Reviews

When the first episodes of "I Dream of Jeannie" were shown in black and white, I was a thirteen year old boy who was discovering the most beautiful shape in the universe: woman. Barbara Eden escaped from a bottle in front of Larry Hagman, and I wanted to believe. To think that such a creature lived and walked this Earth, was enough to inspire an insane fantasy. If only I could wrap my arms around her waist, but she was a fiction, but she was a real woman. Would Dr. Bellows have committed me for caring about a black and white moving picture on a vacuum tube? No, I was completely normal, and that is what the writers relied upon.

Major Nelson was her master, but he was so polite with his genie. His restraint and nervous guilt about keeping her secret were portrayed by Larry Hagman very effectively. In any real encounter between a single astronaut and a nubile serving woman whose main goal is to please her master, Nelson's restraint could only be the result of a level of morality with which I am not familiar. The long term availability of a fabulous beauty at his command would drive any astronaut beyond being polite. It was irrational to expect that each week, by merely rubbing a bottle, Barbara Eden would materialize from a puff of smoke, but there she was, like clockwork.

Major Healey was only let in on Nelson's secret under the most agitated conditions. His excitement and muttered jealousy became a consistent dialog that let Major Nelson keep his sanity. What would happen if the psychiatrist found out that Bill Daily and Larry Hagman were hiding magic powers from the military chain of command? They would be sent to the loony bin. They would be court-martialled. They would never orbit again. So the worries were mounting in each episode.

There is much that went unsaid on TV concerning Jeannie's wardrobe: the way it fit, what was holding it up, and would she wear a smaller outfit next week? This year, 2006, has a different set of morals than those which existed in 1965. But some things have not changed. Imagination, a fantastic female figure, and the magic of love: all these enabled men's minds to run wild for 30 minutes each week. Barbara Eden had a face that could launch ten million ships. As a final rant about Jeannie's affect on this 13 year old boy's personality, let me enumerate a wish that did not become a command: 36 thousand, 24, 36 thousand.

When I watched Yancy Derringer as a 6 year old, the guns were especially fascinating. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah had a big shotgun, maybe 10 gauge. Yancy had several tiny guns that were hidden in his clothes. One in his hat, one in his boot. He could be searched, but still pull a derringer out of his sleeve. X Brands, as Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah, had the biggest shotgun I have every seen. As I recall, it had a single barrel with a mighty power. If needed, Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah could blast the bad guys with such force, smoke, kick, and noise, that it was the grand finale to any fight!

The derringers came in a variety of arrangements, with most of them having two barrels. But some may have had more than two. The smallest derringer had only one barrel. There was a trick derringer, if my memory as a boy serves me correctly. One trick derringer was up Yancy's sleeve on a spring-loaded mechanism. It had scissor shaped metal supports that would expand to full length on command of a gesture. The contraption would spring out of his sleeve into Yancy's hand into the right firing position. The gesture that triggered the spring to release was for Yancy to press his elbow against his side. One derringer was hidden in his belt buckle. Toy stores sold belts with hidden derringers after that show!

Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah would carry his shotgun with him wherever he went, but with poise and dignity which seemed non-threatening. X Brands' dispassionate face would seldom display any emotion. He spoke slowly and deeply, with somber meaning that always was important. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah was tall and strong. In a fight, I only remember his 8 gauge shotgun: as the ultimate weapon in any New Orleans brawl. It could knock down a wall!