and physically, he was
perfectly cast. There are more than a few stand-out episodes when he
was on the series, including such offerings as "The Phrase is Familiar"
and "You are So Agreeable."

reply

I agree that season 6 was stronger than season 5 and regardless of whether York continued in the role of Darrin or not, one of the weaknesses of Betwitced was the recycled scripts and plot lines. And it was clear by season 8 that Elizabeth Montgomery was tired of being on the show and seemed downright angry at times.

reply

To me, Montgomery's boredom is evident by the middle of season seven.

reply

"Secondly, Sargent's first year (the show's sixth) is actually stronger than York's last."

Nonsense. Boring is way better than boring + annoying, any day of the week. With season 6 you get that no-talent, no-charisma, non-actor, pathetic-voice, fake Darrin buffoon thrown in as an annoyance factor. No Darrin at all (like many episodes of season 5) is far better than that jackass.

"DS may not have possessed York's overall talent,"

That's a major understatement, since he possessed no talent at all, unless you count being annoying as a talent.

"but he was more than adequate in the show and never terrible."

Every second of his screen time on the show was terrible. There is not a single instance of him not being terrible on the show.

"Dick Sargent was more than competent in the role"

"More" is a strange way to spell the word "less."

"and physically, he was perfectly cast."

Why, because he resembled Dick York? He looked like a caricature of Dick York, what with his giant forehead plastered on the front of his wedge-shaped head.

"There are more than a few stand-out episodes when he was on the series, including such offerings as "The Phrase is Familiar" and "You are So Agreeable.""

Any season 6-8 episodes that were okay were in spite of Sargent, not because of him.

reply

Count me as one of the rare few who actually preferred Sargent over York.

I hate that York got injured and could no longer do the show, but I found Sargent's sarcasm and delivery very funny. I loved his comedic chemistry with Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, and Paul Lynde.

For me, the thing that was inferior about the later seasons was Esmerelda as a replacement for Aunt Clara in the 'bumbling witch' character. I never cared for Esmerelda. And no one could replace Marion Lorne.

reply

Agree. Ghostley, a talented performer otherwise, was stuck with a
charmless, unfunny, negative character. I'm not much of a Dr. Bombay
fan either.

reply

[deleted]

When I used to mention to people that one of the Darrens was gay they always guess York. Maybe the larger personality provoked a stereotype? They couldn't answer that question either but still thought it was York.

reply

For me I think the show was at its peak at the end of season 4. They were already recycling scripts with York even when he wasn't doing so well, and it just got tiresome with Dargeant. Season 5 for me is unwatchable but I do like seasons 6 and 7 a lot.

reply

Unwatchable is extreme because Season 5 did feature "Samantha the Sculptress" and a few others But I'm not too keen on time travel, Witches Council, Tabitha episodes which littered that season. Also, the absence of York toward the end .

reply

Agree, season five is the weakest of the York years, and those non-Darrin
eps are very hard to watch (I don't watch them at all). Montgomery,
and even Moorehead, are professional but very uninspired (and
Montgomery was initially planning on ending the series at the conclusion
of the fifth year. She was also still mourning the death of Marion
Lorne, whose absence greatly affected the show, especially season five).

I watched the season seven bedwarmer two-parter today, and found both
Montgomery's makeup and performances (especially as Serena) to be
far more inspired than the close of season five.

reply

Pre-IMDB, my appreciation of Bewitched was shaped largely from watching the series in syndication. Until buying some DVDs, I never really thought of Bewitched in terms of individual seasons. It was b&w/color, York/Sargent, Pearce/Gould, the 2 Louises. That's changed now.

reply

While saegeant was no york but he did a decent job in the role.

reply

[deleted]

The crazy thing is that Dick Sargent was the one they WANTED in the beginning. I don't think they would have lasted past the first season if that happened.

reply

Dick York was wonderful. Dick Sargent was adequate.

reply

I've recently been watching some of the Sargent episodes again. I can appreciate his subtle brand of humor more as I get older. He didn't give the manic type performance that York did. But he was funny in his own way.

I do think he suffered a bit as a character because unlike York, he didn't have the wonderful Marion Lorne to play against. Aunt Clara really showed a softer side of Darrin.

He always called her "Aunt Clara" and he had genuine affection for her. He didn't even blow his top when she used magic, usually with disastrous results.

Sargent was stuck with Esmeralda. I like Alice Ghostley. She was funny in her earlier role as the totally inept mortal maid that the Stephens hired in one of the black and white episodes. Even as Esmeralda, her line delivery was very funny.

But there was no logic in Sam and Darrin keeping such an inept bungler in their employ. With Aunt Clara it made sense because she was family and Sam's favorite aunt. They would put up with all the goofs that she made. But why would they continue to employ someone who was so inept at her job? Never made sense to me.

reply

Sargent sucked ass...I mean Dick...I mean...well, he was just plain awful.

reply

Generally, I prefer Dick Sargent's acting to Dick York's. Bewitched is the exception.

reply