Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie rewatch (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

After all these years of admonishing our son and the Mrs. to keep the playing side up, OY VEY!

LOL!

I'll never forget the day I was in a store in the early days of CD and overheard a salesman pitching their durability to a young couple to whom he was trying to sell a player. He took a CD, tossed it on the tile floor, put his foot on it, slid it around a bit, picked it up, put it in the player, and... nothing... it wouldn't play. He'd scuffed it *too* much. I had to laugh at him trying to explain it away: "It's *never* done that before!"

 

[kitt1987]

Good news! Bewitched has been remastered in HD, and is now showing on the Roku Channel. The transfers are beautiful, but they are showing them in the widescreen 16:9 format. Here is a screen cap I took to compare with the DVD version used at the top of the thread. If you don't have the Roku app, you can still watch the show for free on their online channel. Hopefully, they'll be released on blu-ray in the future!
View attachment 62333

This is great but unfortunate at the same time. Maybe, just MAYBE if we get an unlikely blu ray release they won't have cropped it into widescreen. Still bothers me to no end that classic tv shows get cropped in this manner. The picture also looks to be dimmer, I always recall that show was so bright and colorful during the color years.
A full restoration of this show with proper intro and outros would be most welcome in my house at least.

 

[ScottRE]

Tonight is the 54th anniversary of the premiere of IDOJ. "Lady in the Bottle" will get a run from me tonight,,,,

 

[MBrousseau]

The picture also looks to be dimmer, I always recall that show was so bright and colorful during the color years.

This is normal. A real high definition version always look a little bit dimmer compared to a regular standard definition used in the past for NTSC 4:3 TV. That's because the film transfer is done using the original negative material and they use a color timer technician for accurate color grading, brightness and contrast. The Hi-def version look just the way they should instead of saturated and contrasted DVD like version, no matter how the show was showing on TV on different stations over the analog years. Remember how that show looked on the Screen Gems Network with a green tint all over?

 

[Ejanss]

Tonight is the 54th anniversary of the premiere of IDOJ. "Lady in the Bottle" will get a run from me tonight,,,,

Jeannie might not be a particularly brilliant written show (even for its day, compared to Rob & Laura Petrie or the Addamses)--
But when I rewatched the episodes on disk a couple years ago, just for the cuteness of Barbara Eden, I would crack up in giggles at Jeannie's uncanny dead-on similarity of behavior to a certain, ahem, iconic Japanese-anime character.
The resemblance of the latter to the former can not be accidental.

 

[Osato]

Good news! Bewitched has been remastered in HD, and is now showing on the Roku Channel. The transfers are beautiful, but they are showing them in the widescreen 16:9 format. Here is a screen cap I took to compare with the DVD version used at the top of the thread. If you don't have the Roku app, you can still watch the show for free on their online channel. Hopefully, they'll be released on blu-ray in the future!
View attachment 62333

I’ve always been a Jeannie fan more than bewitched.

hopefully both series are available in HD soon. either blu ray or digital HD would be great.

 

[ScottRE]

Jeannie might not be a particularly brilliant written show (even for its day, compared to Rob & Laura Petrie or the Addamses)--
But when I rewatched the episodes on disk a couple years ago, just for the cuteness of Barbara Eden, I would crack up in giggles at Jeannie's uncanny dead-on similarity of behavior to a certain, ahem, iconic Japanese-anime character.
The resemblance of the latter to the former can not be accidental.

I love IDOJ and prefer it to Bewitched. It had a madcap quality that Bewitched didn't, which was more of a "family sitcom with magic" where IDOJ was a physical comedy series. As much as the attention with the Barbara Eden and her figure, the real stars were Hagman, Daily and Roarke. Jeannie would create the situation and Tony would drive the plots. It's easy to forget that Hagman actually had more screen time than Eden. They were comedic geniuses and once they found their groove, there weas no end to the belly laughs. And the music, once the series hit color, was incredible. I would love a CD release of the scores, especially the "NASA" themes and the motif associated with Dr. Bellows.

I enjoy Bewitched but my heart belongs to Jeannie. It never fails to make me laugh. I'd love a blu ray release of both shows - with original credits and music restored.

 

[MartinP.]

Since two people have written they like Jeannie more than Bewitched, I have to counter. A couple or so years ago there was a sale I couldn't pass up and bought the entire series of I Dream of Jeannie. I grew up with these shows, but was really shocked at how awful most of the scripts are of IDOJ. The first seasons of the show ALL of them were written by Sheldon Leonard, too. It shows.

Jeannie might not be a particularly brilliant written show...

Not even close.

I can see young guys loving Jeannie and being aroused by her and that being a factor in enjoying that series over Bewitched. But if that's a big reason just be truthful about it. I can accept "Jeannie turned me on." Otherwise, Bewitched is a far better show, with a whole lot more interesting characters. The NASA aspect of Jeannie also dates it a lot more. Daily can be really annoying, too, as he was on Bob Newhart far too often.

I love the character of Jeannie, it's a great character and so is Eden, I even have an autographed Jeannie bottle, but would not endorse that show over Bewitched at all.

 

[JohnMor]

The first seasons of the show ALL of them were written by Sheldon Leonard, too. It shows.

I bet that would come as a shock to Sidney Sheldon.

 

[Matt Hough]

I bet that would come as a shock to Sidney Sheldon.

You beat me to the correction. I guess I haven't stated it in this thread but in some other one, but I also preferred Bewitched to I Dream of Jeannie.

 

[ScottRE]

Since two people have written they like Jeannie more than Bewitched, I have to counter. A couple or so years ago there was a sale I couldn't pass up and bought the entire series of I Dream of Jeannie. I grew up with these shows, but was really shocked at how awful most of the scripts are of IDOJ.

Oh IDOJ was not a well written series, but the physical comedy was above par and the comic timing of Hagman, Daily and Roarke was incredible. The NASA aspect is a draw for me, actually, since I love space, sci-fi and the optimistic adventure of the era. I found the characters in IDOJ to be more relatable to me and more likable. That's where it comes down to my enjoyment: I thought Larry Tate was an a-hole who would have been fine if he was a "Mr. Slate" sort of boss, but he and Darren were apparently supposed to be friends, but Larry was a turd to him constantly. The focus in Bewitched was on the family of witches who make Darren miserable because he was too stiff to allow magic (or other variations of the theme). IDOJ was mostly about the mortals and how Jeannie's hi-jinks made life difficult, which is what I found preferable. Tony seemed to be swept up in things out of his control, but Darren would have had an easier time if he wasn't such a hard-ass.

They were both limited concepts as shown by how many episodes Bewitched remade as it went on. Jeannie was cookie cutter TV as well, but it's all in how you like your cookies.

 

[Rob W]

Team Bewitched for me. Love the episode where Endora puts a spell on Darren !

 

[Ejanss]

I love the character of Jeannie, it's a great character and so is Eden, I even have an autographed Jeannie bottle, but would not endorse that show over Bewitched at all.

For all the feminist whines of "Jeannie calls Tony 'Master'...Male power fantasy!" (albeit the same whiners of "If Samantha had ultimate powers, why did she want to be a housewife, and not take over the world?"), the whole point of the show was that Tony had about as much "control" over Jeannie as over a force of nature--
While Samantha wanted to live a nice upper-class suburban existence with her upwardly-mobile rat-race husband, and damage-controlled everyone else's magic, Jeannie did whatever she wanted because she thought it was helping.

(And ftr, Tony was comically annoyed at being called "Master"--"Stop that, it makes me feel like some fat sultan on his cushions!")

But when I rewatched the episodes on disk a couple years ago, just for the cuteness of Barbara Eden, I would crack up in giggles at Jeannie's uncanny dead-on similarity of behavior to a certain, ahem, iconic Japanese-anime character.
The resemblance of the latter to the former can not be accidental.

(And not saying who, but "Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer" is now currently streaming on Amazon Prime...)

 

[Tommy R]

I greatly prefer Jeannie (though I do like Bewitched). And just to add my two cents on the sex-appeal aspect of Jeannie, when I started to watch the show in reruns in the mid-90’s on Nick at Nite, I was young enough that the sex appeal went over my head and I saw the show as a wonderfully silly fun sitcom like none other. Of course, when I got older I noticed the sex-appeal of Jeannie, but there is so much to this show than just a hot woman in a harem costume. Also want to give a shout out to Hayden Roarke and Bill Daily who were amazing and essential supporting cast members.

 

[MartinP.]

I bet that would come as a shock to Sidney Sheldon.

Indeed it would!!!

They're both classic shows, so let's together and dance:

 

[Joseph_G]

The Bewitched pilot has been uploaded to YouTube by Sony, with the correct B&W opening credits animation and music (from a Chevrolet sponsored episode, I think), and the Screen Gems "dancing sticks" logo at the end of the episode. It's in 16:9 and in less than SD resolution, but hopefully this means the B&W seasons will appear in HD for streaming or purchase soon. I've been checking streaming services that sell the show to see if it's been upgraded to HD anywhere, but still only Roku ever seems to have the color seasons in HD (unfortunately only in 16:9 and usually only two seasons at a time, randomly).

 

[ScottRE]

Oh man the Dancing Sticks!

 

[Osato]

The Bewitched pilot has been uploaded to YouTube by Sony, with the correct B&W opening credits animation and music (from a Chevrolet sponsored episode, I think), and the Screen Gems "dancing sticks" logo at the end of the episode. It's in 16:9 and in less than SD resolution, but hopefully this means the B&W seasons will appear in HD for streaming or purchase soon. I've been checking streaming services that sell the show to see if it's been upgraded to HD anywhere, but still only Roku ever seems to have the color seasons in HD (unfortunately only in 16:9 and usually only two seasons at a time, randomly).

Great information. Thank you for posting this. I am very interested in both of these Sony tv series coming in HD.

Jeannie and bewitched both just came to iTunes this summer. Sd only.

If digital HD or blu rays are coming I would love to know.

 

[Likecats]

Problem is stupid modern commercials all over the place.

 

[Wiseguy]

I also preferred Bewitched over IDOJ. Bewitched was a more serious (although still funny) look at a mixed marriage. For all its virtues, IDOJ seemed like a kiddie show from the get-go. Of course, like other series (e.g The Flintstones and the Curly-Joe era of The Three Stooges) the final years of Bewitched were more kid-oriented. I thought the writing on Bewitched starting getting a little stale during the fourth season long before Dick York disappeared in the fifth. A lot of people want to blame Dick Sargent for the downfall of Bewitched when it was just the writing (and the many remakes).

I had watched the syndicated episodes of Bewitched off and on through the 1970s and into the 1980s. But then we got a new independent TV station in 1984 (WNOL) and one of the series they had on at the beginning was Bewitched. But it was different. When they showed the color Dick York episodes (I don't think they had the B&W ones) the theme song was different than any I heard before (at least on reruns). It was reminiscent of the Dick Sargent theme but was still different. Also, the end of the music was always cut off presumably because the sponsor announcement followed. Not only that but the format was different:

USUAL RERUNS-----------------------1984 BROADCASTS

TEASER-----------------------------------OPENING CREDITS
OPENING CREDITS-------------------WRITER/DIRECTOR CREDITS
commercial-----------------------------TEASER
WRITER/DIRECTOR CREDITS------ACT 1
ACT 1-------------------------------------commercial
commercial-----------------------------ACT 2
ACT 2-------------------------------------commercial
commercial----------------------------TAG
TAG---------------------------------------commercial
CLOSING CREDITS-------------------CLOSING CREDITS

Does anyone remember these broadcasts and the different theme music?