Can’t Please Everyone
While the decision to recast Darrin was out of necessity, it was not met well by fans and viewers. After three seasons of Dick York’s portrayal of Darrin, the new face of Dick Sargent was not kindly met by viewers, and Bewitched’s rating fell. Since they had come to know and love Darrin as Richard York, it was a hard sell to replace him.
It’s common for TV or movie series to replace an actor after the original can’t return. But in those situations, the choice is usually met with dissatisfaction from fans and viewers. Sometimes the departure of an actor can cut the character altogether, but in the case of Bewitched, they couldn’t go on without a Darrin, so recast they did.