User Reviews

I was puzzled by Dr. Bellows' referring to the top (jacket) portion of a military uniform as a 'blouse,' in this episode, so I looked it up... This is, in fact, correct terminology. So this episode not only featured the incomparable Groucho Marx, it taught me something too. :) can't beat that.

"The Greatest Invention in the World" must rank as the greatest episode of them all, where elements already firmly established coalesce into the ultimate Dr. Bellows free fall with General Peterson. Roger is upset because his best friend won't allow his genie to grant him any wishes, so when Tony gives in Roger accidentally spills coffee on his uniform, then wishes he hadn't done it! Presto, one blink and the stain is gone, along with Major Healey's solitary wish. As the duo are working out a problem at NASA, Tony's now indestructible uniform is revealed to be impervious to grease, or being cut by scissors, even a blow torch. In each case Dr. Bellows is a witness to every incredible incident, explained away as a secret 'X factor,' but when he attempts to repeat the trick on General Peterson's uniforms his destructive behavior has the general thinking he'll be naked before long! Major Nelson pleads guilty to getting the long suffering doctor into trouble, to no avail: "Tony, I want to give you a little advice, it's the same advice I'd give you if you were my own son...get out!" Jeannie must pose as an envoy for General Peterson's superior in order to restore the doctor to his rightful position at NASA, rather than cavorting with the Eskimos in Iceland. The final scene has Roger making one more wish, that as a boy he wanted to be 'the funniest man in the world,' then he becomes the actual Groucho Marx, asking Tony to hold his cigar while he holds the luminous Jeannie!

I watched Jeannie religiously on daily reruns when I was twelve years old, I've occasionally revisited through the decades and of course, I have the DVD box set. Unless I'm forgetting something, I would have to say that this, and the Martian episode that opened the fourth season, were absolutely the most hilarious shows they ever did. Groucho's appearance, while not adding much to the humor or plot, made a fitting encore to this hilarious show. Barton Maclane, who of course was a serious supporting player from Bogart gangster films and who headlined some Grade B detective dramas, shows some genuine comedic chops in this one. His impeccable timing, along with the comic timing of one time serious actor Hayden Rorke, are crucial to the flow of the humor. I won't give anything else away. Take twenty six minutes and view the program yourself.

After asking Tony and Jeannie for one wish Major Healey without notice spited coffee on Tony's jacket wishing that not happen, bingo the wish is done, but the jacket became indestructible and when Dr. Bellow see right now he will tells to General Peterson about the new invention that probable will taking them to White House not before to destroy three Paterson's jacket, once more Bellows has in trouble again, impossible don't laugh!!