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!
Drunk On Set!
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!
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.
Unrequited Love
When they introduce the character of Rodney, who is played by Richard Dreyfuss, it was said that Samantha used to be his babysitter. At this point, he is older and comes back to tell Samantha that he loves her. She obviously does not return his love and tells him that she loves her husband, Darrin.
Rodney does not take the news well and uses his own magic to turn himself into a dog so that he can stay with Samantha in her home. Darrin ends up loving the dog so much even though the dog is out to get him, literally. These days, Richard Dreyfuss is a major star! So funny to think of his start back in the “Bewitched” days.
Darrin’s Perspective
While we may not have known that the theme song to “Bewitched” actually had lyrics, There is a version of the theme song sound on YouTube song by Steve Lawrence. Apparently, Steve was not able to record the lyrics fast enough to the theme song. The studio was really concerned about the pilot episode having a theme song, so they just went with the version that had only instruments and no lyrics.
The lyrics of the song are actually quite interesting. The theme song is written as if it was Darrin singing it. It is from his perspective. The lyrics suggest what it would be like if he knew that his wife, Samantha, was really a witch.