Barbara Eden

Question: A friend and I were talking about, of all people, Barbara Eden. Was Harper Valley PTA really her first show after I Dream of Jeannie? If so, what happened to her during the time in between?

Answer: Good question, Brian, and Ms. Eden herself didn't have an answer for you when interviewed in 1981. "I don't know," she said when asked why 10 years went by before she again starred in a series. (Jeannie was canceled in 1970 and Harper Valley debuted on NBC in 1981.) "It wasn't a question of not being wanted. The shows they found just didn't work."

No, they didn't. In fact, three networks and at least a dozen of TV's most creative types tried to come up with a series for her, while she earned high ratings doing variety specials, singing appeara read more

Question: There were episodes of I Dream of Jeannie that featured an invisible dog that did not like Major Nelson. What was the dog's name and to whom did it belong?

Answer: Once again I'm faced with a reader who doesn't need help but rather seeks to confound and vex me with a question he foolishly believes to be a stumper.

Trifle not with my TV powers, mortal — you bark up the wrong tree. The I Dream of Jeannie dog's name was Djinn Djinn; he was only invisible part of the time; he belonged to Jeannie (Barbara Eden) and he didn't discriminate in terms of hatred. He despised all uniformed men since, Jeannie explained, the palace guards were unkind to him in past years.

In his appearances on the show, the vicious little beast shredded many a pant leg and was once turned into a porcelain statue when one of Jeannie' read more