History YMMV / IDreamOfJeannie

* HilariousInHindsight: In "Blackmail Order Bride", the woman who pretends to be Tony's wife is named [[Series/{{Dallas}} Sue Ellen.]]
** Dr Bellows learning Jeannie's secret being undone by a dream sequence? Something else Hagman's later series would do, to an entire season of stories.

* LoveToHate: Jeannie's sister.

* DesignatedHero: Jeannie might mean well, but her behavior toward Tony is uncomfortably controlling, which would be less acceptable if the genders were reversed. One episode sees her sabotage one of his career prospects.
* EvilIsSexy: Wicked Jeannie, not that the Good Jeannie is any less...

* FriendlyFandoms: IDOJ fans and fans of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' tend to get along and enjoy both shows.

%%* StrawmanHasAPoint: "Divorce, Jeannie Style" points out how abusive Tony is to Jeannie; it is treated as being all right because she is a genie.
* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The show's infamous rivalry with ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' stemmed in part from this. While [[http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/dejaview.htm many episodes share the basic plot]] of earlier ''Bewitched'' episodes, the two most infamous examples were giving the heroine an evil dark-haired twin relative (Cousin Serena/Jeannie's sister) and retconning Jeannie's backstory from being a former human into her coming from a family of genies and being a genie being treated as if being part of a race, much like how ''Bewitched'' treated witches and warlocks as a race of their own. Apparently, this was because the writer who developed Serena went to work for ''I Dream of Jeannie''.

** An odd case where an attempted ''lack'' of fanservice just made the show even more enticing, as Barbara Eden's genie costume was famously risque, yet the NBC censors refused to let her navel be visible despite other shows of the era (most notably ''Series/GilligansIsland'') being able to get away with occasional "flashes." This resulted in many a viewer closely watching each episode for the rare times that a navel slip made it in.

* FairForItsDay: Some modern-day critics find the plot, a woman bound to serve a man, to be rather questionable to say the least. However, this potrayal has a lot more nuance.

* FriendlyFandoms: IDOJ fans and fans of ''Series/Bewitched'' tend to get along and enjoy both shows.

** In general, whenever the show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' is discussed, one way of distinguishing them apart is to mention something along the lines that ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was the one who had heaps of {{Fanservice}} (or to be more specific, the one where the female lead had a [[BedlahBabe harem costume]]). Even ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had Dean's mind wandering in one episode where his brother Sam was discussing djinn with him, and Sam tells him that djinn are not "like Barbara Eden in harem pants."

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' stemmed in part from this. While [[http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/dejaview.htm many episodes share the basic plot]] of earlier ''Bewitched'' episodes, the two most infamous examples were giving the heroine an evil dark-haired twin relative (Cousin Serena/Jeannie's sister) and retconning Jeannie's backstory from being a former human into her coming from a family of genies and being a genie being treated as if being part of a race, much like how ''Bewitched'' treated witches and warlocks as a race of their own. Apparently, this was because the writer who developed Serena went to work for ''I Dream of Jeannie''.

** Also, Jeannie's attraction toward Tony would nowadays be charitably described as stalking and borderline obsession than any real love. One episode sees Jeannie goes so far as to try and take advantage of Tony's amnesia to get him to fall in love with him. While it's PlayedForLaughs, nowadays, this would be considered borderline rape by deception.

** Tony is never shown to objectify Jeannie: he explicitly freed Jeannie in the first episode, never took advantage of her HappinessInSlavery and consistently refused to exploit her powers for his own advancement -- One could easily see how a man with enough drive to become an astronaut would not want a walking DeusExMachina to just hand him the things he was intent on achieving on his own merits. All in all, fairly enlightened for a man of his era.

* FairForItsDay: Some modern-day critics find the plot, a woman bound to serve a man, to be rather questionable to say the least. However, Tony is never shown to objectify Jeannie: he explicitly freed Jeannie in the first episode, never took advantage of her HappinessInSlavery and consistently refused to exploit her powers for his own advancement -- all fairly enlightened for a man of his era. Roger's willingness to exploit Jeannie is depicted as a serious flaw that shouldn't be rewarded. So was his alleged desire for mundane conformity actually a sign of integrity? One could easily see how a man with enough drive to become an astronaut would not want a walking DeusExMachina to just hand him the things he was intent on achieving on his own merits. Furthermore in a sense, though Jeannie thinks she's Tony's slave, she's disobedient to his orders, even when they're in her best interests.

** One episode sees Jeannie try and take advantage of Tony's amnesia to get him to fall in love with him. While it's PlayedForLaughs, nowadays, this would be considered borderline rape by deception.

* FairForItsDay: Tony explicitly freed Jeannie in the first episode, never took advantage of her HappinessInSlavery and consistently refused to exploit her powers for his own advancement -- all fairly enlightened for a man of his era. So was his alleged desire for mundane conformity actually a sign of integrity? One could easily see how a man with enough drive to become an astronaut would not want a walking DeusExMachina to just hand him the things he was intent on achieving on his own merits. Furthermore in a sense, though Jeannie thinks she's Tony's slave, she's disobedient to his orders, even when they're in her best interests.

* ValuesDissonance: There was considerable controversy during the episodes where Jeannie's costume showed off her belly button. Modern viewers who hear about the belly button issue wonder why, since the rest of her costume consists of see-through harem pants and a top she spills out of, both of which would seem like a much more hot-button issue.

* DuelingWorks: With ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''. Ironically, many foreign dubs (the Italian, the Japanese, and the German dubs) changed Jeannie to be a witch. It is rumored that the dubbers mistook the show for a spin-off (or tried to retcon it into being one).

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: "Mrs. Djinn-Djinn" sees Jeannie being MistakenForPregnant. At the time, Barbara Eden ''was'' pregnant with her second child, but complications caused her pregnancy to end in a miscarriage.

** In general, whenever the show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' is discussed, one way of distinguish them apart is to mention something along the lines that ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was the one who had heaps of {{Fanservice}} (or to be more specific, the one where the female lead had a [[BedlahBabe harem costume]]). Even ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had Dean's mind wandering in one episode where his brother Sam was discussing djinn with him, and Sam tells him that djinn are not "like Barbara Eden in harem pants."

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In "Mrs. Djinn-Djinn", a woman asks Jeannie whether she is pregnant. At the time, Barbara Eden ''was'' pregnant with her second child, but complications with it caused it to end in a miscarriage.

** In general, whenever the show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' is discussed, one way of distinguish them apart is to mention something along the lines that ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was the one who had heaps of {{Fanservice}} (or to be more specific, the one where the female lead had a [[BedlahBabe harem costume]]). Even ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had Dean's mind wandering in one episode where his brother Sam was discussing djinn with him, and Sam tells him that djinn are not "like Barbara Eden in harem pants]]."

** In general, whenever the show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' is discussed, one way of distinguish them apart is to mention something along the lines that ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was the one who had heaps of {{Fanservice}}. Even ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had Dean's mind wandering in one episode where his brother Sam was discussing djinn with him, and Sam tells him that djinn are not "like Barbara Eden in [[BedlahBabe harem pants]]."

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In "Mrs. Djinn-Djinn", a woman asks Jeannie whether she is pregnant. At the time, Barbara Eden ''was'' pregnant with her second child, but complications with it caused it, in short, to end in a miscarriage.
* {{Hilarious in Hindsight}}: In "Blackmail Order Bride", the woman who pretends to be Tony's wife is named Sue Ellen.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Of a young [[Series/CharliesAngels Farrah Fawcett]] in the final season.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' stemmed in part from this. While [[http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/dejaview.htm many episodes share the basic plot]] of earlier ''Bewitched'' episodes, the two most infamous examples were giving the heroine an evil dark-haired twin relative (Cousin Serena/Jeannie's sister) and retconning Jeannie's backstory from being a former human into her coming from a family of genies, much like the situation on ''Bewitched''. Apparently, this was because the writer who developed Serena went to work for ''I Dream of Jeannie''.
* ValuesDissonance: There was considerable controversy during the episodes where Jeannie's costume showed off her belly button. Modern viewers who hear about the bellybutton issue wonder why, since the rest of her costume consists of see-through harem pants and a top she spills out of, both of which would seem like a much more hot-button issue.

* EarWorm: The upbeat theme tune that was used from Season 2 on.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: "Divorce, Jeannie Style" points out how abusive Tony is to Jeannie; it is treated as being all right because she is a genie.

** An odd case where an attempted ''lack'' of fanservice just made the show even more enticing,t as Barbara Eden's genie costume was famously risque, yet the NBC censors refused to let her navel be visible despite other shows of the era (most notably ''Series/GilligansIsland'') being able to get away with occasional "flashes." This resulted in many a viewer closely watching each episode for the rare times that a navel slip made it in.

** An odd case where an attempted ''lack'' of fanservice just made the show even more enticing, as Barbara Eden's genie costume was famously risque, yet the NBC censors refused to let Barbara Eden's navel be visible despite other shows of the era (most notably ''Series/GilligansIsland'') being able to get away with occasional "flashes." This resulted in many a viewer closely watching each episode for the rare times that a navel slip made it in.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: An odd case where an attempted ''lack'' of fanservice just made the show even more enticing, as Barbara Eden's genie costume was famously risque, yet the NBC censors refused to let Barbara Eden's navel be visible despite other shows of the era (most notably ''Series/GilligansIsland'') being able to get away with occasional "flashes." This resulted in many a viewer closely watching each episode for the rare times that a navel slip made it in.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' stemmed in part from this. While [[http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/dejaview.htm many episodes share the basic plot of earlier Bewitched episodes]], the two most infamous examples were giving the heroine an evil dark-haired twin relative (Cousin Serena/Jeannie's sister) and retconning Jeannie's backstory from being a former human into her coming from a family of genies, much like the situation on ''Bewitched''. Apparently, this was because the writer who developed Serena went to work for ''I Dream of Jeannie''.

* DuelingShows: With ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''. Ironically, many foreign dubs (the Italian, the Japanese, and the German dubs) changed Jeannie to be a witch. It is rumored that the dubbers mistook the show for a spin-off (or tried to retcon it into being one).

* DuelingShows: With ''Series/{{Bewitched}}''.
** Ironically, many foreign dubs (the Italian, the Japanese, and the German dubs) changed Jeannie to be a witch. It is rumored that the dubbers mistook the show for a spin-off (or tried to retcon it into being one).

* HoYay: Tony generally seems more interested in hanging out with his astronaut buddies than giving Jeannie, a pretty blonde in a harem girl costume who is willing to be his literal slave and bride, the time of day. The fact that he has no problem whatsoever with his fiancee, Melissa, leaving him also has shades of this.
** ''Series/TheManShow'' had a sketch that uses this trope to explain why Tony wouldn't be interested in a smoking hot genie.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Barbara Eden's career as an actress. She had already appeared on a TV version of ''Film/HowToMarryAMillionaire'', so no, ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was not her first series.
** Arguably, Barbara Eden herself was often mistaken to be a teenager. [[OlderThanTheyLook She was in her early 30s when the show began.]]

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: The show's infamous rivalry with ''Bewitched'' stemmed in part from this. While [[http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/dejaview.htm many episodes share the basic plot of earlier Bewitched episodes]], the two most infamous examples were giving the heroine an evil dark-haired twin relative (Cousin Serena/Jeannie's sister) and retconning Jeannie's backstory from being a former human into her coming from a family of genies, much like the situation on ''Bewitched''.
** Apparently, this was because the writer who developed Serena went to work for ''I Dream of Jeannie''.

* TheWoobie: Jeannie. Her tragic backstory consisted of being stripped of her humanity and being trapped in a bottle by a wicked djinn (though she was later retconned to have been born a genie), her mother and sister are outright evil, and Tony could be cruel to her.
** Tony's treatment of Jeannie gets lampshaded in "Divorce, Jeannie Style", in which the Bellows meet Jeannie and mistake her for Tony's wife, and nearly bring Tony to the authorities over DomesticAbuse.
** Her actress, Barbara Eden, counts as a woobie, too.