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 appeararead more