On Epinions...

[Subspace]

OK, so I know this was on the news back in '00, but I just came across it and this article/review about our beloved I Dream of Jeannie is just so inaccurate that I just had to post it here.

As follows.

~~~

A BEWITCHED RIP OFF?
Sep 20 '00

Rating: 3/5

Pros: Cute, Fun
Cons: Not extremely strong writing

Full Review

Many times you can judge the popularity of a show by children. If the children act out scenes that they've seen, you can pretty much guess that this is a hit. That's the way it was with I Dream of Jeannie which originally aired in mid September 1965 and continued entertaining families with new shows until 1970.

Background

An Air Force astronaut crash lands on an uninhabited island after re-entry to the earth's atmosphere and sees a bottle floating in the water. He picks it up, takes out the cork and, viola, a beautiful genie appears. The genie, named Jeannie, is gorgeous and wears a skimpy harem type outfit. It's the standard releasing of the genie theme with a few twists. Since Major Tony Nelson freed the genie, she is now his slave (she even calls him "Master"). Nothing was ever put into that plot stating that the genie had to be intelligent and it was understood that she was supposed to help make his life easier not complicate it. So begins the journey into the funny world of I Dream of Jeannie.

Not knowing what to do with his genie, Tony brings her home with him to Coco Beach, Florida (bottle and all). They live together as master and slave for a few years, but in 1969 they marry and the relationship, as well as the story lines, begin to change.

Characters

Major Tony Nelson (played by Larry Hagman) is the man who let the genie out of the bottle and now must endure her mistakes in trying to simplify his life. Very seldom do you see him out of his uniform, but he does look handsome in it! Nelson works for NASA and seems to have an above average IQ.

Jeannie (played by Barbara Eden) is beautiful but a little short in the brain matter. She tries to use her magical powers to help her master, but usually gets into trouble. Don't worry though, she usually can correct the problems with little long lasting side affects.

Captain Roger Healey (played by Bill Daily) is Tony's best friend and the only other person on the earth who knows of Jeannie's existence. He's also lucky enough to know that she has magical powers and is constantly wishing he were the one who had found her bottle. He's the perfect devil's advocate to Major Tony Nelson.

Colonel Alfred Bellows (played by Hayden Rorke) is the nosy NASA psychiatrist who usually walks in to see various situations Jeannie has created. The only problem is that most don't believe him and think he's in need of a vacation.

Other minor characters include Amanda Bellow - wife to Colonel Alfred Bellows and General Martin Peterson - Colonel Bellow's commanding officer who doesn't ever believe him.

Comparison

If you've watched this show, have you ever realized just how much it resembles Bewitched? Let me give you a few examples!

A beautiful woman has magical powers yet her "human" or "mortal" counterpart doesn't want her using those powers. Ok, I know this is a bit weak, but hold on for a minute and let me continue.

Sam and Jeannie both have identical relatives who reek havoc in the lives of their partners. Jeannie has her evil twin sister who pretends she's Jeannie to create mischief. Samantha has her evil twin cousin, Serena, who would appear just to create mischief for Darrin. Also, ever notice has the evil twin was the flirtatious one - much more outgoing that their twin. And, the evil twin was a brunette to the blonde Sam or Jeannie.

A body movement creates magic powers not by merely thinking them into existence. Jeannie had her folded arms and blinking, whereas Sam had her nose twitch. Also when they used their magic, a musical tone could be heard, but when their powers were not working properly it was usually a "thunk" type sound. Also neither could undo what another genie/witch had previously done with magic.

Dr. Bellows and Mrs. Kravitz were always the nosy ones and tried their best to figure out what was going on. It was implied that each suspected the truth, but they were always just a few seconds short of being able to prove any of it. Dr. Bellows was always trying to prove to General Peterson that something was amiss, whereas, Mrs. Kravitz had Mr. Kravitz.

Conclusion

While it seems that I Dream of Jeannie was not completely unique, it was still an enjoyable way to spend thirty minutes. One interesting note is that this was the first time that such a skimpy costume was allowed in prime time. But, you'll notice that the belly button was never exposed (except in one episode by accident).

With this show in syndication and playing on Nick at Nite, it continues to give life to the playground imaginations of being a genie in a bottle.

Recommended: Yes
Type of Program: Comedy
Program Quality: Entertaining, but not intellectually or emotionally engaging
Best Suited For: Whole Family

[jeannietonyfan]

IDOJ "not be emotionally engaging"... are you kidding me? That was the strength of the show! When you come down to it, it's the relationship between these characters that pulls at the heartstrings, and keeps us coming back to it again and again! That's so ridiculous. And they spelled Cocoa Beach wrong...
To tell you the truth, I've never gotten the whole how it's SO similar to Bewitched... to me the angles of those shows were different... Bewitched may have had better scripts, but the pace was slow and without Dick York the show died in my opinion. He kept that show funny and fresh, and after that it just became "another sitcom". Sure, they had the whole relative thing played by its' female stars, and I have to admit that that was kind of a rip-off of Bewitched, but I attribute that to being that James Henerson was a writer on Bewitched before he was on Jeannie, so it makes sense that perhaps he wanted to add another dimension to the show.
Jeannie certainly wasn't as well written, but the show remains rewatchable because of the undeniable chemistry the stars share, the physical comedy that is agelessly funny, and in my opinion, all the characters who so cute and so darn likeable (well maybe not Dr. Bellows but it's impossible not to like his character) that you just HAVE to keep coming back to it and loving every minute of it.
Who wrote that review Subspace? It certainly was an interesting read...

[Patterson Lundquist]

I am going to have to reply to this thread when sober... Yes, the owner of IDreamofJeannie.com gets 'snockered', so when I can put on my glasses and see straight...I'll reply to this. In the 'mine-tome" I'll pretend I'm Dr. Bellows and go snuggle up with Amanda and sleep it off.
-P

[Subspace]

Oh, no one in particular wrote that review, it was just a rather well-written (in terms of length, detail, grammar, etc., if not necessarily in terms of content or accuracy) review by a fan, I guess, who posted it on Epinions where I stumbled across it.

Below's my analysis of/take on the review.

A BEWITCHED RIP OFF?

Many people see I Dream of Jeannie as a rip-off or copy of Bewitched. Actually though I prefer to look upon IDOJ as an improvement on Bewitched in certain aspects where Bewitched failed.

The two shows were also just plain different in some other areas.

Sep 20 '00

Rating: 3/5

Pros: Cute, Fun
Cons: Not extremely strong writing

Full Review

Many times you can judge the popularity of a show by children. If the children act out scenes that they've seen, you can pretty much guess that this is a hit. That's the way it was with I Dream of Jeannie which originally aired in mid September 1965 and continued entertaining families with new shows until 1970.

Background

An Air Force astronaut crash lands on an uninhabited island after re-entry to the earth's atmosphere and sees a bottle floating in the water. He picks it up, takes out the cork and, viola, a beautiful genie appears. The genie, named Jeannie, is gorgeous and wears a skimpy harem type outfit. It's the standard releasing of the genie theme with a few twists. Since Major Tony Nelson freed the genie, she is now his slave (she even calls him "Master"). Nothing was ever put into that plot stating that the genie had to be intelligent and it was understood that she was supposed to help make his life easier not complicate it. So begins the journey into the funny world of I Dream of Jeannie.

I wouldn't really call Jeannie a 'slave' by the traditional sense, no slave would ever defy the Master or owner the way Jeannie often defies Tony... it's a Master/Genie relationship, and later also a Husband/Wife relationship, but not a Master/Slave relationship by any sense of the 'slave' term.

As far as intelligence, people often feel Jeannie must be retarded, which I feel is completely wrong. They also further compare Jeannie to Samantha (of Bewitched) and say how Samantha is much more competent and 'smarter than' Jeannie. I feel there are several inaccuracies here. First, Samantha grew up in the modern world, she has been living amongst humans for years before meeting and marrying Darrin. Samantha doesn't use powers most of the time, and when she does she has learned discretion over the years from experience. Jeannie grew up in the ancient Middle East and was still a young girl when she was bottled up by the Blue Djinn. Thus when freed by Tony Nelson she was still effectively a young girl with the experiences of a young girl, and Jeannie is completely unused to living in the modern world or living amongst modern humans, unlike Samantha. Her reactions will hence be very different. Another point is that Samantha is a housewife and mother, and is ordered not to use magic at all by Darrin. Since Samantha basically tries her best to pretend to be a normal human housewife, how much trouble can she get into? Jeannie was never ordered to give up use of her powers by Tony, nor did Jeannie ever aspire to pretend to be a normal human housewife. In the first four seasons Jeannie wasn't even married to Tony. Nor was Jeannie in seasons 1 - 4 openly interacting with anyone other than Tony and Roger.... kind of hard to get experience living amongst modern humans, when one is not even living amongst modern humans openly.

If IDOJ had gone on and Jeannie had had children with Tony, I'm sure she would have learned more discretion (since post marriage Jeannie is interacting openly in the world) and become more like Samantha, albeit a Samantha not afraid or prohibited from using magic. So I really don't think Jeannie is dumb or anything, she merely hasn't become acclimated to the modern world yet.

Not knowing what to do with his genie, Tony brings h

[jeannietonyfan]

Good observations. I agree... Jeannie was never Tony's slave, she was his GENIE... there's a difference there, even though I've heard that one of the lines in Farsi that she speaks in the pilot translate to "I am your slave"... but still, even though that might be what appears on the surface, it is certainly not the case, and to quote Barbara Eden... "Well, who REALLY was the master of that relationship?" indicating that really it was actually her in control, and that's where the fun of the show comes from.
And yes, you're completely right, Samantha has lived in the modern world, and Jeannie, as Barbara Eden has said, was "smart from way back". She was very intelligent in the time period that she was used to, she just wasn't accustomed to living in the modern world.
And Jeannie was 100% more fun and spirited than Samantha was... Samantha was a plain, boring housewife, and as a result, it's not as fun to watch. Jeannie had a fire, and as a result had more depth. I always enjoyed watching Endora trying to get Samantha to be more fun, and I was always on Endora's side... why does she think it's so important to be married to a pretty dull (especially with Dick Sargent in the role) husband? To me it never made sense that Samantha had all that power and could have lived an exhilerating life and instead was couped up and ORDERED never to use her power.
And I hate when people say that Samantha is more of a role model for young girls, while Jeannie isn't. Excuse me? Samantha lives a life where she is really not allowed to have an identity, and she is a subservient housewife. Jeannie isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and the minute she gets crap from Tony she isn't afraid to get revenge. I don't know, but I'd much rather have the personality of Jeannie than dull Samantha.

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Good observations. I agree... Jeannie was never Tony's slave, she was his GENIE... there's a difference there, even though I've heard that one of the lines in Farsi that she speaks in the pilot translate to "I am your slave"... but still, even though that might be what appears on the surface, it is certainly not the case, and to quote Barbara Eden... "Well, who REALLY was the master of that relationship?" indicating that really it was actually her in control, and that's where the fun of the show comes from.
And yes, you're completely right, Samantha has lived in the modern world, and Jeannie, as Barbara Eden has said, was "smart from way back". She was very intelligent in the time period that she was used to, she just wasn't accustomed to living in the modern world.
And Jeannie was 100% more fun and spirited than Samantha was... Samantha was a plain, boring housewife, and as a result, it's not as fun to watch. Jeannie had a fire, and as a result had more depth. I always enjoyed watching Endora trying to get Samantha to be more fun, and I was always on Endora's side... why does she think it's so important to be married to a pretty dull (especially with thingy Sargent in the role) husband? To me it never made sense that Samantha had all that power and could have lived an exhilerating life and instead was couped up and ORDERED never to use her power.
And I hate when people say that Samantha is more of a role model for young girls, while Jeannie isn't. Excuse me? Samantha lives a life where she is really not allowed to have an identity, and she is a subservient housewife. Jeannie isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and the minute she gets crap from Tony she isn't afraid to get revenge. I don't know, but I'd much rather have the personality of Jeannie than dull Samantha.

Yeah, I agree completely with what you just said. People always talk about how Samantha was 'more mature' for her restraint, for normally not using her powers... people fail to realize that Samantha used to use her powers and only quit using them by Season 1 of Bewitched because Darrin ordered her, more or less, to give up any and all use of her powers and act as a normal human housewife. Sure, as someone somewhere once said, Samantha and Darrin 'mutually agreed' that use of her powers should be generally forbidden, but I somehow have the feeling that Samantha wasn't the one who wanted to give up her powers. She did it for Darrin as the only way of making Darrin stay in the relationship, more or less.

As far as the role model concept goes, I agree with that also. I mean, no one would encourage young girls to go around acting literally like Jeannie does - because Jeannie often behaves the way she behaves because she's not acclimated to the modern era; hence it wouldn't be wise to copy each and every action of hers; but Jeannie as a role model, if you extrapolate her character's characteristics to what is suitable for modern women, is much better than Samantha as a role model.

Without extrapolation - of course Samantha is a better role model, only because she is acclimated to the modern world and Jeannie isn't. But as long as you extrapolate, Jeannie's character is really much better to use as a role model than Samantha's character is.

Even though that series was set up so that Endora was the pseudo 'bad guy' in a way, I too often rooted for Endora. If Darrin had merely asked Samantha to use magic with discretion, or only in private, so as to appear externally to be a normal housewife, I would have sided with Darrin. After all, it could cause problems for both he, and Samantha, if Samantha used magic indiscriminately. But Darrin didn't just want Samantha to just appear externally to be a normal housewife, he wanted her to actually pretend to be a normal human housewife, 24/7/365. Not to mention that Darrin also had the world's biggest ego problem. Did you notice how hard he comes down on Samantha whenever Samantha has a suggestion relating to his work? He always puts her down and refuses to listen - no matter how good her suggestion is. That's like the pinnacle example of male chauvinism.

I will grant that we don't know how Tony Nelson would react if Jeannie pointed something out regarding his work. Partially because Tony was a rocket scientist... I'm sure if he was in advertising like Darrin, Jeannie would help him out with suggestions, and I'm pretty sure Tony'd at least listen.

Besides, if Darrin was in Tony's shoes, can you imagine him going the lengths Tony has gone to for Jeannie? Such as unauthorized use of ERIC to find her birthday?

By the way, you know what I just realized when I saw your post? I looked over my previous post, and I realized that for some weird reason, a huge segment of what I wrote and posted, is now missing. I'm going to have to re-write some of that stuff from memory...

[jeannietonyfan]

Yeah, I was wondering why your post got cut off there.
I totally agree with your last post too! Tony was so much more a sympathetic character than Darrin, because he wasn't so streamlined... that is to say, he was straitlaced but he never just flat out said... no magic.
I think Tony was in awe of Jeannie's power so when she did something to his advantage or would do something that he was amazed at, he would be happy that Jeannie had the power... he didn't ALWAYS see it as a burden as Darrin did.
And of course, Tony was willing to risk his job to help or save Jeannie. Your ERIC computer example is a perfect example of that, and he even said to Roger in this episode... "I'd do anything for her". So yes, I think Tony had a more open mind than Darrin did about the "power" surrounding him, and I think you have to credit Larry Hagman for having these layers of Tony's character... at times it seemed like he was pretending to be disinterested in Jeannie's power but yet you can tell by the look on his face that he thinks what he is witnessing is pretty amazing.

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Yeah, I was wondering why your post got cut off there.
I totally agree with your last post too! Tony was so much more a sympathetic character than Darrin, because he wasn't so streamlined... that is to say, he was straitlaced but he never just flat out said... no magic.
I think Tony was in awe of Jeannie's power so when she did something to his advantage or would do something that he was amazed at, he would be happy that Jeannie had the power... he didn't ALWAYS see it as a burden as Darrin did.
And of course, Tony was willing to risk his job to help or save Jeannie. Your ERIC computer example is a perfect example of that, and he even said to Roger in this episode... "I'd do anything for her". So yes, I think Tony had a more open mind than Darrin did about the "power" surrounding him, and I think you have to credit Larry Hagman for having these layers of Tony's character... at times it seemed like he was pretending to be disinterested in Jeannie's power but yet you can tell by the look on his face that he thinks what he is witnessing is pretty amazing.

Oh, I agree. If Darrin had been in Tony's shoes, first thing he'd have done after finding out Jeannie had followed him back to Cocoa Beach, would be to put her bottle in storage and command Jeannie to 'make herself useful' around his house - by hand. Oh, she'd have to sleep on the couch or something too, Darrin wouldn't let her blink something up, and most likely wouldn't let her blink herself back into her bottle or blink herself miniature, either. You end up with a very unhappy Jeannie who disobeys him at every chance/loophole and a huge blow-up which ends in Jeannie leaving and going to be Roger's genie - or going back to her family in old Baghdad. You see, unlike Samantha, Jeannie isn't going to take that sort of stuff or treatment from Darrin.

Tony never disliked Jeannie's power... he liked it, except when her power got him into trouble, as it often did. But even after all those incidents he still didn't force Jeannie to give up use of her powers. Says a lot about how understanding he is. He often commands her not to use her powers for specific things - but those commands are only to prevent her from getting him into trouble... he never forces her to renounce her powers - he never even comes close to that.

OK... now to try to re-write the truncated segment of my post...

[jeannietonyfan]

Or if he REALLY hadn't wanted her around, Darrin would have let the bottle stay in the garbage truck! No, I'm just kidding (I think), but when you think how frantic and worried Tony was when he thought Jeannie might be gone, and she had JUST come into his life.
Yes, Tony really was understanding about her powers... and yes the only time he worries about her power is when it could get him into trouble at NASA. But he's willing to risk it and be even more at risk when he marries her, and by the end of the series we know that Jeannie is more important to him than his work as an astronaut... in "Hurricane Jeannie" when he thinks his secret has been revealed to Dr. Bellows, he says, "I'd rather be married to Jeannie than continue to be an astronaut"... so he's really come to fully accept and love Jeannie for what she is, and to him that's the most important thing. It's touching when you think about it.

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Or if he REALLY hadn't wanted her around, Darrin would have let the bottle stay in the garbage truck! No, I'm just kidding (I think), but when you think how frantic and worried Tony was when he thought Jeannie might be gone, and she had JUST come into his life.
Yes, Tony really was understanding about her powers... and yes the only time he worries about her power is when it could get him into trouble at NASA. But he's willing to risk it and be even more at risk when he marries her, and by the end of the series we know that Jeannie is more important to him than his work as an astronaut... in "Hurricane Jeannie" when he thinks his secret has been revealed to Dr. Bellows, he says, "I'd rather be married to Jeannie than continue to be an astronaut"... so he's really come to fully accept and love Jeannie for what she is, and to him that's the most important thing. It's touching when you think about it.

Yes, it was very touching, one of the most touching lines Tony said in the show, I think. If it had been Darrin instead, and he was in a similar situation with Samantha, I can't quite see him saying that... even if ultimately he might choose Sam over his job, he wouldn't just come right out and say "I'd rather be married to Samantha than continue to work here" or something like that. I can see him begging them to let him stay, I can see him chewing Samantha out for getting caught, but I can't see him just flat out saying that. It was really one of Tony's best moments in the show, a moment where he really shone as a character.

[jeannietonyfan]

subspace said:

jeannietonyfan said:

Or if he REALLY hadn't wanted her around, Darrin would have let the bottle stay in the garbage truck! No, I'm just kidding (I think), but when you think how frantic and worried Tony was when he thought Jeannie might be gone, and she had JUST come into his life.
Yes, Tony really was understanding about her powers... and yes the only time he worries about her power is when it could get him into trouble at NASA. But he's willing to risk it and be even more at risk when he marries her, and by the end of the series we know that Jeannie is more important to him than his work as an astronaut... in "Hurricane Jeannie" when he thinks his secret has been revealed to Dr. Bellows, he says, "I'd rather be married to Jeannie than continue to be an astronaut"... so he's really come to fully accept and love Jeannie for what she is, and to him that's the most important thing. It's touching when you think about it.

Yes, it was very touching, one of the most touching lines Tony said in the show, I think. If it had been Darrin instead, and he was in a similar situation with Samantha, I can't quite see him saying that... even if ultimately he might choose Sam over his job, he wouldn't just come right out and say "I'd rather be married to Samantha than continue to work here" or something like that. I can see him begging them to let him stay, I can see him chewing Samantha out for getting caught, but I can't see him just flat out saying that. It was really one of Tony's best moments in the show, a moment where he really shone as a character.

Yes, exactly, I'm completely in agreement! And I love that the line is so beautiful and makes me regret (again) that this didn't air last. And the fact that he doesn't even overreact or seem very upset when Dr. Bellows finds out the secret is also very telling of his unconditional love for Jeannie... it's just like, OK the secret's out, I can go on with my life. Even though he would love to continue on being an astronaut, it's Jeannie that's his first love... and for me I love that moment because you're right, his character does shine... the one part I don't like is when she says "Good night darling darling Anthony" and he (not completely serious) replies... "Master...". I wish they hadn't written that in, because this big moment that Tony has just had, this release of a secret, and the chance to move on and go forward in life, is kind of wrecked when he says that. But oh well, it's still a lovely moment of the series, and one of Tony's best moments.
And yes, Darrin would have a much harder time saying it, but I've always seen Tony as so much more of a man than Darrin ever was or ever could be.

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Yes, exactly, I'm completely in agreement! And I love that the line is so beautiful and makes me regret (again) that this didn't air last. And the fact that he doesn't even overreact or seem very upset when Dr. Bellows finds out the secret is also very telling of his unconditional love for Jeannie... it's just like, OK the secret's out, I can go on with my life. Even though he would love to continue on being an astronaut, it's Jeannie that's his first love... and for me I love that moment because you're right, his character does shine... the one part I don't like is when she says "Good night darling darling Anthony" and he (not completely serious) replies... "Master...". I wish they hadn't written that in, because this big moment that Tony has just had, this release of a secret, and the chance to move on and go forward in life, is kind of wrecked when he says that. But oh well, it's still a lovely moment of the series, and one of Tony's best moments.
And yes, Darrin would have a much harder time saying it, but I've always seen Tony as so much more of a man than Darrin ever was or ever could be.

I agree completely. I just wanted to add that, yes, I agree that having Tony reply, a bit flippantly, 'Master....' ruined the moment a bit... but then you've got to remember that this is Tony, and Tony's never done emotions - strong emotions like this - too well. (I mean the character, not the actor.) He's always uncomfortable with such strong emotions. And he's never been a terribly romantic guy. So I suppose it was like him to try to diffuse the emotion in the atmosphere with some humor...

[jeannietonyfan]

subspace said:

jeannietonyfan said:

Yes, exactly, I'm completely in agreement! And I love that the line is so beautiful and makes me regret (again) that this didn't air last. And the fact that he doesn't even overreact or seem very upset when Dr. Bellows finds out the secret is also very telling of his unconditional love for Jeannie... it's just like, OK the secret's out, I can go on with my life. Even though he would love to continue on being an astronaut, it's Jeannie that's his first love... and for me I love that moment because you're right, his character does shine... the one part I don't like is when she says "Good night darling darling Anthony" and he (not completely serious) replies... "Master...". I wish they hadn't written that in, because this big moment that Tony has just had, this release of a secret, and the chance to move on and go forward in life, is kind of wrecked when he says that. But oh well, it's still a lovely moment of the series, and one of Tony's best moments.
And yes, Darrin would have a much harder time saying it, but I've always seen Tony as so much more of a man than Darrin ever was or ever could be.

I agree completely. I just wanted to add that, yes, I agree that having Tony reply, a bit flippantly, 'Master....' ruined the moment a bit... but then you've got to remember that this is Tony, and Tony's never done emotions - strong emotions like this - too well. (I mean the character, not the actor.) He's always uncomfortable with such strong emotions. And he's never been a terribly romantic guy. So I suppose it was like him to try to diffuse the emotion in the atmosphere with some humor...

That's true, he tended to use humor in times of crisis, but in the moments when he was romantic he was ROMANTIC... I mean the wedding show scene when Jeannie's upset and she blinks them back to her bottle, and Tony says that he doesn't care where he marries her because he loves her, that's very romantic and lovely!

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

subspace said:

I agree completely. I just wanted to add that, yes, I agree that having Tony reply, a bit flippantly, 'Master....' ruined the moment a bit... but then you've got to remember that this is Tony, and Tony's never done emotions - strong emotions like this - too well. (I mean the character, not the actor.) He's always uncomfortable with such strong emotions. And he's never been a terribly romantic guy. So I suppose it was like him to try to diffuse the emotion in the atmosphere with some humor...

That's true, he tended to use humor in times of crisis, but in the moments when he was romantic he was ROMANTIC... I mean the wedding show scene when Jeannie's upset and she blinks them back to her bottle, and Tony says that he doesn't care where he marries her because he loves her, that's very romantic and lovely!

That's true. I'll retract my previous statement ("And he's never been a terribly romantic guy"). Still though, in this case it could be said that it was more of a crisis situation than a romantic situation... after all Dr. Bellows *was* involved and it *did* involve his career. It was romantic when he said that but it was also in a time of crisis. But - little difference - we both agree it would have been more touching and better if the writers hadn't tried to add that bit of humor there.

[jeannietonyfan]

subspace said:

jeannietonyfan said:

That's true, he tended to use humor in times of crisis, but in the moments when he was romantic he was ROMANTIC... I mean the wedding show scene when Jeannie's upset and she blinks them back to her bottle, and Tony says that he doesn't care where he marries her because he loves her, that's very romantic and lovely!

That's true. I'll retract my previous statement ("And he's never been a terribly romantic guy"). Still though, in this case it could be said that it was more of a crisis situation than a romantic situation... after all Dr. Bellows *was* involved and it *did* involve his career. It was romantic when he said that but it was also in a time of crisis. But - little difference - we both agree it would have been more touching and better if the writers hadn't tried to add that bit of humor there.

Yes, exactly, but it's still a great scene regardless. I love when Dr. Bellows says to Tony, "All things considered, and I mean ALL things, it has been a pleasure working with you"... it's so moving, and for me it has the subtext that the cast had and the pleasure they had working together, and them knowing that this would probably be the last show they would film... maybe I'm reading into it for more than what's there, but that's the feeling I get when I watch it.