Sargent or York
Who made the best Darrin?
I thought they were both dicks.
York. He played the better written Darrin. He was more of a family man and there was some warmth in his part.
Sargent was written differently. And while he had his moments and I do enjoy what he did and he could be really funny, his Darrin didn't have the same warmth that York's did. York's Darrin at times would try to get along with Samantha's family...in the early seasons anyway. Sargent's Darrin seemed to constantly be a huge prick to her family. There was never any niceness on his end where Sam's family is concerned.
I recently rewatched the last three seasons of the show on it's own and there are times when if I were a character in a scene I would have looked at Sargent's Darrin and said, "Would you please just lighten up!"
Dick York was a tough act to follow. His interpretation of Darrin was just perfect. When he was the victim of Endora's witchcraft, his responses were priceless, whether he had growing ears, a shrinking stature, over the top vanity, cheapness, etc. You could feel his anguish yet he was so funny.
Dick Sargent played the role more calmly and not so manic as York. And I agree, he wasn't very nice to Sam's family AT ALL.
Dick York did have the advantage of appearing while Marion Lorne appeared as Aunt Clara. He did call her "aunt" and had a lot of affection for her. It softened his character. He was even nice to Uncle Arthur at times. Dick Sargent didn't get the chance to play against Aunt Clara.
And strangely enough, even though Elizabeth Montgomery did not really like York, she had way more chemistry with him than with Dick Sargent. She and Sargent seemed like brother and sister at times. There just wasn't any real romantic chemistry between the characters
I've heard that EM didn't really care for York. Something about that makes me sad. The show was definitely better with him but then again...towards the end of his run he was barely there and EM was carrying the show on her own and that had to be difficult. I'm sure we've all had coworkers like that who are sick all the time and barely pulling their own weight and you've got to cover for them in some way. Maybe that's what it was??
@pjpurple
I agree, Dick York played the role of harassed mortal to perfection.