I'm still a nut for many of the classic sit-coms that came out during the 1960's and early 1970's. There are so many favorites that I couldn't possibly count them on one hand, as opposed to the newer comedies that rarely get so much as a smile out of me. There are a handful of good ones, but for the most part today's sit-coms are nothing more than a breeding ground crass humor and sociological agendas. Whatever happened to good old 'family' TV?' A couple of months ago, the fine folks at Sony decided to add "I Dream of Jeannie" to its ever growing roster of TV-on-DVD titles. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the 1st season set, which by the way was released in both the original black & white version as well as a colorized one. I opted to ask for the black & white version being the purist that I am. (The only time I like the colorization process is when it is used to clean up a show or movie that was ALREADY in color.)

On the off chance that you might have never heard of the series, it surrounded the misadventures of astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) who lands on a beach upon reentry from a mission and finds an old bottle. It turns out the bottle contains an ancient Genie (Barbara Eden) who wishes to grant her rescuer's every wish. At first, he attempts to leave the bottle, but it (and she) unknowingly catches a ride in his knapsack and follows him home. What follows were several seasons of magic and mayhem, and the continual attempts by Nelson to keep everyone from thinking he was crazy.

"I Dream of Jeannie" was a favorite of mine for so many reasons. The most important being the great rapport between stars Barbara Eden (Jeannie), Larry Hagman (Captain Nelson) and Bill Daily (Captain Healey). All three actors gave performances throughout the run of this series that I still believe eclipse anything they have done since. Even in some of the less funny episodes (of which there were a few), their comedic timing was a sharp as anything else on TV at the time. And while some of the humor had a little bit of sexual connotations to it, it was so innocently delivered that every episode was still completely family friendly.

Now, speaking of the underlying sexual humor this brings me to the second reason I loved the show. Barbara Eden was (and is) drop dead gorgeous and any guy who watched the series back then, or even now cannot deny having his own little fantasies about what he would do if he were in Nelson's shoes. This was also cause for years of frustration with Nelson, whose initial reaction to the situation for the first few seasons were NOT those of the typical male. Think about it, you are faced with a gorgeous woman who has the ability to grant your every wish AND loves you madly…. what would YOU do? Admittedly, between the magical aspects of the series and Nelson's actions, his actions were the less believable. At least until he finally gave in and married her a few seasons later.

Sony is following up with the 2nd season this month. This new DVD offers up all 31 episodes (31!!), and my only disappointment lies in the overall quality of the presentation. The episodes are watchable, but there is little in the way of restoration that appears to have been done. You'll find a lot of scratches and blemishes, which vary from episode to episode. Again, they are still watchable, but I would have appreciated a little more in the way of a cleaner transfer.

Where I was really disappointed though, was the complete lack of special features. The 1st season set offered commentary from Eden, Hagman and Daily on the Pilot episode, as well as featurette that reunited the three on camera, but here we get nothing. No commentaries, interviews or featurettes. I'm really hoping that future sets (there are 3 more seasons) will offer more in this area.

Episodes:
Happy Anniversary
Always on Sunday
My Master, the Rich Tycoon
My Master, the Rainmaker
My Wild Eyed Master
What's New, Poodle Dog?
Fastest Gun in the East
How to Be a Genie in 10 Easy Lessons
Who Needs a Green Eyed Jeannie?
The Girl Who Never Had A Birthday
The Girl Who Never Had A Birthday (Part 2)
How Do You Beat Superman?
My Master, the Great Caruso
The World's Greatest Lover
Jeannie Breaks the Bank
My Master, the Author
Greatest Invention in the World
My Master, the Spy
You Can't Arrest Me... I Don't Have a Driver's License
One of our Bottles is Missing
My Master, the Civilian
There Goes the Best Jeannie I Ever Had
The Greatest Entertainer in the World
The Incredible Shrinking Master
My Master the Pirate
A Secretary Is Not a Toy
There Goes the Bride
My Master, Napoleon's Buddy
The Birds and the Bee Bit
My Master the Swinging Bachelor
The Mod Party

Starring: Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman,
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 7/11/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give I Dream of Jeannie: Season 2 a B.