The typical plot in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie has some misunderstanding taking place, Jeannie using her magic to "fix" the problem, the problem getting worse because of her "help," Nelson's base psychiatrist, Dr. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke), seeing some strangeness that he shouldn't, Nelson getting Jeannie to put things back just in the nick of time, and Dr. Bellows or one of his superiors determining that he must have been seeing things. In the end, everything is fixed and Jeannie, Major Nelson and Major Roger Healey (Bill Daily) have a laugh. This may sound shallow, and it is, but it is also how TV used to be. Additionally, it is still entertaining. I had thought I would watch some of the shows while doing some other menial tasks, but found that I ended up devoting my attention completely to simply watching I Dream of Jeannie.
Season four of I Dream of Jeannie had something for everyone. If you're a fan of Jeannie's sister (Jeannie), you'll find her in three episodes in season four: Episode 10 (How to Marry an Astronaut), Episode 22 (Nobody Loves a Fat Astronaut) and Episode 24 (Jeannie-Go-Round). Jeannie's dog, Djinn Djinn finds Jeannie (after hundreds of years) in Episode 6 (Djinn Djinn, Go Home) and makes another appearance in Episode 20 (The Case of the Porcelain Puppy).
In Episode 3 (Tomorrow Is Not Another Day), Jeannie accidentally produces a copy of tomorrow's paper, a concept that Early Edition would later base an entire series on.
Some of my favorites from this season include the episode where Tony and Roger land in the wrong area and are mistaken for martians by a family of hillbillies (EP.1: U.F.Ohh! Jeannie), the episode where Tony gets selected to represent the Air Force in the Armed Forces Boxing Tournament when a General sees him take out three hoodlums with a single punch (thanks to Jeannie, of course) (EP.7: The Strongest Man In the World) and the episode where Jeannie's sister gets Roger to agree to marry her (EP 10: How to Marry an Astronaut). All of these are delightfully absurd, but I really like the ending to How to Marry an Astronaut.
One thing that I did notice that bothered me a bit was a new little musical riff that seemed to be added in Episode 12 (Jeannie the Guru). This episode revolves around the rebellious daughter of a general who moves into Tony's neighborhood. She is slumming with hippies and trying to hide the fact from her father. This episode features some 60's hippie-inspired music, including a new little musical riff that is played when people are running around in a ridiculous situation that is intended to be funny. I'm not saying that the situation wasn't funny, but that's what this music is supposed to indicate; when you hear this riff, people are running around in a ridiculous situation that is intended to be funny. At any rate, this riff is a little annoying to me and seems to have sort of a Laugh-In feel to it. While it fit well enough in this episode, the thing that bothers me is that it gets employed again in other episodes that have people running around in ridiculous situations, even when there is no hippie element to the plot. My guess is someone in charge really liked this riff and said that it should be used in more episodes.
I found that while watching I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Fourth Season, every episode had me wishing that Jeannie and Major Tony Nelson would finally get married. This doesn't happen, however, until the fifth and final season. For more information about the pressure to have them marry, you can read up on the subject at Wikipedia.
While the plot-lines are nothing if not formulaic, they are entertaining enough to stand the test of time and feature Barbara Eden, an undeniable knock-out (and a pretty darn good actress) playing a wide range of characters and disguises in a variety of outfits, including her main costume: a very sexy harem outfit. If you remember I Dream of Jeannie fondly or if you're just a fan of the the old sitcoms and their hi-jinks, then I would highly recommend I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Fourth Season.
