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63 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wished for this and my wish came true!!, March 26, 2006
A few years ago I started watching IDOJ for the first time since I was a kid on cable TV reruns. As an adult, I was able to perceive many things that simply went over my head as a child. This was actually quite an edgy show by mid 1960's standards. Oh how I wished this show would be released on DVD, and lo and behold it my wish was granted!
(And, I bought the B&W version because I prize historical accuracy. I want to see exactly what was shown on TV back then, without the lousy TV's we had back then.)
You've got a blond bombshell, who is eager to please in every way a man could imagine, living out of wedlock with an astronaut, who represented the most heroic all-american roll models we had back in the 1960's. And somehow, for years, this show provided good clean TV fun for millions of viewers.
Part of why it worked I suppose is that Jeannie really wanted to marry Tony, and slowly but surely she broke down his resolve not to marry her until toward the end of the series, when they actually do get married. The meta-narrative of the show is that
Jeannie got her wish. (Oh yeah, and she slept in her bottle until she did!)
Is IDOJ really a "knockoff" of Bewitched? Yes and no. I rather think of IDOJ as an improvement.
For example, the last scene in the pilot has Tony walking into his bedroom and closing the door, Jeannie turning to smoke and entering his bedroom under the door, Tony yelling "Knock it off!!" or something like that, and Jeannie coming back out from under the door and reappearing with a wink to the camera. It's all left to the imagination what happened in there and it's funny!
And that's where IDOJ is very different from Bewitched. In IDOJ, the hottie with the supernatural powers gets to be sexual, whereas in Bewitched she does not.
In Bewitched, Samantha is the sane one with a world of lunacy around her in which she tries to maintain order and survive the crisis of the week. She is usually uptight and in crisis mode and after a while I just start to wonder what she ever saw in Darrin in the first place. Also, this formula gets repetitve. I doubt that I'll ever order the Bewitched series for that very reason: it's much the same story every week.
In IDOJ, Tony is the sane one in a world of lunatics, and Jeannie is often part of the chaos. Jeannie gets to be beautiful, sexual, smart, mischevious, and most importantly, unpredictable. Will she be part of the problem or the solution this week? Or, will she try to be part of the solution and instead bring on more chaos? You really don't know whats coming.
Also, I really appreciate the work that went into some of the props and stunts that often only provided a gag lasting a few seconds. In particular when Jeannie makes herself small and has to hide in items like coffee cups, pencil holders, and things like that. Those kind of scenes take a lot of work to set up. There's some genuine special effects work in this series beyond just objects dissappearing and reappearing.
Oh, and one more thing. The DVDs are single sided!! I can actually look at them and see what disc I'm holding! I can handle them without going into "brain surgeon" mode in order to avoid damaging them! They actually did the packaging correctly! WOW!
So, here you've got a properly packaged example of the best that 1960's sitcoms had to offer, and for under $30. Stop wishing and start buying!
Postscript: My one dissappointment with this DVD set is the commentary on the pilot episode. I expected great things since the commentators would be the main three actors in the cast, but it's like they didn't understand the purpose of a commentary or didn't prepare. Don't expect a lot of additional insights into the series. I tried to watch this with my wife and got so embarrassed for them that we turned it off and just watched the pilot episode without the commentary.
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally!, January 12, 2006
Yay!
IDOJ is finally getting the magic treatment it deserves, the show will be released in both B&W and color, although only season one was filmed in black and white. Also be on the look out for the IDOJ movie starring Jessica alba as Jeannie, Jimmy Fallon as Major Nelson , no word on who will play Dr.Bellows or my favorite character on the show Major Roger Healy.
HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE SHOW'S FIRST SEASON...
1. The Lady in the Bottle
Captain Anthony Nelson, finds himself stranded on a desert island. Where he finds a bottle lying on the sand. Only to find a Jeannie inside, who'm declares Tony her new master.
2.My Hero?
Jeannie blinks Captain Nelson to ancient Persia, to avenge her honor .While she visits her parents and happily announces that captain Nelson is the man she'd wish to marry .
3.Guess What Happened on the Way to the Moon?
Tony &Roger our out on a mission with Jeannie in toe. She tries to make Tony as comfortable as possible, But neglects to take care of Roger.
4. The Marriage Caper
The departing General Stone offers Tony the a job , The General's daughter, Melissa, Tony's fiancée, urges him to accept and move up their wedding date.
5. G.I. Jeannie
Jeannie joins the WAAF's in hopes of becoming Tony's secretary, but things don't turn out as planned.
6. The Yacht Murder Case
Onboard a yacht for a meeting, Tony is followed by Jeannie. With witnesses around Tony argues with Jeannie and tells her to go home. When she does everyone assumes Tony is has has done something to her.
7. Anybody Here Seen Jeannie
Captain Nelson will be doing a space walk . Dr. Bellows is concerned that Tony has been a bit jumpy and orders Tony to appear at the base for some tests. Jeannie overhears Tony's mission & worries about his tether breaking and spinning Tony out into space. So she decides to sabotage Tony's tests.
8.The Americanization of Jeannie
Jeannie reads about how to be an American woman in a magazine and takes after it in order to please Tony.
9.The Moving Finger
Jeannie becomes jealous of Tony when he goes out with a famous movie star. Jeannie then wants to become a movie star herself to get Tony's attention, only to find out Jeannie's don't photograph when she is given a screen test and she is invisible in it.
10.Djinn and Water
One of Jeannie's great grandfathers is summoned back by Jeannie in hopes of aiding Tony in making fresh water out of salt water.
11. Whatever Happened to Baby Custer?
An 8-year-old boy, Custer, idolizes Tony. One day when making an unannounced visit, Custer sees Jeannie's magic at work. The little boy blabs immediately. Dr. Bellows learns about this and decides to use him to prove that the recent weird goings-on with Tony have some explanation.
12.Where'd You Go Go?
When a old girlfriend of Tony's, comes into town and invites him to pick up where they left off, making Jeannie jealous. Meanwhile, Tony's best friend, Roger Healey, who still doesn't know about Jeannie, "bumps" into her on the street and becomes immediately attracted to her, aggressively pursuing her for a date.
13 .Russian Roulette
Roger Healey is in love and is still searching for his missing Dream Girl, Jeannie, complete with an engagement ring in tow.
14.What House Across the Street?
Jeannie wants to marry Tony, who still refuses to marry her. She asks her mother for advice and together they come up with a plan to make Tony jealous: accept Roger Healey's marriage proposal.
15.Too Many Tony's
Jeannie blinks up another Tony that by which is more romantic and worships the ground Jeannie walks on.
16.Get Me to Mecca on Time
When it is discovered that it is the day of the ramda, Jeannie & Tony must make a trip to Mecca and cite the sacred words or else Jeannie will lose her powers forever and go into limbo.
17.Richest Astronaut in the World
**MY favorite and the BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON***
Roger finally discovers the truth about Jeannie and takes control of the bottle without Tony's permission. He then uses Jeannie for his own greedy purposes.
18.Is There an Extra Genie in the House
Roger has run Jeannie ragged with his wishes. Tony has kept Dr. Bellows' niece out on a hot date until the wee morning hours, upsetting Dr. Bellows
19.Never Try to Outsmart a Jeannie
Tony has to go on a three-week trip to Rome for business. Jeannie begs to come along, because she is certain Tony will meet and marry a beautiful woman during his trip .
20.My Master, the Doctor
When Tony mentions to Jeannie that his childhood dream was to become a surgeon, she blinks him right into the operating room where Roger is to have his appendix removed.
21.Jeannie and the Kidnap Caper
Tony, frustrated over Jeannie's constant use of magic to help around the house, makes her swear not to help him out anymore under any circumstances. Moments later Tonys is kidnapped.
22.How Lucky Can You Get?
Following Tony and Roger's promotion to major, the general sends them to Reno, Nevada to relax a few days before going back to thier base in Cocoa Beach .
23.Watch the Birdie
Tony goes to drop off a few papers to General Peterson when he gives a try at a few swings of golf. He of course is horrible and cant even hit the ball, but at a second try Jeannie makes him hit it farther than most pro's
24.Permanent House Guest
When Dr. Bellows makes a stop at Tony's house, he sees an elephant in Tony's bedroom. Bellows temporally moves in with Tony in hopes of actually catching him in the act.
25.Bigger than a Bread Box
Tony is skeptical about a fortune teller Roger has been seeing in the apartment next to his and goes to investigate.
26.My Master, the Great Rembrandt
For NASA charity auction, Tony paints a copy of Rembrandt's famous 1658 self portrait. He uses his own signature to denote it was a copy and not the authentic article. Jeannie decides he's quite a painter. Unbeknownst to Tony, however, she blinks the original article (that was hanging in the Louver in Paris) in place of the faux painting.
27.My Master, the Thief
While on a trip to the museum, Jeannie spots a pair of antique slippers that she believes belonged to her over 2000 years past. She blinks them out of the glass case and on to her feet and Tony is left in trouble.
28.This Is Murder
When its discovered a princess is coming to Cocoa Beach to visit NASA, Tony is chosen to escort her for 3 days. At the same time, Jeannie sees a picture of her and realizes that she is from a royal family that once cheated her family 3000 years past and Jeannie has taken an oath to kill her.
29.My Master the Magician
When Dr. Bellows spots Tony floating in his chair in his living room, he has no choice but to explain it by saying he is an amateur magician and that was one of his tricks. Dr. Bellows then insists that Tony put on a magic show at NASA to prove his claim.
30.I'll Never Forget What's Her Name (7-May-1966)
Tony suffers amnesia after a vase falls on his head, and, seeing Jeannie, instantly falls in love with her. He declares his love and insists they get married.
Cant wait for season two ...
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, the first season on DVD! , March 15, 2006
Only the first season was shot in black and white, so you only have to choose the original or colorized for the first season. Some say you can just buy the color version and turn the color on the set down to watch the black and white, but this does NOT really work, as the grey scales are thrown off. I mean, if you take a finely detailed pencil drawing with many shades of gray, have your kid use his crayons on it, and then take a black and white photo of the result, it would not look like the original!(The second season on will of course be in color only as originally seen.)
I do not see any edits on this set; all shows appear to be the complete network versions, about 4 minutes longer than the edited stuff TV Land runs! The pilot isn't really edited, despite what one reviewer claims. Maybe he's seen the slightly alternate/extended version that has surfaced in some places? There are two versions of the pilot. Which ever version of the pilot is included, it's 25 mins long, and so are the rest of the episodes. You'll see many scenes that are cut out of reruns, so don't hesitate to buy this set.
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