Or both?
I have been watching old reruns of IDOJ, and it seems like I’m letting loose with a belly laugh at least twice during each episode.
Of course, I am glad to be off work, so, maybe I’m just easy to please right now.
But, it also seems to be some really good slapstick mindless humor.
Any thoughts?
Best wishes,
hh
I am not ashamed to say that I probably enjoy the occasional episode I see now more than when I watched it as a kid. Larry Hagman was really good at physical humor as well as having good timing.
Let’s put it this way. In addition to being luscious, Barbara Eden managed to pull off being both naive and scheming. Larry Hagman and Bill Daly both played their parts well.
But the show itself? No, I don’t think it was very good.
A lot of those old shows stand up surprising well over time. IDoJ is one of them, IMO. And it was rather ground breaking-- how else to show an unmarried “couple” living together on TV during those times?
Am I turning into an idiot, or was I Dream of Jeannie really pretty hilarious?
Those are not mutually exclusive. I always thought IDoJ was pretty good – and has held up well – but I don’t know if I would call it hilarious.
Bewitched was more consistently hilarious, esp, while Dick York was still there. Agnes Moorehead stole every scene she was in.
I loved how she called Darren “Durwood.”
I don’t find any of this surprising. With a few exceptions, TV comedies took at step backwards in the 1970’s. Shows like Three’s Company and The Ropers were all about big reaction shots, pratfalls, misunderstandings, and gags. Many of the shows of the sixties had style and tried to maintain a high, clever style of dialog. The Andy Griffith Show was a higher caliber of comedy than most of the 70’s shows.
My problem with older shows isn’t the gags themselves, but that the timing often seems off. That, and the jokes seem to be sparser.
I think that The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 70s was the best traditional sitcom of all time. Great writing, directing and acting by a large cast. Most belly laughs would be Arrested Development. IDofJ was a lot of fun for a growing boy who wanted his own Jeannie.
Definitely two of the worst shows ever, with John Ritter and Norman Fell constantly mugging for the cameras.
The sad thing is that they had so much to work with but dumbed it down considerably: both Man About the House and George and Mildred, the British originals, were far superior to the American copies.
SS’s comment would better fit the 80’s (since both shows he mentioned were wholly or partly of that decade). The best 70’s sitcoms (MASH, All In The Family, MTM as already mentioned) were more socially conscious-more self-conscious, & witty, tho silliness could occasionally be found.
I don’t think YOU are an idiot, handsomeharry, but I think I Dream of Jeannie was a show full of idiots. All that underlying wink-wink nudge-nudge was icky - everyone was thinking, wow, he could have himself one omnipotent sex slave. Darren on Bewitched was an idiot in the same way. Maybe that was the appeal, a bland 70’s sitcom full of wackiness on the surface, and underneath, something else. Maybe to someone who has never seen these comedies they are new and funny, but I just get irritated. Everything seems so stupid and dated. I kind of still like MASH, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Carol Burnet and Mary Tyler Moore (though they don’t show these last two any more). However, any laughter and distraction to be gleaned in this sad old world is a good thing. I wish they’d bring back Northern Exposure; though not a gutbuster, it had some really lovely and droll moments.
All I remember about I Dream of Jeannie was Barbara Eden in a harem costume. Which come to think of it, is pretty impressive since I was in all other ways pre-pubescent when I last saw it. I imagine that if I watched it again today, I still wouldn’t notice anything but Barbara Eden in a harem costume.
I never found it funny, with Bewitched I always got a lot of laughs, that might have something to do with it.
Mmm…Mary Tyler Moore.
Yowza! I never knew Mary Tyler Moore could dance like that!
Yeah, her ability to sing and dance was part of the reason she got the role.
The other part of the reason was that she was frickin’ adorable!
(But, so as not to hijack the thread, so was Barbara Eden. ;))
ETA: Did you notice Bob Crane on the bongo drum?