Review of I Dream of Genie

Here we go again. Pitiful, hopeless little man, kicked around by his peers, gets an opportunity to make things better. He is coerced into buying an Aladdin's lamp in an antique store. It is for a woman in his office whom he has a crush on. She is the absolute center of attention and he doesn't even dare to give her the gift. The wolf of the office gets the girl and the promotion. Our guy goes home to his lonely apartment and his dog, Attila. This name proves to be a continuing gag as all manner of dogs in the episode have that same name. He decides he may be able to use the lamp as an ashtray and cleans it. Poof! Our comes a Genie, played by Jack Albertson, who tells him that he gets one wish (they used to give three, but people misused them). There is talk about love and possessions and the 90% tax bracket. He is given the task of thinking things through so his wish will be worth the effort. He puts himself in three situations in his daydreams, all of which are disasters. He even imagines himself President of the United States. Finally he gets an epiphany. For me, the conclusion was utterly ridiculous. This seemed so incredibly dated, which contributed to its less than stellar rating.