Jeannie Dissertation by Alan Mandel

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Since this is already linked to from the IDreamofJeannie.com website, I thought I'd mention this in the theme of jeannietonyfan's earlier thread. I always thought Alan Mandel's dissertation was a quite nice summary analysis in many places of IDOJ. Here's a link:

www.josho.com/pg000015.htm

I will note that I think there are some places in the article which are a bit inaccurate... but its conclusion is, I feel, sound, and much of its reasoning is also sound.

[jeannietonyfan]

Well, I thought that was pretty good! Here are my comments on some of the passages...

"She does not contribute to the humor of the show, she is merely a catalyst for the situation. Her character is one with her bottle, an icon of feminine captivity and object-treatment which would not sit well with modern-day feminists."
While I would agree that Jeannie did not often get the jokes, she definitely contributes to the humour of the show. Barbara was great at using facial expressions, and little touches to her character that made it funny. While she may not be as OVERTLY funny as Roger for example, she is still essential to the humour of the show in my opinion.

"And Samantha's evil twin, Serena, popped up periodically for similar purpose."
Well, it was her cousin, but let's not split hairs...

"IDOJ had a rich cast to support the weak main character."
Jeannie was not a weak main character, she was PART of the rich cast.

"For the audience never much cared for Dick York's Darren."
Ummmm, Dick York was the only funny actor on that show... he was a master at facial expressions, and even York as Darrin was able to bring some likeability to the character... Dick Sargent didn't do that... he played Darrin like an angry idiot. Any time I go on a Bewitched fan site, they're all saying that York was so much better, so I think that's a silly remark to make.

"The stock series of events for IDOJ goes something like this:
*Jeannie does something less than intelligent
*Tony tries to get her to fix it, but he can't find her and the damage has been done.
*Dr. Bellows notices weird behavior, and stalks Tony to document the events. He demands an explanation from him.
*Tony stammers out a series of lame excuses.
*Dr. Bellows summons General Peterson to prove that Tony is a crackpot.
*Jeannie reappears and sets things straight, sometimes by luck.
*General Peterson arrives to find nothing amiss, with Tony looking surprised that he was even under suspicion.
*General Peterson recommends a long vacation for Dr. Bellows."
Well, can't disagree with that one, but it's the repetition that makes it charming!

Thanks for posting! I wish I could do my dissertation on IDOJ!

[Subspace]

Yeah, I agree! Here's my own commentary on the dissertation...

While unheralded in its prime and now passed into the obscurity of syndication...

During its time I Dream of Jeannie was a moderate success - not as big a success as contemporaries such as Bewitched, but it did do better than other similar magical sitcoms (which I shall not name). Hence I would hardly call it 'unheralded in its prime'. Also I would not call it 'passed into the obscurity of syndication' either... in fact it was in syndication, in the 1970's, that I Dream of Jeannie really exploded in popularity, beating out many prime-time (new) shows that aired on the major networks during the same time slot, and most fans of IDOJ today became fans during the '70's time in syndication.

Not to mention that IDOJ is now being released on DVD. But at the time Alan Mandel wrote that dissertation, IDOJ was not yet being released on DVD, so that can be excused.

Comedies hark back to the dawn of Man. While no Neanderthal scratchings have proven to contain jokes, we have no doubt that they were a very witty society. It is not believed that Homo erectus was able to actually stand erect for millions of years simply because he was usually doubled over in laughter.

Huh?? ... I guess I'll assume that the above paragraph was Mandel's attempt at introducing humor into his dissertation...

In each episode, some forbidden use of her powers alters things in some way which must be explained and coped with (to achieve Ending Parity).

The 'forbidden' term is a bit misleading in my opinion, a better term might be 'impulsive' or 'indiscreet'. But let's not split hairs.

Ironically, Jeannie is the weakest part of the show from a comic standpoint. Her presence is more of an alluring, subservient example of 1960s feminism than of a powerful force.

Again as we discussed previously in other threads, Jeannie was hardly a 'subservient' character. And I agree with you [jeannietonyfan] stating above that Jeannie was hardly the weakest part of the show from a comic standpoint.

Jeannie has the common sense of a prepubescent suburban youngster. She never learns from her errors. After years of living with Tony, even as his wife, she is unable to absorb enough sense of Florida culture to get by without wreaking havoc. She initiates trouble, rather than solves it. She does not contribute to the humor of the show, she is merely a catalyst for the situation. Her character is one with her bottle, an icon of feminine captivity and object-treatment which would not sit well with modern-day feminists.

Jeannie has common sense, but from her own time 'back then' i.e. 2000+ years ago. Her common sense is out of date, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have common sense at all (or just the 'common sense of a prepubescent suburban youngster'). As far as Jeannie never learning from her errors, that too is a bit farfetched. Sometimes she repeats certain things but only because she does not agree that it was ever an error. And other things which are clearly errors, she does not repeat, such as making every day a Sunday - she never tried that tack again, since it clearly failed at making Major Nelson relax.

As far as being unable to absorb enough sense of Florida culture to get by without wreaking havoc, the main reason is, again, that she had common sense from and was brought up in the time 'way back then'. She has not become acclimated to the modern world yet. And she had not had time to fully acclimate even by the end of Season 5, since for the first 4 seasons, and for the first few episodes of Season 5, no one besides Tony and Roger even knew she existed, and she never (except for very occasional jaunts) interacted with modern society openly. So until the marriage, Jeannie was really not given the chance to learn much about or acclimate to modern society. She only really started acclimating in Season 5 after the marriage. If there had been a Season 6, I expect we should have seen Jeannie acclimate more and more to 'modern' times, since after the marriage she'd be interacting in modern society openly as Tony's wife.

Finally I would not call Jeannie an icon of feminine captivity or object-treatment - or her character being one with the bottle. If you'll look closely, you'll see that, except in a few exceptional situations, Jeannie was actually her own master. And she is hardly captive - when it suited her, she has imprisoned Tony in a jail cell, in a drawer, and even in her bottle at various times.

I agree with jeannietonyfan about Jeannie herself bringing humor into the show, also.

Jeannie's unappealing trait could potentially have destroyed the comic effects of the other characters, but her presence is at worst a neutral factor. Her moronic behavior can be effectively rationalized by the following argument. She is from a race of genies, living in a human world. Genies have such power that disease and discomfort are foreign to them. Consequently, Darwinism would not strongly apply to intelligence, ie, one would not have to be a very smart genie to survive quite nicely.

Jeannie's double-digit IQ contrasts with Samantha's (Sam) in Bewitched. Sam is a model of competence: keeping house, raising a family, fending off the whining intrusions of her mother, and rescuing Darren from almost certain dismissal from his place of work, the ad agency run by Larry Tate.

Meh. Jeannie is hardly unappealing - in my, and most fan's, opinion Jeannie is the single most lovable, likable character in IDOJ. Jeannie enhances the comic effects of the other characters and her presence is never so bad as to even be close to a 'neutral factor'. I wouldn't call her behavior 'moronic', see what I've written above and also that she always acted with her own logic - which does make sense. Neither would I say she had a 'double-digit IQ' - she's just not acclimated to the modern world and thus sometimes acts a bit strangely by our standards. Sam as a 'model of competence' is not completely accurate either - Sam too has started trouble (behind Darrin's back). Also I would hardly say that keeping house, raising a family, fending off intrusions of disapproving relatives, and rescuing her husband are things that Jeannie is incapable of. Jeannie keeps house admirably, she often rescues her husband, she fends off intrusions by her disapproving and powerful sister, and I'd say she would be a good mother too - judging from the fact that the parenting book she wrote in My Master, the Author was a bestseller and received at least one major national award.

Another common fact is that neither character could undo the magic that another genie/witch had done.

As I explain in another thread, this is true for witches but probably not true for genies based on what we've seen.

For the audience never much cared for Dick York's Darrin.

I think it was a typo, and the author, Alan Mandel, actually meant to write 'Dick Sargent's' Darrin. Especially given that at one point later in the dissertation when Mandel is discussing Larry Hagman's pluses, he says "The bumbling of Major Nelson is highly important, especially in light of the failure of Dick Sargent."

*Jeannie does something less than intelligent
*Tony tries to get her to fix it, but he can't find her and the damage has been done.
*Dr. Bellows notices weird behavior, and stalks Tony to document the events. He demands an explanation from him.
*Tony stammers out a series of lame excuses.
*Dr. Bellows summons General Peterson to prove that Tony is a crackpot.
*Jeannie reappears and sets things straight, sometimes by luck.
*General Peterson arrives to find nothing amiss, with Tony looking surprised that he was even under suspicion.
*General Peterson recommends a long vacation for Dr. Bellows.

This 'stock series' of events is only mainly true for the first season and a half, or so, of IDOJ. Afterwards, the style of the episodes varies widely, and in many - most - episodes Dr. Bellows never summons General Peterson. In some episodes, Dr. Bellows only has very minor roles, and in a few, he never even appears.

~~~

But all of those comments above are all relatively minor - I agree completely with the rest of the dissertation and the conclusion.

[jeannietonyfan]

Yes I completely agree with your observations!

subspace said:

While unheralded in its prime and now passed into the obscurity of syndication...

During its time I Dream of Jeannie was a moderate success - not as big a success as contemporaries such as Bewitched, but it did do better than other similar magical sitcoms (which I shall not name). Hence I would hardly call it 'unheralded in its prime'. Also I would not call it 'passed into the obscurity of syndication' either... in fact it was in syndication, in the 1970's, that I Dream of Jeannie really exploded in popularity, beating out many prime-time (new) shows that aired on the major networks during the same time slot, and most fans of IDOJ today became fans during the '70's time in syndication.

Yes, I too would hardly call it being unheralded in its time... it certainly wasn't the #1 show on television, but it was certainly a popular show or else it wouldn't have lasted for 5 years. Also, if Jeannie wasn't really popular in its original one, then why did poor Barbara have to wear a wig when she took her son to Disneyland because everyone knew her as Jeannie?
And I agree Subspace, through syndication, IDOJ has become even more popular, and has never been off the air, so how can you say that it has gone into the obscurity of syndication.

"As far as being unable to absorb enough sense of Florida culture to get by without wreaking havoc, the main reason is, again, that she had common sense from and was brought up in the time 'way back then'. She has not become acclimated to the modern world yet. And she had not had time to fully acclimate even by the end of Season 5, since for the first 4 seasons, and for the first few episodes of Season 5, no one besides Tony and Roger even knew she existed, and she never (except for very occasional jaunts) interacted with modern society openly. So until the marriage, Jeannie was really not given the chance to learn much about or acclimate to modern society. She only really started acclimating in Season 5 after the marriage. If there had been a Season 6, I expect we should have seen Jeannie acclimate more and more to 'modern' times, since after the marriage she'd be interacting in modern society openly as Tony's wife."

Yes, I agree, had the show gone on we would have seen Jeannie get used to the modern world, and become a more intelligent person in the modern sense. She just hadn't had the chance before that.

"Finally I would not call Jeannie an icon of feminine captivity or object-treatment - or her character being one with the bottle. If you'll look closely, you'll see that, except in a few exceptional situations, Jeannie was actually her own master. And she is hardly captive - when it suited her, she has imprisoned Tony in a jail cell, in a drawer, and even in her bottle at various times."

Exactly! And plus, she LOVED her bottle. She would go there when she was upset, it wasn't just the place she was ordered to go to when she was in trouble. I wish I could smoke into my bottle if I were angry and just wanted to distance myself from the world for a little while. No, she definitely was not an icon of feminine captivity...


"I think it was a typo, and the author, Alan Mandel, actually meant to write 'thingy Sargent's' Darrin. Especially given that at one point later in the dissertation when Mandel is discussing Larry Hagman's pluses, he says "The bumbling of Major Nelson is highly important, especially in light of the failure of thingy Sargent.""

Yeah, I thought after I posted this that this might have been a typo. But geez, if you are writing a dissertation you'd think you'd make sure that a careless mistake like that wouldn't happen!

"This 'stock series' of events is only mainly true for the first season and a half, or so, of IDOJ. Afterwards, the style of the episodes varies widely, and in many - most - episodes Dr. Bellows never summons General Peterson. In some episodes, Dr. Bellows only has very minor roles, and in a few, he never even appears."

Yeah, for a lot of Season 2, those plot outlines would be correct, but you're right, after that they started adding more writers and the storylines were altered and more diversified.

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Yes I completely agree with your observations!

Thanks! I'm flattered to hear that.

Yes, I too would hardly call it being unheralded in its time... it certainly wasn't the #1 show on television, but it was certainly a popular show or else it wouldn't have lasted for 5 years. Also, if Jeannie wasn't really popular in its original one, then why did poor Barbara have to wear a wig when she took her son to Disneyland because everyone knew her as Jeannie?

And I agree Subspace, through syndication, IDOJ has become even more popular, and has never been off the air, so how can you say that it has gone into the obscurity of syndication.

That is exactly correct. When it was originally airing, it was hardly the #1 show on television or even the #1 sitcom, but it was still a very popular show. And as is well documented, IDOJ really became a big hit during the early '70's when it first went into syndication. And since then it has stayed very popular in syndication to even now.

Yes, I agree, had the show gone on we would have seen Jeannie get used to the modern world, and become a more intelligent person in the modern sense. She just hadn't had the chance before that.

Yup, exactly.

Exactly! And plus, she LOVED her bottle. She would go there when she was upset, it wasn't just the place she was ordered to go to when she was in trouble. I wish I could smoke into my bottle if I were angry and just wanted to distance myself from the world for a little while. No, she definitely was not an icon of feminine captivity...

That's a great point that you raise, and one that I didn't think of when I was writing my original post. Jeannie LOVED her bottle, with a passion. When she was depressed, unhappy, angry, etc. she'd smoke in. She loved her bottle even when she was not unhappy... her love for her bottle is one of the main plot points in the Season 2 episode One of Our Bottles Is Missing - Jeannie is so eager to get back into her bottle that she smokes herself back in, against Tony's better judgment! - before Tony can pick up her bottle. Tony let her go back to her bottle though since he could see how badly she missed it, and he loved her too much to order her to stay in the house. Unfortunately for her, the apprentice in the store gave Tony the wrong bottle, and she (and her bottle) ended up back in the Bellows' living room!

Yeah, I thought after I posted this that this might have been a typo. But geez, if you are writing a dissertation you'd think you'd make sure that a careless mistake like that wouldn't happen!

LoL yes I agree. That's a rather careless mistake to make in a dissertation!

Yeah, for a lot of Season 2, those plot outlines would be correct, but you're right, after that they started adding more writers and the storylines were altered and more diversified.

That's right. Actually they had a lot of different writers in early Season 1, before Sidney Sheldon started his writing spree, but all of the writers still stuck to that format. But starting in late Season 2 they started experimenting with different storylines... probably because the same old same old was starting to really get a bit old after so many episodes!

[jeannietonyfan]

"Thanks! I'm flattered to hear that. "

No problem!



"That's a great point that you raise,"

Thank you!

"and one that I didn't think of when I was writing my original post. Jeannie LOVED her bottle, with a passion. When she was depressed, unhappy, angry, etc. she'd smoke in. She loved her bottle even when she was not unhappy... her love for her bottle is one of the main plot points in the Season 2 episode One of Our Bottles Is Missing - Jeannie is so eager to get back into her bottle that she smokes herself back in, against Tony's better judgment! - before Tony can pick up her bottle. Tony let her go back to her bottle though since he could see how badly she missed it, and he loved her too much to order her to stay in the house. Unfortunately for her, the apprentice in the store gave Tony the wrong bottle, and she (and her bottle) ended up back in the Bellows' living room!"

Yep, exactly, and that's why it's so sad when in the dream sequence of "Hurricane Jeannie" the bottle breaks... my mom is a fan of IDOJ too, and when she and I watched this episode together, my mom gasped so loud!

"That's right. Actually they had a lot of different writers in early Season 1, before Sidney Sheldon started his writing spree, but all of the writers still stuck to that format. But starting in late Season 2 they started experimenting with different storylines... probably because the same old same old was starting to really get a bit old after so many episodes![/quote]"

Yeah, Sidney was on quite a spree in Season 2... he wrote everything except "The Mod Party"! And you can definitely tell they're all written by one person because the plots are very similar in Season 2, but oddly enough, Season 2 is one of my favourite seasons!

[Subspace]

Yep, exactly, and that's why it's so sad when in the dream sequence of "Hurricane Jeannie" the bottle breaks... my mom is a fan of IDOJ too, and when she and I watched this episode together, my mom gasped so loud!

Yeah - it was very sad when the bottle broke. But I guess there's a reason it's Tony's dream sequence after all - the bottle has been shown to be pretty hardy in earlier seasons, unless I recall incorrectly.

Glad to hear that you and your mom both enjoy IDOJ... one of the things I love about classic TV is that it is family friendly - something you wouldn't be ashamed of watching with your folks. My dad was a fan of IDOJ when he was growing up (he literally grew up during the original airings) and remains a big fan to this day. Until recently my mom was a huge fan of Bewitched... but after seeing my dad and I enjoy IDOJ so much (to the point that watching IDOJ became our father/son bonding time!), she decided to give it a whirl... and soon found herself preferring IDOJ over Bewitched! The ironic thing is that now the biggest IDOJ fan in the family is actually my mom! ;D

(I'm a big fan but she's absolutely nuts over it - ! )

Yeah, Sidney was on quite a spree in Season 2... he wrote everything except "The Mod Party"! And you can definitely tell they're all written by one person because the plots are very similar in Season 2, but oddly enough, Season 2 is one of my favourite seasons!

Yep, same here. The show went through several stages of evolution... there was

1) Romantic Comedy (Season 1)
2) Transition (Romantic/Slapstick) (Season 2)
3) Slapstick, Fast-Paced Comedy (Seasons 3 - 5)
4) 'Senescence' (Season 5 post-marriage)

I enjoyed watching all of the first 3 phases even though I preferred Phases 1 and 2. But phase 4 was the only unfortunate phase as it didn't need to be that way - and phase 4 was why the show was ultimately cancelled.

[jeannietonyfan]

Oh yeah, my mom loves IDOJ. When I first started watching the show, and the engagement episode came on, my mom, who probably hadn't seen the episode in 20 years or so, said, "Tony's going to say the lines "an ingit of phinkillium"... and I was like what?! But he sure did, and I was so impressed! In fact my whole family likes IDOJ... you're right that's the beauty of the show... it has something for everyone!

I agree with your analysis of the phases of the show. You know what I find funny is when Tony and Jeannie were engaged, the pace of the show was pretty much the same as it had been for the past few years, but then as soon as they actually tied the knot, things got different... I've always wondered what happened there, because the episodes where they are just engaged are adorable!

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

Oh yeah, my mom loves IDOJ. When I first started watching the show, and the engagement episode came on, my mom, who probably hadn't seen the episode in 20 years or so, said, "Tony's going to say the lines "an ingit of phinkillium"... and I was like what?! But he sure did, and I was so impressed! In fact my whole family likes IDOJ... you're right that's the beauty of the show... it has something for everyone!

I agree with your analysis of the phases of the show. You know what I find funny is when Tony and Jeannie were engaged, the pace of the show was pretty much the same as it had been for the past few years, but then as soon as they actually tied the knot, things got different... I've always wondered what happened there, because the episodes where they are just engaged are adorable!

Wow - your mom is a real fan, to remember that line after 20 years! Yup - that's one of the best things about IDOJ - that it has something for the whole family.

It was very unfortunate that the writers chose to change the whole dynamic of the show once they tied the knot... they shouldn't have... it was great as it was.

[theduck]

"She does not contribute to the humor of the show, she is merely a catalyst for the situation"

PLEEEAAASSSEE ... what a crock! She had tons of slapstick, and several times it was her reaction that made the jokes funny! Example, "Aren't you glad to have me to straighten things out Master?" "(Sarcastically)Yeah I sure am!!" "I am going!" and she blinks out.

"IDOJ had a rich cast to support the weak main character."

Has this guy ever seen the show? Jeannie is the most complex character on the show. It was always her actions that caused the plots for the shows.

"Jeannie's double-digit IQ"

This dude is just pissing me off. Jeannie was intellegent, she just had no common sense for the modern world she now lived in. They showed her intellegence time and time again like when she would answer one of Tony's difficult math problems before he could. Or when she figured out that the problem with Agnes.

"She never learns from her errors."

Sure she did, she never made the same mistake twice did she? But she was impulsive, which is what makes her so appealing, and loveable. She acts on the moment with complete confidence most the time just trying ot be helpful!

This dude doesn't even know the show, he just sees it for what he wants to see. He completly misses the magic of the show.

The Duck

[jeannietonyfan]

Jeannie was intellegent, she just had no common sense for the modern world she now lived in. They showed her intellegence time and time again like when she would answer one of Tony's difficult math problems before he could. Or when she figured out that the problem with Agnes.

I know I hate when people perceive Jeannie that way... another example of her intelligence is when Jeannie immediately knows it's Tony in that British officer disguise, and decides to have fun with it. I love the way she acts in this episode. And Roger was so dumb he didn't know it was Tony... hee hee!

[Subspace]

theduck said:

PLEEEAAASSSEE ... what a crock! She had tons of slapstick, and several times it was her reaction that made the jokes funny! Example, "Aren't you glad to have me to straighten things out Master?" "(Sarcastically)Yeah I sure am!!" "I am going!" and she blinks out.

Yeah. Another very funny classic Jeannie line is "Master, how do you get yourself into these things?!?"

Has this guy ever seen the show? Jeannie is the most complex character on the show. It was always her actions that caused the plots for the shows.

Exactly. No Jeannie means no I Dream of Jeannie at all. She was hardly a 'weak character', not by a long shot.

This dude is just pissing me off. Jeannie was intellegent, she just had no common sense for the modern world she now lived in. They showed her intellegence time and time again like when she would answer one of Tony's difficult math problems before he could. Or when she figured out that the problem with Agnes.

Exactly. She was smart, she just was not acclimated to life in the 'modern world' since she had been trapped in her bottle for the past 2000 years. She fitted in perfectly with society 2000 years ago, and if she had been raised and grew up in modern society, she'd most likely fit in with modern society perfectly, too. If IDOJ had gone on for another 5 or 6 years we would definitely have seen Jeannie fitting in more and more. (Remember one of the reasons Jeannie did not get more acclimated to the modern world during the run of the series was because for most of that time - until the wedding in Season 5 in fact - she was confined to interacting with Tony and Roger - not exactly a great way to learn about or acclimate to the modern world... after she married Tony, she would have been openly out amongst the modern society as an astronaut's wife, and would probably then rapidly start developing modern social skills and tact.)

Sure she did, she never made the same mistake twice did she? But she was impulsive, which is what makes her so appealing, and loveable. She acts on the moment with complete confidence most the time just trying ot be helpful!

Yup. In fact, the witch Samantha is impulsive too when it comes to use of magic, which is often what lands her in hot water with Darrin when he finds out. Going by that, we could say that Samantha never learned from her errors either! Since throughout that series she kept using magic impulsively over little things, inevitably got caught after a few magical shenanigans, and each time she got caught, has a blow-up with Darrin.

No, Jeannie learns from her errors and she is not dumb at all. She merely has a good heart, is impulsive, and is not acclimated to modern society (yet).

This dude doesn't even know the show, he just sees it for what he wants to see. He completly misses the magic of the show.

And that was already one of the better articles on I Dream of Jeannie. The vast majority of the other articles out there on IDOJ are even worse/more inaccurate...

The Duck
[/quote]

[Subspace]

jeannietonyfan said:

I know I hate when people perceive Jeannie that way... another example of her intelligence is when Jeannie immediately knows it's Tony in that British officer disguise, and decides to have fun with it. I love the way she acts in this episode. And Roger was so dumb he didn't know it was Tony... hee hee!

As do I. Jeannie was never dumb or had a low IQ... and it's insulting to state that she was that way, because she wasn't and never was! She has plenty of smarts but a combination of being impulsive, being displaced from 2000 years ago and being cooped up in Tony's house, only able to really interact with Tony and Roger, means she'll get into some tricky situations purely because there was no way she could know better.

[jeannietonyfan]

subspace said:

jeannietonyfan said:

I know I hate when people perceive Jeannie that way... another example of her intelligence is when Jeannie immediately knows it's Tony in that British officer disguise, and decides to have fun with it. I love the way she acts in this episode. And Roger was so dumb he didn't know it was Tony... hee hee!

As do I. Jeannie was never dumb or had a low IQ... and it's insulting to state that she was that way, because she wasn't and never was! She has plenty of smarts but a combination of being impulsive, being displaced from 2000 years ago and being cooped up in Tony's house, only able to really interact with Tony and Roger, means she'll get into some tricky situations purely because there was no way she could know better.

Yep, exactly!