Line #35 YMMV/IDreamOfJeannie


1	* BestKnownForTheFanservice:
2	** An odd case where an attempted ''lack'' of fanservice just made the show even more enticing, as Barbara Eden's genie costume was famously risqué, 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.
3	** In general, whenever the show's infamous rivalry with ''Series/{{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."
4	--->'''Dean:''' My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn't she? Way hotter than that ''Bewitched'' chick.
5	--->'''Sam:''' Are you even listening to me?
6	* 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..
7	* 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 portrayal has a lot more nuance.
8	** 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.
9	** In one episode, Tony does get in trouble when Bellows sees Tony's treatment of Jeannie as domestic abuse.
10	** 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.
11	** Meanwhile Roger's willingness to exploit Jeannie is depicted as a serious flaw, and Jeannie is shown to be annoyed and frustrated whenever he orders her around.
12	* FriendlyFandoms: IDOJ fans and fans of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' tend to get along and enjoy both shows.
13	* HarsherInHindsight: "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.
14	* HilariousInHindsight:
15	** A couple of events in this series are oddly similar to what would happen in the series for which Larry Hagman would be more famous for, ''Series/{{Dallas}}''.
16	*** In "Blackmail Order Bride", the woman who pretends to be Tony's wife is named Sue Ellen.
17	*** Dr. Bellows learning Jeannie's secret being undone by being revealed to be AllJustADream Tony had? Something else Hagman's later series would do, to an entire season of stories.
18	* 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.
19	* LoveToHate: Jeannie's sister. It's essentially watching the already-delightfully mischievious (and sexy) Jeannie be even more mischievious (and sexy).
20	* MemeticMutation: Jeannie's magical fold-arms-and-nod-head gesture.
21	* RetroactiveRecognition: A young Creator/FarrahFawcett appeared in two episodes of the final season as different characters.
22	* SampledUp: The theme song, courtesy of DJ Jazzy Jeff and [[Creator/WillSmith the Fresh Prince]]. Actually quite fitting, considering the show's nature:
23	-->Listen homeboy, don't mean to bust yo' bubble\
24	But girls of the world ain't nothin' but trouble!\
25	So next time a girl gives you the play\
26	[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FFrCZNNCeU Just remember my rhyme and get the hell away!]]
27	* StrawmanHasAPoint: "Divorce, Jeannie Style" points out how abusive Tony is to Jeannie; it is treated as being all right because she is a genie.
28	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
29	** The TV movies were loaded with [[TheEighties 1980s fashion]]. It is very telling that the original 1960s series aged much better, with only the final season airing in 1970. To their credit, the second movie had the sense to put Jeannie in her iconic harem costume for most of the movie.
30	** The actual show somewhat averts this in that most people seem to misremember the show as some 1970s icon. In reality, the show was from the late 1960s. This is somewhat justified, as the show did better in syndication than in its original run.
31	* ValuesDissonance:
32	** 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 that usually allow to see Barbara Eden's curvacious lower half and a top she spills out of, both of which would seem like a much more hot-button issue.
33	** 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 her. While it's PlayedForLaughs, nowadays, this would be considered borderline rape by deception.
34	** The fact that Barbara Eden, a white actress, is playing a woman from Arabia would nowadays be derided as whitewashing.
35	* ValuesResonance: One episode is incredibly sympathetic toward the Native Hawaiians, with Jeannie assuring the revived Hawaiian King that his memory isn't forgotten. With the injustices Native Hawaiians endured under greater scrutiny nowadays, this episode feels like one that could be made in the modern day.
36	* VindicatedByCable: While the show was by no means a flop, and its cancellation was due more to it being the network's plaything than anything, the show did tremendously well in syndication.
37	* TheWoobie:
38	** 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.
39	** Dr. Bellows. How can you not feel sorry for him every now and then? Especially since he and Amanda are very friendly to Jeannie when they finally meet her!

Context YMMV / IDreamOfJeannie