When are they coming for I Dream of Jeannie? I mean…the word “master” is thrown out at least ten times an episode by that scantily-clad genie slave Jeannie. Hasn’t this by now aroused the ire of some pajama-clad soy latte-drinking non-binary “pop culture author” who needs their “they/them” tantrum to be noticed today on Twitter? Isn’t a reckoning coming for this racist/sexist sitcom, and for all those who participated in it and who watch it today? Can’t someone please cancel 90-year-old Barbara Eden before it’s goddamn too late?
Continue reading ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ (Season 1): Classic sitcom will always please its Master – the audienceTag Archives: Barbara Eden
It’s May, 1978. Do you know what’s on Showtime?
I read someone once who stated there comes a moment of decision in every man’s life where he chooses either to move forward or back. At the time it sounded faintly ominous, but after a few years paddling around in what suicidally-bored George Sanders correctly referred to as that “sweet cesspool,” I found it a warning largely beside the point. I don’t believe we move in straight lines in terms of human evolvement (or in terms of anything else, for that matter), but rather in a giant circle. We ride wheels within turning wheels (check it: I’m starting to trill like Noel Harrison…), giving the illusion of movement and progress to those inhabitants on other wheels…when all of us are really just pinned down on a piece of drawing paper like a giant Spirograph. Pretty pictures, destined to endlessly repeat themselves.
Continue reading It’s May, 1978. Do you know what’s on Showtime?‘I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later’ (1985): Eden & Co. try to rekindle magic in mid-80s reboot attempt
Sad news: funny actor Bill Daily passed away this week. Pulling the rare trick of appearing in two iconic TV comedies–I Dream of Jeannie and The Bob Newhart Show–Daily was one of those actors lovers of vintage television took to their hearts like a cherished friend. He’ll be missed. So…in that spirit, let’s look at one of his lamer outings: I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later. Continue reading ‘I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later’ (1985): Eden & Co. try to rekindle magic in mid-80s reboot attempt