Season Three

[suzie]

I'm currently working my way through season three but I must admit that I almost didn't buy it as I wasn't particularly impressed with season two. Everyone talks about the difference between the first and the later seasons, but I felt that not only was the second season completely devoid of romantic moments, some of the plots were just stupid. Tony being turned into a cowboy, into a pirate, meeting Napoleon, all the time acting the same - bothered and bewildered. It was all too much and too highly populated with one-off characters that we would never see again.

Far more interesting are plots that revolve around Tony, Roger, Dr and Mrs Bellows, the General or any other recurring characters. Thus, I was relieved to see that so far season three seems to be a bit of a return to form for the series. Although still pretty neurotic, Tony does seem to be a bit more relaxed and accepting around Jeannie in season three. For instance in season two I hated the implication in 'My Master, The Rainmaker' that Tony was made so nervous with Jeannie around that it was affecting his mental health, and sometimes he got so upset with her in certain episodes and would scream and yell so much that he began to look like a wimp!

Instead, Tony seems to have mellowed a bit and is clearly still enchanted with her, something which again I felt was missing from season two. I liked in 'Fly Me To The Moon' when it's revealed that Jeannie has some kind of psychic link with Tony and can tell when he needs her, something which he too is aware of and tries to use at one point. Strange considering that Tony would so often be the last person to admit that he actually needed Jeannie for anything. Also, when he sees her after she's turned him from a chimp back into a human. I expected he'd be really mad with her but instead he runs to her and tells her that she's the most beautiful person he ever saw. Sweet and a little unexpected I felt.

Finally, a few romantic touches seem to have returned in this season. Like when Jeannie confesses that the reason she overslept was that she was dreaming that she and Tony were getting married and when the alarm went off she went back to sleep so she could return to the honeymoon! Sexy!

I'm definitely gonna keep watching...

[jeannietonyfan]

Season 3 is a great season! I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's definitely one of the best of the series.
Although I love Season 2 just as much... but I think I'm in the minority there... a lot of people like the romantic-based Season 1 more... I actually love the combination of both the slapstick and the romance (Season 3 had a lot of episodes like that). While Season 2 is lacking in the romantic moments, and I dislike the going back in time episodes as well, I still find myself rewatching many of the Season 2 episodes. It has some of the funniest storylines in my opinion... and you can tell it's Sidney Sheldon's writing... he seemed to understand the characters more than James Henerson did... I don't know... even though Henerson's writing is also good, I felt that Sheldon just knew the characters a bit more and Henerson tried to change the characters a bit more once he came to the show in Season 3. Anyway, enough of my rambling! hee hee

[suzie]

jeannietonyfan said:

I actually love the combination of both the slapstick and the romance (Season 3 had a lot of episodes like that).

I had noticed that, even though I've only seen a few episodes so far. There were a few moments when I found myself thinking "Ooh! That was a bit extreme!" Like in 'My Master, The Weakling' when the tough commander throws Tony the medicine ball and it hits him in the stomach, knocking him backwards, somersaulting over the exercise horse behind him and onto a crashmat on the floor. Very funny but did Larry do his own stunts? Looks like he did, in which case there were some instances like that when I thought "Poor Larry! Hope he's OK!"

I'm not a big fan of slapstick but occasionally it's used to good effect, like 'My Turned-On Master' when Tony keeps falling over or bumping into the disappearing/reappearing furniture. In fact, I found the physical comedy in that whole episode hilarious. I've seen it before but not for years and had forgotten how funny it was. Like when Dr Bellows has been given Jeannie's powers and is rehearsing his speech for the banquet in front of Tony and Roger. He reads, "I wish I could change places with Major Nelson" and suddenly Tony and he have switched places. Really made me laugh, along with the whole business about the banquet table and Roger's bewildered reaction (I thought Roger was behaving a bit naively here. Surely he must have suspected that Jeannie was behind all this, or noticed that Dr Bellows was dictating everything that was happening. So why wasn't he backing Tony up?).

While Season 2 is lacking in the romantic moments, and I dislike the going back in time episodes as well, I still find myself rewatching many of the Season 2 episodes. It has some of the funniest storylines in my opinion... and you can tell it's Sidney Sheldon's writing... he seemed to understand the characters more than James Henerson did... I don't know... even though Henerson's writing is also good, I felt that Sheldon just knew the characters a bit more and Henerson tried to change the characters a bit more once he came to the show in Season 3. Anyway, enough of my rambling! hee hee

Hmm, that's interesting and might explain some of the differences in Tony's behaviour that I've noticed. I put it down to him mellowing a bit (which would work) but there were a couple of times certainly in the episodes I've watched so far when I thought, "I didn't expect Tony to react like that." I thought he'd be madder at Jeannie at certain points in 'Fly Me To The Moon' or 'My Master, The Weaking', and he just seemed to go "Oh, that's all right." And I thought, "Well, there's a turn. He's been far madder at her for less." Then again, perhaps Tony's just figured, "Oh well, I'm sure she'll be able to sort it out. She's done so before and it's always worked out."

Who knows. For now, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy.

[twolittledolls]

Season three is one of my favorites simply because my favorite character makes her first appearance.

[jeannietonyfan]

Very funny but did Larry do his own stunts? Looks like he did, in which case there were some instances like that when I thought "Poor Larry! Hope he's OK!

He sure did! He said in an interview that the slapstick was what he enjoyed the most about the show and that he never seriously injured himself! I think he is brilliant doing it and even though it is sometimes overdone, it's very often what keeps me coming back to the show. I find myself laughing even if it is overdone and stupid. hee hee

Hmm, that's interesting and might explain some of the differences in Tony's behaviour that I've noticed. I put it down to him mellowing a bit (which would work) but there were a couple of times certainly in the episodes I've watched so far when I thought, "I didn't expect Tony to react like that." I thought he'd be madder at Jeannie at certain points in 'Fly Me To The Moon' or 'My Master, The Weaking', and he just seemed to go "Oh, that's all right." And I thought, "Well, there's a turn. He's been far madder at her for less." Then again, perhaps Tony's just figured, "Oh well, I'm sure she'll be able to sort it out. She's done so before and it's always worked out."
Who knows. For now, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy.

I definitely notice the mellowing in Tony's character in Season 3. I think part of it is the shift in writers for sure. But I think another thing it could be is that I think it was around Season 3 that Larry was in salary disputes with the studio and was lobbying for more money per episode. He wanted an increase in salary or else he was considering leaving the show because he was beginning to feel that he wanted to move on (Hayden Rorke eventually convinced him to do otherwise... telling him that leaving a successful show would damage his career, and Larry, always loving him and respecting his opinion, stayed. Thank goodness!) So perhaps the more mellow Tony in this season is a result of Larry getting a little tired in the role and perhaps feeling stuck in the role at the time. He at times seems almost disinterested during this season... I don't know, I thought I was making this all up so I'm glad someone else sees it besides me!

[suzie]

I definitely notice the mellowing in Tony's character in Season 3. I think part of it is the shift in writers for sure. But I think another thing it could be is that I think it was around Season 3 that Larry was in salary disputes with the studio and was lobbying for more money per episode. He wanted an increase in salary or else he was considering leaving the show because he was beginning to feel that he wanted to move on (Hayden Rorke eventually convinced him to do otherwise... telling him that leaving a successful show would damage his career, and Larry, always loving him and respecting his opinion, stayed. Thank goodness!) So perhaps the more mellow Tony in this season is a result of Larry getting a little tired in the role and perhaps feeling stuck in the role at the time. He at times seems almost disinterested during this season... I don't know, I thought I was making this all up so I'm glad someone else sees it besides me!

Sorry jeannietonyfan but I have to disagree slightly with the above. I don't believe a professional actor like Larry Hagman, no matter what the dispute with the studio was or his own opinion on the role, would let this have an adverse effect on his performance. They really would have had cause to sack him then! Also, if he did do a bad take they would presumably make him do it again rather than leave it in the final cut.

Far more likely that the changes in his character were down to the writers rather than Larry himself. Larry may have had suggestions here and there (and I for one would be interested to know whether there were times when Larry, Barbara and Bill ever had any influence on the behaviour of their characters or adlibbed any moments and when these were), but ultimately I don't think that Larry would let anything related to the pay dispute interfere with his portrayal of Tony. Unless you know differently of course.

I'm glad to hear that he enjoyed doing the slapstick. That comes as something as a relief to me as it would have been awful for him and quite hard for me to watch if I knew that he hated it. He's so good at it too and the stunt I mentioned with the exercise horse was amazing!

Something else I've noticed that's slightly different about Tony's performance from previous seasons (which seems to be down to the new writers more than anything else) is how Tony seems no longer pitted against Jeannie. In seasons one and two it was more like 'Tony vs Jeannie', with Jeannie often not really on Tony's side and Tony railing against her and always trying to get out from under her (if you know what I mean! ). In season three things seem to have taken a bit of a turn on this front and its morphed into 'Tony and Jeannie vs the World' with the World being Dr and Mrs Bellows, Tony's mother and everyone else - including to an extent, Roger. I've noticed how in this season so far Roger doesn't always back Tony up when he's trying to cover for or hide something from Jeannie which is not like him in previous seasons when he was very much Tony's sidekick against Jeannie.

Nevertheless I'm liking this arrangement so far as it's nice to see Tony and Jeannie working more as a team in this season. Tony faces problems with her like they're in it together rather than it's just her or the problem is wholly his. He even seems to share in Jeannie's mischief at times. It's nice to see him enjoying himself like when he was given Jeannie's powers for a day. Also the bit in 'Meet My Master's Mother' when he's hiding from Dr Bellows with Jeannie and they're sitting side by side peering through the bannisters. I thought that bit was really cute as it's nice to see them getting along so well.

Although I still long for the romance of the first season, I also like some of the subtle romantic moments that I've noticed. Like when they're watching the band play in Tony's living room in 'Jeannie The Hip Hippie' and Tony's sitting next to Jeannie and he puts his arm around her. I'm sure I've seen a couple of other moments so far when he casually puts his arm around her or takes her arm. So sweet!

[jeannietonyfan]

You have a right to disagree suzie! For me the change in his character is very subtle and it wasn't even noticeable to me until I started to watch the episodes over and over again. It's certainly not an adverse effect I see, just a slight change, and in some scenes, slightly more distant. But again that could be the writers. Maybe he just wasn't giving 100% at the time, but it never takes away from his performance in a huge way at all. Larry is fascinating to watch in IDOJ over and over again... he was able to bring so much depth to what could have been a silly astronaut character.
I love the episodes when Tony and Jeannie are working together, and it is very true that it starts to become evident that they are working for each other and not Tony vs. Jeannie. You see this come through even more I think in some episodes of Season 4 and definitely Season 5. One episode that particularly stands out for me in which it's Tony and Jeannie together is "The Blood of a Jeannie"... it's so adorable because Tony is willing to do anything for Jeannie in this episode and they both work so hard to make their relationship work in this one. It's one of my top 10 favourites.
Season 3 is far more subtle in the romantic moments... the "Jeannie and the Hip Hippee" moment that you mention is very sweet and adorable. The way he's got his arm around her and then just looks at her and smiles... you can tell they're so in love already in that moment! It's those moments that always make me press the rewind button when I watch the show. hee hee!

[tnjsdaughter]

Oh man! I can't wait to see those episodes! They sound so sweet and beautiful. I have only seen a few episodes of Season 3 and 4 so the ones you have mentioned sound great! I am a very impatient person when it comes to something I really want and this is something I really want! ;D
I am only kidding! But I am looking forward to seeing them soon.

[jeannietonyfan]

I look forward to discussing the episodes with you once you get a chance to see them!!

[suzie]

I saw the sweetest episode so far in Season Three the other day. It's the one called 'Tony's Wife' when Jeannie gets duped by her sister into believing that she was born under the sign of the jinx and must leave Tony for 15 years. Jeannie takes it upon herself to find Tony a wife before she leaves and encourages him to spend time with a woman she's met called Helen. Tony is obviously very confused at first but goes along with it until he figures out something's wrong as Jeannie isn't being all jealous as normal. Jeannie comes clean and it all gets sorted but Tony wants to keep seeing Helen. At the end of the episode he's all dressed up and heading out presumably to meet Helen for a date. Jeannie is understandably upset as Tony heads out the door. A minute later there's a knock and he comes back and says to Jeannie, "Well, are you coming? This place won't hold our table." It's really sweet and very unexpected as Tony's nearly always relished the opportunity to go out with other girls and now he has the freedom to do so (as Jeannie was the one who originally set it up she hasn't really got a leg to stand on on this occasion). Yet here he is actively choosing to be with Jeannie.

The best bit is what he says to her, which I can't quite remember right now. It's something like "Jeannie, the next time you think you know what's best for me, ask me. I'll decide what's best for me." Which is really cute because obviously he thinks Jeannie's best for him. And when he headed out the door, I actually thought "Wouldn't it be great if he came back and it turned out he was planning on heading out on a date with Jeannie." Which is what happened!

I only wish they'd kissed! They didn't, they just hugged. Nearest we've seen them come to kissing in this season is during 'Jeannie Breaks The Bank' when Jeannie comes back from 'helping people' and is standing with her arms round Tony's neck asking if he missed her. That one was directed by Larry Hagman incidentally. Does anyone know how many he's directed? I'm sure it's more than two (which is what the IMDB says).

[jeannietonyfan]

"Tony's Wife" is one of my all-time faves. So romantic... that moment at the end is one that I always rewind over and over again. It is too bad that they didn't kiss, but for me, the hug was just as lovely and appropriate for that moment.
That moment in "Jeannie Breaks the Bank" is soooo close to a kiss and yet it doesn't happen! But the way Tony looks at her in that scene is sooo lovely.
Larry directed 3 episodes... 2 in Season 2 and the one in Season 3.

[Subspace]

I agree with most of what was said above. Overall Season 3 was a great season even though I didn't especially appreciate the "Hawaii episodes". I also thought they overdid it a bit with the exercise-maniac-commander routine (in Please Don't Feed the Astronauts), didn't they already do a similar gag before? But it was definitely worth buying and watching, overall while I liked Season 1 better, Season 3 was still excellent and better than most of what's out there.

[suzie]

I'm currently watching season three out of order as some episodes look better than others and I'm watching the better-looking ones first. I recently watched 'My Double-Crossing Master' which I have to say I found thoroughly amusing if a little far-fetched naturally (but then since when is a series that revolves around a genie ever going to be realistic). The idea that neither Roger or Dr Bellows would twig that Tony and Geoffrey Tiffin-Smythe were the same person but that Jeannie wasn't fooled at all was a little hard to believe but very funny with it. And his accent wasn't bad either - old English gentleman like when he was briefly changed at the end of 'My Master the Pirate' into the posh-looking English gent.

There were a couple of moments that I thought were great. The first was when Jeannie kissed him as Geoffrey and Tony struggled quite a bit but looked like he was kissing her back in spite of himself.

The second was actually quite a phenomenal moment in the series and I'll tell you why. It's when Tony is saved by Jeannie from looking crazy in front of Dr Bellows when she blinks up a copy of him to enable Tony and Geoffrey to be in the same room. I could be wrong about this but I think this is one of the few occasions when Jeannie saves Tony from a problematic situation that she didn't cause herself. On this occasion Tony only has himself to blame really because he made the bet with Roger and (I think) told Dr Bellows that Geoffrey was staying with him. Thus it's nice to see Jeannie saving Tony's skin on her own volition. Also, I got quite alarmed when she blinked away Tony at the end as I thought she'd blinked away the wrong one and had been left with the copy. Maybe she had. Nooooo!

Cute ending too:

TONY: So you're not in love with Geoffrey?
JEANNIE: Oh, but I am?
TONY: You are?
JEANNIE: [throws her arms around him] I love you no matter what you look like!

[jeannietonyfan]

Yeah, that's a really good episode suzie. And I never thought about Jeannie saving Tony for something HE did for a change, but you're absolutely right.
And I thought she might have blinked away the wrong Tony at the end too! Do you think that was a mistake? It seemed like it should have been the other Tony that should have been blinked away... oh well it all worked out in the end...

[suzie]

OK, confession time. I watched this episode and paused my DVD just after Tony, Roger and the King had finished the raindance. Why? Oh, I don't know. Perhaps because the water had made Tony's shirt completely transparent! I needed a closer look - no, I didn't zoom in! OK, so Tony's been topless before (any episode that has him in his trunks e.g. when he's on the beach) but something altogether sexier about a clingy wet shirt. Don't ask me why!

Oh, and cute moment when Tony and Roger dash inside from the balcony after realising the King has wandered off. Jeannie is left on her own for a moment before Tony rushes back, grabs her hand and takes her with him. Awww!

As a matter of fact I really liked this episode but didn't really expect to as I thought the other Hawaii episodes were some of the worst ones I've seen so far. And again we see more evidence of the mellowing (or writing changes) in Tony's character - usually when Jeannie has blinked up some historic figure from the past, Tony is the first to tell her to send him away again. Here we had Jeannie wanting the King to leave and Tony wanting him to stay. Now there's an interesting switch!