"I Dream of Jeannie" (1965-1970)

Major Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) is a military man who works in the space program in Florida. One day, he's sent on an exercise, which is part of his training as an astronaut. He comes across a bottle, and is surprised when a 2,000 year old genie named Jeannie (Barbara Eden) pops out. Tony thinks he's hallucinating. When he returns home, he's surprised to find that Jeannie has folllowed him, and life is not the same for Tony after that.

Tony hides Jeannie for awhile, but eventually his best friend, Major Roger Healey (Bill Daily) is let in on the secret. The both of them find themselves helped and hindered by Jeannie during various adventures. Roger sometimes caused problems because he thought it wouldn't be a problem to use Jeannie's powers in various situations. They also have to explain some of the more unusual occurences to their superiors, Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke), General Peterson (Barton MacLane) and General Schaeffer (Vinton Hayworth). Bellows was particularly suspicious of Tony, and always kept his eye on him.

Jeannie grew on Tony after awhile, and a mutual attraction grew. During the last season of the show, the genie and the military man were married.

Jeannie was from the Middle East, but was played by a perky, blond-haired actress, who today still looks like she did when she appeared on this show. The censors kept Ms. Eden's belly button covered because even though her costume would normally show it, they felt it was not proper for network TV -- remember, this was the 1960s.

When I see the reruns, and Larry Hagman's character makes up some lie to throw Dr. Bellows off the track, I can't help but think of the tricks and cons the character he portrayed on "Dallas" (1978-1991), the nefarious J.R. Ewing, used to pull.

Bill Daily appeared as Howard Borden, a neighbor of Bob and Emily's on "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972-1978).

In & Out (1997)

High school teacher Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline) is going along fine. His students like him, and he is engaged to be married to Emily Montgomery (Joan Cusack). Then a former student of his, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillion), drops a bomb during his acceptance speech after winning an Oscar. He mentions that Howard is gay. Howard denies that Drake's comment is true, but then begins to question his sexuality. Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck), an openly gay TV reporter, arrives to cover the story, and soon, the whole town is caught up in a media circus.

This amusing comedy has a good cast, and the story is supposedly based on a comment Tom Hanks made about a former teacher of his during an acceptance speech. Joan Cusack is delightful as the fiancee who is caught up in the confusion surrounding her beau. Selleck, an actor known for macho roles such as on the series "Magnum, P.I." plays his gay character with ease and a bit of mischeviousness. Bob Newhart is the nervous school principal.

Kline was part of the ensemble cast of the classic film, The Big Chill (1983), and the wild comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988). Joan Cusack and her brother John are from the Midwest, where they were trained in acting, along with Jeremy Piven, in Piven's parents' school. Tom Selleck was billed as "Stud" in a 1970 Mae West movie called Myra Breckenridge. Newhart started as a standup comic who moved into TV ("The Bob Newhart Show") and movies.