I Dream of Jeannie (TV Series) Jeannie and the Curious Kid (1970) User Reviews

Michael Barbera as the Bellows nephew

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 30 November 2016]

"Jeannie and the Curious Kid" echoes the first season's "Whatever Became of Baby Custer?" in that a child who witnesses Jeannie's magic is not believed by the adults. In this case the child is Melvin (Michael Barbera), nephew of Dr. Bellows, present when Jeannie's smoke emerges from her bottle, blinking out of sight when she sees the boy. Convinced that there's magic inside that mysterious bottle, Melvin again happens to be there when Jeannie returns to her bottle, putting the cork on it to show his uncle Alfred. With Tony due to retrieve his wife's bottle Melvin switches her into a different one, so that Tony will have a tough time trying to recover his genie. 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' still works in fine fashion, though no child actor could compare to the prolific Billy Mumy.

Jeannie and the Annoying Kid

[gregorycanfield · 6/10 · 19 July 2023]

I don't recall seeing Michael Barbera anywhere else. That's perfectly fine. I'm only sorry that I had to see him in this episode. Why was he picked to play the Bellows' (previously unseen, unmentioned) nephew. There was absolutely nothing funny or cute about him, and he was a terrible actor, as well. When Melvin notices Jeannie coming out of her bottle, he tries to convince everyone of this. Very loudly. When the little idiot is shouting about what he saw, Tony tells him: "Shhhh!" Was it Tony's place to tell the Bellows' nephew to be quiet? I got the feeling that the "Shhhh" might not have been scripted. Perhaps, Larry Hagman found the kid's shouting as annoying as I did. The episode plays out in a predictable way. A few laughs, but that kid was a liability. Like the other reviewer mentioned, this story is similar to a Season One episode, with Billy Mumy as the kid. The other reviewer is so right, in saying that no child actor could hold a candle to Billy Mumy. Too bad that, in this episode, they couldn't find a child who could even act. They succeeded only in finding a child with a big mouth.

Give me back my bottle

[PizzaHips · 4/10 · 18 June 2022]

This one starts out promising with the nephew of Alfred getting to stay with Tony for a day. I like how Dr. Bellows just comes over and tells Major Nelson that he's watching the boy. When Melvin sees Jeannie go back in her bottle and puts the cork on it and takes it with him, why does he not become Jeannie's new Master when he pulls the cork out??? Why wouldn't Jeannie just blink her bottle back to her house when she was trapped like she has done before? What is she doing still going into her bottle in the first place, they are married now.

Writing was really lacking on a lot of these episodes.