black and white or color?

[treky]

which ones do you like better? Or do you like them both equally? Why or why not? Me, I prefer the black and white ones. (also the first season opening & theme) I like the color ones also, but not as much. That first season it was like a romantic comedy and the scenes where Tony and Jeannie talk to each other is reminisent of scenes with Rock Hudson/Doris Day in one of their films. What're everyone elses thoughts?

[Smilings]

I like the black and white ones colorized. Best of both worlds.

They did an excellent job colorizing.

[Kasey]

Originally Posted by treky

which ones do you like better? Or do you like them both equally? Why or why not? Me, I prefer the black and white ones. (also the first season opening & theme) I like the color ones also, but not as much. That first season it was like a romantic comedy and the scenes where Tony and Jeannie talk to each other is reminisent of scenes with Rock Hudson/Doris Day in one of their films. What're everyone elses thoughts?

I like the last two seasons best. I think JEANNIE really works best as a wacky, farcical, garishly colorful late-'60s relic and many episodes from the later period ("Jeannie My Guru", "The Mad Home Wrecker", "Jeannie Go Round", "Biggest Star in Hollywood", "Never Put a Genie on a Budget") capture that psychadelic period perfectly.

[1960'sTVfan]

I prefer the black and white season also. Not that the color seasons are bad, but as the series progressed it became too zany, it was like a live action cartoon. The 2nd season isn't too bad, in the 3rd season is when the craziness started taking over, by the 4th season the show no longer resembled what it was in the beginning. While I enjoy several episodes from the color seasons, there are also episodes that go over the top with the craziness resulting in silly humor rather than being genuinely funny.

[treky]

yes, a lot of the color ones were too slap-sticky.

[Willbo]

I liked them both but lean more towards the color episodes. I always liked the episodes with Amanda Bellows in them.

[AB]

I like them in color best, probably because they make Jeannie's hair & outfit look more vivid. The black & white episodes give it a nostalgic feel though.

[comedyfreak]

I like both thought, the b&w are good liked when Roger finds out Jeannie is a Genie.

[ansara1]

The black and white episodes are the best to me. I have always felt Jeannie was more "savvy" or "in the know" during the first season while still being innocent and somewhat naive'. I also felt the scripts were consistently better the first two seasons - but particularly the first. I especially like the first half of the first season when Gene Nelson directed the episodes (when Barbara Eden is pregnant and is dressed with the veils over her stomach). Incidentally, it was Gene Nelson (by most credible accounts) that found the signature Jim Beam 'Jeannie' bottle used for the series and created the blink with Jeannie's arms folded - key signatures of the show. It was also in these early episodes that the scripts seemed more sophisticated (especially compared to the later years), various continuity elements seemed to be clearly thought out for authenticity from content even to props (for content example: she was turned into a genie unlike when that was changed in season 3/ the major prop: her bottle looked more 'old world, rustic' [inside and out], and like a 2,000 year old genie's bottle that would be found on a deserted island), and she and Tony's relationship did seem the most romantic. Perhaps if Gene Nelson had stayed and NBC had left the show on Sat. night instead of moving it to a different night every season it was on primetime, it's ratings would have kept climbing (it came in # 28 during it's first season despite being up against The Jackie Gleason Show!). It dropped the following season when it was moved to Monday nights. Unfortunately, Gene Nelson was fired because it was either him or Larry Hagman as they came to an impasse (Barbara Eden recalled this in an interview when her autobiography came out). I think it was Larry Hagman's influence later on that created more of the 'zany, live action cartoon' episodes. I recall Hagman saying there were a lot of "talking heads" in the scripts and he and Bill Daily came up with pratfalls and sight gags. Larry Hagman was a valuable asset to the show but I think some of his influence in this respect was a mistake - as was the firing of Gene Nelson. ...and I do like the color episodes - including her purple bottle, her costume, pink smoke etc. This is definitely one of the most visually appealing TV shows of all time. I do however love the original bottle, theme song, etc. as well. Interestingly enough, Danny Arnold, who was a script consult and on "Bewitched" during it's first season left (or was fired?) and though "Bewitched" went on to do very well, it too suffered - even in it's 2nd season - though it was still very good. Both of these men's presence being gone after the first season of each show is definitely noticeable - both shows' first seasons being the best and more sophisticated than the later seasons. Hummm... I wonder what would have happened had Gene Nelson stayed on "I Dream of Jeannie"and the show had continued down the original path he had set - AND if NBC had not moved it after season 1????

Any thoughts, anyone????

[MickeyMac]

I like them both, but I like the color episodes better. The colorized version of the black and white episodes are an eyesore.

[ansara1]

Originally Posted by MickeyMac

I like them both, but I like the color episodes better. The colorized version of the black and white episodes are an eyesore.

I agree about colorization - I prefer seeing the b/w episodes in b/w. Though, I do enjoy seeing the 1st season animated opening in color

[bookandfilmnut]

Originally Posted by treky

which ones do you like better? Or do you like them both equally? Why or why not? Me, I prefer the black and white ones. (also the first season opening & theme) I like the color ones also, but not as much. That first season it was like a romantic comedy and the scenes where Tony and Jeannie talk to each other is reminisent of scenes with Rock Hudson/Doris Day in one of their films. What're everyone elses thoughts?

I think I am more partial to the color episodes, mostly because when i was kid watching it in syndication, the b&w shows were rarely broadcast, and so IDOJ is simply a program I always think of as being in color. Also, as one person pointed out above, the costumes and sets really looked nice in color, and IDOJ is kind of a psychodelic-sixties sort of a program anyway.

But I do enjoy the first season episodes, too.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by ansara1

The black and white episodes are the best to me. I have always felt Jeannie was more "savvy" or "in the know" during the first season while still being innocent and somewhat naive'. I also felt the scripts were consistently better the first two seasons - but particularly the first. I especially like the first half of the first season when Gene Nelson directed the episodes (when Barbara Eden is pregnant and is dressed with the veils over her stomach). Incidentally, it was Gene Nelson (by most credible accounts) that found the signature Jim Beam 'Jeannie' bottle used for the series and created the blink with Jeannie's arms folded - key signatures of the show. It was also in these early episodes that the scripts seemed more sophisticated (especially compared to the later years), various continuity elements seemed to be clearly thought out for authenticity from content even to props (for content example: she was turned into a genie unlike when that was changed in season 3/ the major prop: her bottle looked more 'old world, rustic' [inside and out], and like a 2,000 year old genie's bottle that would be found on a deserted island), and she and Tony's relationship did seem the most romantic. Perhaps if Gene Nelson had stayed and NBC had left the show on Sat. night instead of moving it to a different night every season it was on primetime, it's ratings would have kept climbing (it came in # 28 during it's first season despite being up against The Jackie Gleason Show!). It dropped the following season when it was moved to Monday nights. Unfortunately, Gene Nelson was fired because it was either him or Larry Hagman as they came to an impasse (Barbara Eden recalled this in an interview when her autobiography came out). I think it was Larry Hagman's influence later on that created more of the 'zany, live action cartoon' episodes. I recall Hagman saying there were a lot of "talking heads" in the scripts and he and Bill Daily came up with pratfalls and sight gags. Larry Hagman was a valuable asset to the show but I think some of his influence in this respect was a mistake - as was the firing of Gene Nelson. ...and I do like the color episodes - including her purple bottle, her costume, pink smoke etc. This is definitely one of the most visually appealing TV shows of all time. I do however love the original bottle, theme song, etc. as well. Interestingly enough, Danny Arnold, who was a script consult and on "Bewitched" during it's first season left (or was fired?) and though "Bewitched" went on to do very well, it too suffered - even in it's 2nd season - though it was still very good. Both of these men's presence being gone after the first season of each show is definitely noticeable - both shows' first seasons being the best and more sophisticated than the later seasons. Hummm... I wonder what would have happened had Gene Nelson stayed on "I Dream of Jeannie"and the show had continued down the original path he had set - AND if NBC had not moved it after season 1????

Any thoughts, anyone????

Larry Hagman said in his own bio, and it was also stated in Steve Cox's book "Jeannie Out of the Bottle", that he could not stand working w/ Gene Nelson and pretty well had Nelson fired. I do agree that the early S1 episodes seemed more sophisticated. Later in that season it got to be a repeating (and to me boring) gag where Dr. Bellows would see something strange caused by Jeannie, would call over Gen. Peterson, after which the situation would be back to normal. Bellows even said the line "He[Tony]'s done it to me again!" in multiple late S1 episodes.
Now that Brooks & Marsh have expanded their ratings listings in one of their appendices to Top 30 shows of each season, I have seen that IDoJ made the Top 30 in both S1 & S4, receiving its highest overall season ranking in S4. I suspect, but cannot prove, that IDoJ's highest-rated first-run episode was "The Biggest Star in Hollywood" from S4, mainly because of its tie-in with Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which was at its highest ratings that spring. (Laugh-In's all-time highest-rated episode aired exactly a month later.)

[Rookielove]

I prefer the color episodes.

[biffbronson]

Black & white are my preference -- but I enjoy seeing Emmaline Henry as Amanda Bellows in the color episodes (along with her 1 appearance in b/w, not as Amanda -- love the costume).