I Dream of Genie

Description: Season 4, Episode 12

Air Date: March 21, 1963

Plot Summary: After unwittingly buying a magic lamp, a man contemplates what his one wish should be.

Review: I suppose this could be the inspiration for the show, "I Dream of Jeannie," but I don't know if that was a popular phrase once upon a time. Either way, the genie here certainly is no Barbara Eden! In fact, the genie is played by Jack Albertson--better known as Grandpa Joe from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." This is supposed to be a humorous episode, but there is one, reoccurring joke and it gets old quickly; that joke being that the main guy, George, is a little bitch-boy. The story was decent for what it was, and differentiates itself from "The Man in the Bottle" episode, but they lose momentum about halfway through.

You have George, in his full bitch-boy glory, at the start of the episode being coerced into buying the magic lamp. The lamp is actually intended to be a birthday gift for his co-worker, and crush, Ann. Ann is--well--the office skank. I love the massive levels of sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior, and sheer shenanigans at this office. Though, I'm sure the PC retards of today wouldn't be able to distinguish this amusing depiction of fiction from reality. Regardless, Ann appears to go for George's other co-worker, Roger, who gave Ann, what I'm guessing was, lingerie. Ehh...George could do better than this girl.

Wimping out on giving the gift, George goes home where he discovers the magic lamp's true power and the genie inside. Supposedly people were abusing the wishes of the past so they reduced the number of wishes down to one. Lame. George decides to take his time to consider what he wants as he imagines various scenarios unfolding based on possible wishes. Essentially, George's bitch-boy level is too high and makes every scenario go wrong. His first idea was to wish for Ann to be the most famous movie star and he as her husband. Whaaaaat?! You'd waste a magic wish--that could give you anything imagined in the universe--on merely becoming the husband to a bimbo? Wow...just wow. Even in George's fantasy Ann cheats on him! How apropos. George next imagines having money but growing bored of being able to have everything without effort. His final idea is to be powerful so he imagines being the president. That's a good one. Yes, the puppet in chief is soooo powerful. But this dream is shattered when aliens attack and he can't decide on a course of action. You're killing me here, Georgie! Realizing the truth--that he's a bitch-boy--George makes the best wish he could in his position: he goes the Jafar route and turns himself into a genie. The difference is that he intends to grant wishes to those in need and places his lamp in an area with homeless people. That's surprisingly a noble sentiment.

Overall, this is an interesting episode, as most genie-themed stories tend to be, but there needed to be an extra layer of humor beyond constantly beating it into the audience that George is a pushover; this episode did make me laugh a bit, but I started to get bored by the time he was imagining being rich. I'd probably rate this as an average episode that would have been more successful in the 30 minute format. Good ideas, without a doubt, but the execution was lacking in stretching out those ideas.

The Parallel

Description: Season 4, Episode 11

Air Date: March 14, 1963

Plot Summary: After coming down from orbit, an astronaut finds himself in an alternate reality.

Review: This episode has an intriguing plot line, but they don't capitalize on the material enough to make it interesting. We have an astronaut, named Gaines, who is performing what is meant to be a routine entry into Earth's orbit. Unfortunately, he disappears from every kind of instrument while experiencing some kind of flashing light. When Gaines wakes up in a hospital, he has miraculously landed his capsule and remembers nothing after seeing the light. Although it's never explained why, Gaines' family feels there is something unusual about him--a kind of innate awareness. Gaines too suspects something is wrong as he's told his memories about various events are jumbled up. Obviously this is not true as Gaines realizes a lot of things, even in history, are different than his memory. Gaines realizes he has inexplicably crossed into a parallel universe where only minute details have shifted compared to his world. When Gaines is confronted about the capsule subtly having alterations, he is magically transported back to the moment of the flashing light. Coming down from orbit, Gaines is relieved to learn he is back in his own world with a family that recognizes him. The military doesn't believe his story at first until they detect another capsule on their instruments before it too disappears; they conclude that that must have been the other universe's Gaines crossing through our world. And that's all there really is to it--nothing special or a final twist.

Ehh, it's not that this episode is bad, per se, but it doesn't go anywhere and drags despite having a ton of material to work with. I also felt there should have been a major revelation along the way. Something along the lines of Gaines discovering a change in the alternate reality so significant he knew he couldn't stay. You know, like the Axis powers won WWII or the Allies immediately went to war with Russia after WWII as many wanted to do. That could have opened the material up further to explore different ideas.

No Time Like the Past

Description: Season 4, Episode 10

Air Date: March 7, 1963

Plot Summary: A man travels through time in an attempt to correct the various moments he believes led humanity astray.

Review: This is an interesting story in one respect, but it's far too similar to the episode "Back There" which managed to tell the same, fundamental tale in half the time. Strangely enough, I'd argue this episode inspired "Back to the Future Part III." So we have a guy, named Driscoll, who can't stand the present day of 1963 and wants to alter the past. He makes three initial trips: first to Hiroshima before it was hit with an atomic bomb, then to Berlin to kill Hitler before starting WWII, and last to 1915 in order to prevent the sinking of the Lusitania. Each attempt ends in failure as no one will listen to him in Japan, a suspicious maid gets soldiers to prevent Hitler's assassination, and the captain of the Lusitania won't listen either. It would appear time is not meant to change despite the episode addressing that tiny changes could start a butterfly effect across history. However, my issue is that I don't understand how the time traveling works here. Driscoll seems able to go to wherever and whenever with various supplies at his disposal yet he has no devices or anything to assist. In other words, he is able to leap through time by sheer willpower...somehow. There is a time machine in the present, but there is no sense of control over it. Ehh, they needed more effort in this regard.

Deciding to scrap his plans, Driscoll heads to 1881 in order to live a simpler life. Odd...he'd only have about 30 years before WWI came along; I suppose he anticipated he'd be dead or too old to care or something. While enjoying the peace, Driscoll remembers that president Garfield's assassination was coming up and contemplates intervention. He is also torn between a teacher he is romantically interested in and his desire not to change the past. This problem is exacerbated by the revelation that the teacher's schoolchildren will be burned in a fire. Deciding he will break his rule, and attempting to alter the events, Driscoll inadvertently triggers the very series of events he was trying to prevent. Driscoll realizes that time is set and that his actions were already meant to occur. With this newfound understanding, Driscoll returns to the present to live out his life rather than dwelling upon the past. Not a bad sentiment at all. Although there are slightly different themes than "Back There," the overall ideas are the same as well as the outcomes.