Adventures in formative television watching

[katranna]

Watching it again, "I Dream of Jeannie" is a fairly terrible show: cheesy, predictable, painfully plotted, even more painfully acted. It is made somewhat more palatable by the fact that its gender politics really were quite a step above "Bewitched," even if "Bewitched" were better written. But watching this show in my youth, I already knew that

Comments

[glamourcorpse]

her pretensions at any sort of Middle Eastern origin baffling

When I was little I just automatically assumed because she was a fae/demony type critter, she took on the ideal image/voice etc of her newest master. That the *real* genie looked and sounded so much different. God I was a baby geek!

[katranna]

That's a really interesting way to look at it, ha. I'm impressed! Do you have an equally cool explanation for why there are always white people in eyemakeup when they go to Bagdad, posing as natives?

I was going to ask about the non-Middle Eastern ladies in Jeannie's sister's harem, but I guess one could say since she's magic, maybe her master just wanted his harem filled with exotic blondes rather than native women.

[glamourcorpse]

Do you have an equally cool explanation for why there are always white people in eyemakeup when they go to Bagdad, posing as natives?

Wait! I saw a show like this once *sings the Three's Company theme quietly* Nope. I got nothing. My 7 year old self is WAY wiser then my 28 year old self.

Truly a carcrash of a show

[many_others_yet]

Channel 4 repeated it in the UK a few years ago. (For whatever reason, I had the uncanny knack of turning on the TV just as it was being shown.) I think it aimed at the ironic-teen Sunday morning audience (or, alternatively, there was some writer’s strike or something). But I couldn’t stop watching it. At first I thought it was some kitschy parody … then I became hooked on the sheer awfulness of the jokes … then I became intrigued by imagining the mindset of someone who would actually watch such a thing. Then, about the 4th-5th show, I’m ashamed to say I found hilarious. (Oh, but the writing for that particular episode was so much better, I swear!)

I must have been feeling lightheaded that day. :-/

Re: Truly a carcrash of a show

[katranna]

I dunno about hilarious, but it is oddly appealing still!