So I Watched All 5 Seasons of "I Dream of Jeannie, No Real Surprise, 95% of the Only Reason to Watch It is Barbara Eden ...

The only reason 'I Dream of Jeannie' holds any interest for viewers today is virtually all because of the charm and acting of Barbara Eden. Yea, that seems an obvious thing to say but it's true.

You only care because she crafted the part of Jeannie with he just the right blend of naiveté, charm and perhaps inventing 'adorkable.' Of course she's beautiful but it all works because she crafted just the right blend, when she called Tony Nelson, 'Master,' it doesn't come off as cringey nor her harm outfit explosive because of her confidence ... and while she is the genie that's supposed to follow his wishes, you always got the sense she was really the one in charge.

And Larry Hagman works as Tony Nelson, the straight lace guy who's also a dweeb - he plays him as a guy who wants to do the right thing but is not a dullard ... together they make a nice team.

The show is constrained by the times as you wonder why Jeannie sleeps in the bottle and designed Tony's house (set) with zero spare bedrooms so she could not spend nights at full size ... of course, now 50 years later, our minds wander and can easily fill up in the gaps of how a tiny Jeannie ... well, you know ...

Like their seemingly insane lengths to cover her belly button ... making sure her bikini is a one-piece but Amanda Bellows can show hers? Of course, the 1960's seems to think woman in her mid 30's was no longer even remotely attractive? No one seems to pay her much attention to her as an attractive woman ... she's 'just the wife.'

While people blame the marriage as ending the show, the truth is the writing is not very imaginative and 95% of the plots are misunderstandings that don't make much sense. There are basically 2-3 episodes a year are actually clever or interesting ... like most 60's sitcoms, people have no memory of the episode before or they don't make sense (like a base psychiatrist who keeps claiming to see things in Tony's living room like a boat, elephants, trees but no one seems to care the doctor might be insane). Or that she’s supposed to locked away for 2,000 years but she “knows” Sigmund Freud, Napoleon and Picasso … And like most TV shows of that era, no real conversations with anyone not white (a handful of Black soldiers have quick interactions - the only Latinos is when Tony somehow ends up in Cuba and another one whee he gets kidnapped by Chinese spies (never mentioned again) and of course, they along with a few mobsters, everyone have thick accents). Though the episode with Sammy Davis Jr. is actually a good one ... I guess as long as you are a celebrity ...

The show (presumably on 35mm film) looks great in HD. The show also has a lot of nice looking B-roll and "expensive-looking" exterior shots (Tony by a F-4, NASA looking equipment, etc, etc ... including actual driving down studio lot "streets"). The show also travels around to Hawaii, woods/beach locations ... nice for a 60's sitcom. The segments where Jeannie or Tony gets tiny and interact with 'regular sized' objects are nice EFX and amusing ...

It being on NBC (trying to sell RCA color TV's) meant every episode was full of color, especially Jeannie's street clothes.

Bill Daily is also great as Roger Healey, the best friend and all too human (we can relate) ... When Roger discovers Jeannie is a genie ... it is the funniest moment of Season 1 ... though of course, the construct on controlling the bottle controlling Jeannie makes no real sense and is forgotten in later episodes when the bottle is carried off by others ... (he steals the bottle in the ep and goes hog wild, living in a mansion with multiple cars and staffed by women in bikini's ...)

So, as a TV show, it is a time capsule out of place ... it is a sit-com with 95% on situation and 5% actual comedy. Its only charm is the character that Barbara Eden created. Her Jeannie is just the right amount of wacky, naivety, charm, adorable and sexy ... who wouldn't want to hang out with Barbara Eden as Jeannie ...

11 Magical Facts About I Dream of Jeannie - https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70923/11-magical-facts-about-i-dream-jeannie

Nice interview with Barbara Eden - 2 Years Ago? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSi1K-KEtw