Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’m celebrating the 60th anniversary of Bewitched’s premiere by offering a rarity to subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest. It’s another script — and a fascinating one — for an episode called “Samantha’s Surprise” (Part I), with a production code of 3916 and a “Revised Final Draft” date of January 06, 1969. Never heard of it? That’s because it never got produced. Well, kinda sorta… You see, this episode has an unusual history, for it was partially filmed, and its footage was indeed repurposed for a new and hastily penned episode that did make it to air, while this script was rewritten and utilized the following season, as the first half of a two-parter (as initially intended), with the same basic story… but a whole different Darrin!

Here’s what happened — as you know, Dick York’s time on Bewitched was an increasingly difficult experience because of a spinal injury he’d sustained on a film set the decade prior. In terrible degenerative pain that affected his mobility and led him to painkillers, York caused production delays on Bewitched due to his poor health, with the show often halting entirely, writing him out of episodes, or eventually, resorting to stockpiled Darrin-less scripts that could be called upon at a moment’s notice. After six total absences in Seasons Three and Four (for a variety of reasons), York managed to film 21 entries for Season Five between June and November 1968. In December, the company rolled out two prewritten Darrin-less scripts to shoot — “Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?” and “Marriage, Witches’ Style” — and then went on a holiday break. That month also saw the public announcement of Elizabeth Montgomery’s pregnancy (her third child with Bill Asher), and a week later, on December 16, 1968, Daily Variety revealed that Bewitched had been renewed by ABC for a sixth season, presumably with the entire cast returning. (Montgomery, York, and Agnes Moorehead were cited as the stars.)

This is where “Samantha’s Surprise” (Part I) comes in — it was the first episode scheduled back after their hiatus. Daily Variety printed on Wednesday, January 08, 1969, that the show was resuming production with this two-parter directed by Bill Asher and guest starring the recurring Maurice Evans. Fans have long assumed that Sam’s so-called “surprise” here was going to be her pregnancy reveal, cueing up another birth and baby for the forthcoming sixth season. The script I have confirms this development, along with something else fans have long suspected about its story — it was the basis for a two-parter that eventually got produced in Season Six with Dick Sargent, “Daddy Comes To Visit” and “Darrin The Warlock,” with several scenes from the former line-for-line identical to what’s in Part I of “Samantha’s Surprise.” In this version, Sam’s plans to give Darrin her good news keep getting delayed by the fact that Maurice has granted his son-in-law the powers of a warlock, which have proven to be intoxicating. It’s a narrative template that the show had already utilized a few times: Darrin temporarily changing his mind about witchcraft when he has a taste of it himself (which speaks to Asher’s synonymizing of magic and wealth), and it’s always solid because of how it’s supported by the situation.

Unfortunately, Dick York never got to finish shooting this episode. In his autobiography, York recounts the day he collapsed on set and was taken off in an ambulance — never to return. He describes fighting an illness that day and feeling faint while up on a scaffold with Maurice Evans, asking to be let down, and then waking up on the floor, looking up at David White’s terror-stricken face. That exact scene with Darrin and Maurice is pinpointable in “Samantha’s Surprise” (Part I) — and, coincidentally, it’s the one scene that also featured the owner of this particular script, J. Edward McKinley, a frequent Bewitched utility player cast here in the role of a client, Bliss Sr. You’ll recognize this moment from “Daddy Comes To Visit” because it’s when Darrin and Maurice, both translucent and perched high in the corner of a room, observe a private meeting where Bliss Sr. (still played by McKinley) and his son Bliss Jr. discuss their ad campaign. What’s especially interesting is that my copy of the script, which has McKinley’s lines emphasized in pencil and marker, also includes some writing on its title page. In addition to the actor’s name, it says this: “7:30 m/u” and “8 stg #2” and then an underlined “1/9/69” — meaning, he was supposed to shoot this scene on stage 2 at 8:00 a.m. (after a half hour of makeup) on Thursday, January 09, 1969. Could that be Dick York’s actual last day on Bewitched?

I’m not sure. Here’s what we do know. The cast and crew eventually were able to shoot and complete another episode without Dick York in late January 1969 — “Going Ape” — which excluded Darrin and was obviously prepared for such an occasion. His official departure from the series was announced in Daily Variety on Friday, January 24. (According to York, he asked Asher from the hospital bed to be let go from his contract, effective immediately.) On Tuesday, January 28 — just four days after this “quit” was revealed — the same paper reported that Dick Sargent would be replacing York for the next season. And in the meantime, the company still had six more episodes to shoot for Season Five, without either Darrin — making it impossible for “Samantha’s Surprise” to be utilized, at least in full. But Asher was clever — he took the teaser, which had been completed, and the opening scene of the first act (which was a continuation of the teaser), and built a whole extra episode inside of it, “Daddy Does His Thing,” where Maurice changes Darrin into a literal jackass. Originally, Darrin was transformed back into a human at the top of Act One, but in this major revision, he now spends the next two acts as an animal and is reverted only at the very end — with some creative editing that eagle-eyed viewers have certainly noticed. It’s a weak half hour — the “Darrin gets changed into X” category makes for limp, uninspired situation comedy — but it’s got the last filmed scene of Dick York as Darrin that ever made it to air, bringing his appearance count officially up to 22 out of 30 episodes for the fifth season. (Also, Samantha’s pregnancy reveal was pushed to a separate excursion — “Samantha’s Good News,” which, in contrast, may be my favorite of Five’s Darrin-less lot because it explores Maurice and Endora’s relationship and history.)

Getty Images dates a few photos from the filming of that jackass scene to January 13, 1969 — a Monday. It’s possible that production of “Samantha’s Surprise” was delayed and the scaffolding scene slated to be lensed on January 09 got postponed along with the entire production schedule. It’s also possible that the scaffolding bit with Dick York and Maurice Evans was always intended to be shot separately from the scene with Bliss Sr. (In fact, it’s very possible that the scene with the Blisses in “Daddy Comes To Visit” is the one shot in January 1969, with Sargent and Evans later edited into it.) It’s also possible that the Getty date is incorrect, which wouldn’t be a stretch — Getty has many Bewitched photos from that same season that I can verify as incorrectly dated. We may never know for sure… However, we do know the company went back to their now-dwindling reserve of Darrin-less scripts sometime after January 13, while it was becoming official that Dick York would not return. From there, new scripts were quickly written and the season finished in mid-March, with Dick Sargent shooting his first episode at the end of that very same month, as Season Six had to rush four entries into the can before Elizabeth Montgomery’s June due date, which would otherwise keep her off the set until August. Then in the fall, they finally got around to the revised version of “Samantha’s Surprise,” with no more opening jackass scene, the removal of all material related to Sam’s pregnancy announcement, and updates related to the brand-new baby in the house. These entries, “Daddy Comes To Visit” and “Darrin The Warlock,” ended up being a solid two-parter — because of this reliable narrative — but, frankly, I know I would have preferred them with York.

So, here’s your chance — any subscriber who comments below to alert me of your private, non-commercial interest (within the next seven days ONLY!) — to find out what Part I of this story would have looked and sounded like in Season Five and with Dick York, whose work as Darrin Stephens made for one of the great-but-unheralded sitcom performances of the 1960s. In honor of him, Bewitched, and this fascinating piece of television history, here’s a sample of the first part of “Samantha’s Surprise.” (This draft has no writer credit, but “Daddy Comes To Visit” is attributed, and “Darrin The Warlock” is co-attributed, to Rick Mittleman.)

Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more sitcom fun!