Good point.... I think "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" were both for people who didn’t' 'get' "Gilligan's Island". This is the same idea as people who manufacture name brand items (for instance Tide clothes detergent) and will use the exact same ingredients to fill their own generic-brand containers to sell at a discounted amount (such as ABC laundry soap). The manufacturer basically captures a larger share of the market (name brand buyers AND cost conscious consumers) with the exact product; the only production costs incurred are the different labels and/or bottles.

I think Hillbillies did rely on delusions of grandeur. Doesn't everyone wish they would uncover something in their immediate possession which would have limitless and immediate commercial value (e.g. finding the original copies of Theodore Geissel’s draft for "Cat in the Hat" unknowingly purchased at a garage sale and inadvertently stored in your attic for the past 40 years). Further, Jeannie is the most basic delusion of grandeur as you have all of your wishes magically attended to….. not unlike the Kings, Queens and Emperors of the greatest civilizations.

My take is ... the science of the sitcom is to thoroughly engage the viewer's imagination to the point of disallowing anything else to vie for attention during the time one watches the show. The more able you are to get the largest amount of viewers to identify with the main character(s) and the events in the context of the show, the more commercially successful the sitcom will be. This may be why certain reality shows, such as Survivor, became surprisingly but immensely popular ….

Getting back to Gilligan's Island ... isn't that what we were all thinking when watching the program: “If I was xxxx I would do xxxx and we'd all be saved”? Comedians have used this stream-of-consciousness rambling effectively for getting a laugh: "What is with the Professor on Gilligan's Island? He can make a radio out of coconuts and bamboo but can’t seem to fix the hull of the S.S. Minnow? I mean, what’s up with THAT, dude?”

By the way … I, too, didn’t really like “Hillbillies” or “Jeannie” and can count the episodes of both shows watched on a single hand. I was much more of a “Munsters” fan meself!