I Dream Of Jeannie [upd]

While Jeannie is eager to please Tony by granting his every wish, her "help" often backfires, creating comedic chaos for his career at NASA .

But to dismiss the show as merely a Bewitched clone with a genie instead of a witch is to miss the point entirely. Premiering on NBC in 1965, was a subversive, psychedelic, and surprisingly complex commentary on the Space Age, male anxiety, and the clash between logic and magic. I Dream of Jeannie

The show was also famous for its visual motifs, most notably (originally a 1964 Jim Beam Christmas decanter) and her iconic pink harem outfit. Interestingly, because of 1960s broadcast standards, the network was adamant that Jeannie’s navel never be shown on screen—a rule that became a legendary bit of TV trivia. Why It Still Matters While Jeannie is eager to please Tony by

Dr. Bellows stood up. "Captain, I am taking this book for analysis. If NASA has developed moving, paper-thin electronic displays, I need to know why the Psychiatry division wasn't informed." The show was also famous for its visual

"Jeannie," he groaned, looking up at the ceiling. "Please tell me you didn’t blink the coffee away and turn my notes into a papyrus scroll."

This was 1965. The moon landing was four years away. America was obsessed with astronauts. By making Jeannie a magical creature serving a NASA man, the show tapped into the national id: the fear that science wasn't enough. That despite all our rockets and slide rules, we still needed magic to clean the kitchen.