Who was the better Darrin Stephens on television’s beloved Bewitched series? Personally I hated this show. It was before my time. But when I was a kid the reruns were played on daytime TV and I was forced to watch them on summer days (don’t judge me, maybe I didn’t want to get out of the house and get exercise).

Dick York played Darrin from 1964-1969, but had to quit due to back problems. Dick Sargent took over from 1969-1972. Many ideas were tossed around by the show’s writers to explain the change, but in the end they decided to “say it best by saying nothing at all” (that song is actually based on this event).

Bewitched definitely whored itself out with the switcheroos. They had 2 Darrins, 2 Gladys Kravitzes, 2 Louise Tates, 2 of Darrin’s father, and 5 different babies that played Tabitha. Geez.

Of course many other shows have pulled the old switch as well, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Roseanne, Family Matters and even Arrested Development. If you’re interested in the topic you can read “The Darrin Effect: 20 Jarring Cases of Recast Roles”. If you are super interested in this topic, you’re probably pretty weird.

“I mean, there was two Darrin Stevens, right? Dick York, Dick Sargent. Shyeah, right, as if we wouldn’t notice. Oh hold on: Dick York, Dick Sargent, Sergeant York…Wow, that’s weird.”

-Wayne Campbell