I Dream of Jeannie

I Dream of Jeannie was a popular American sitcom with a fantasy premise. Produced by Screen Gems, it aired from 1965 to 1970 on NBC. The show starred Barbara Eden as Jeannie and Larry Hagman as Captain (later Major) Anthony Nelson.

Show history

Original run

The series was created by Sidney Sheldon in response to the great success of rival network ABC's Bewitched series, which had debuted in 1964 as the second most watched program in the United States. Sheldon, inspired by the movie The Brass Bottle, starring Tony Randall, Burl Ives as the genie Fakrash and Barbara Eden came up with the idea for a beautiful female genie who wanted to grant her masters wishes, a stark contrast to the social ideas of what a genie was and what a genie looked like. Many Bewitched fans continue to propagate the rumor that producer William Asher was called upon unofficially to comment on the final script for the pilot episode of 'Jeannie.' NBC was hoping 'Jeannie' would recreate the successful ratings "Bewitched" was pulling at that time. Interestingly, when casting was opened for the role of Jeannie, Sidney Sheldon could not find an actress who could play the role the way he wrote her. Finally after many unsuccessful auditions he called the agent for Barbara Eden who had costarred in the The Brass Bottle and then had tea with her at the Beverly Hills Hotel and the rest is history.

The premise of the program was very simple. The show featured a beautiful woman who possessed magical powers and tried to integrate with the mortal world to please the man she loved. The show's foundation was derived from her "master's" attempts at keeping her existence a secret, while very often needing to use her powers to resolve situations she initially created. The third season featured a rambunctious relative (Jeannie's sister) also played by Barbara Eden, with a black wig to mark her "black hat" status. The major difference between the first season which aired in black and white, and the following four seasons which aired in color, was the manic and fast-paced nature of later seasons in contrast to the more romantic and relaxed nature of the pilot season.

Jeannie was a genie awakened from her two thousand year imprisonment when astronaut Anthony Nelson's final stage rocket misfired and forced him to abort a space launch. Captain Nelson washed ashore on a desert island where he found a bottle on the beach. Upon opening the bottle he set Jeannie free. As legend states, he who frees the genie becomes its master. However upon summoning a helicopter for him, rescuing him from being stranded, Tony claims they are even, she is free to go. Having fallen in love with the first man she set eyes on in two thousand years, Jeannie follows Tony home to Cocoa Beach, Florida. Jeannie was initially little more than a pesky, jealous servant, but as the series developed, so did their relationship, and eventually the couple was married in the fifth and final season.

Sidney Sheldon and the cast fought against the wedding, feeling it would ruin the sexual tension between the two. Despite the series finishing its fourth season in 26th place, NBC was going to cancel the program if Jeannie and Tony did not wed. For the series fifth season (1969–70), NBC moved the series to a weak time slot (Tuesday at 7:30pm) where it had done mediocre ratings during its third season (1967–68). Jeannie and Tony wed, NBC got lots of press and then cancelled the series.

In most episodes, Barbara Eden wore little more than her revealing "Jeannie" costume. Strangely, the censors allowed her to be depicted living in a house with an unmarried man, but would not permit Eden's navel to be seen. The makers of the series were also presented with the challenge of filming around Eden's real-life pregnancy during the pilot season, without writing it into the storyline. Instead she wore many veils to hide her stomach and as her pregnancy progressed they began to use body doubles and film Eden only above the waist.

After the original run

I Dream of Jeannie was a moderate success on NBC, but the show's popularity exploded when the series began playing in syndication. The reruns became one of the highest rated series during the 1970s. For example, when the reruns debuted on New York's WPIX-TV, Jeannie won its time period with a 13 rating and a 23 share of the audience (Variety, October 6, 1971). The series average a 14 share and 32 share of the audience when WTTG-TV in Washington began airing the series (Variety, September 22, 1971). Across the board, the series was reaching a bigger audience in syndication than on NBC. The show continues to have a cult following today. Hanna-Barbera Productions produced an animated spin-off, Jeannie, in September, 1973, which featured Jeannie (voiced by Julie McWhirter) and genie-in-training Babu (voiced by former Three Stooges star Joe Besser) as the servants of Corry Anders, a high-school student (voiced by Mark Hamill).

Most of the I Dream of Jeannie cast reunited for several television features, the most recent being 15 Years Later (1985) and I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991), the former with Wayne Rogers replacing Larry Hagman in the role of Tony Nelson, the latter writing out the character completely.

Rumors of a big screen treatment of I Dream of Jeannie have flown around Hollywood for years. One of the more interesting casting suggestions was Will Smith as Major Nelson and Halle Barry as Jeannie. Jessica Alba, Amanda Bynes, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, Jenna Elfman, Lindsay Lohan and Lisa Kudrow have been considered for the part of Jeannie. The latest news is that Columbia Pictures is in pre-production for a feature film version of I Dream of Jeannie, the date of release now pushed back to 2007 with no defined script, cast or director. According to some sources, writer/director Gurinder Chadha who had been set to direct the remake lost the job because of her lack of knowledge of the show and its initial success. Chadha suggested a possible story line which would be somewhat darker than the original series, with Jeannie as a headstrong girl who is punished for becoming a soldier by being imprisoned in a bottle as a genie. As Columbia Pictures began to see the direction Chadha was going it is rumored they cancelled that idea and told her to create a story line more closely relating to the original show. Upon her incapability to do so Columbia released Chadha from her contract on I Dream of Jeannie.

Over the past ten years, merchandise based on the series has been produced including numerous dolls, ceramic pieces, lunchboxes, a board game and a series of Instant Scratchit cards. There is even an officially licensed slot machine with Jeannie sound effects, new animations and voice samples recorded specifically for the machine by Eden herself.

Recently, Cocoa Beach has been embracing the fame it garnered from Jeannie. A street near the Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach is named "I Dream of Jeannie Lane." On September 15, 2005, they held the We Dream Of Jeannie Festival, during which were memories of the show and a Jeannie look-alike contest. There were plans for one in 2004, but it was interrupted by Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne. They did, however, hold the Jeannie look-alike contest in 2004, with Bill Daily attending. None of the cast members went to the 2005 festival.

In March, 2006, the first season of the series was made available on DVD for the first time in both black and white and colorized box sets. The color set outsold the black and white set by a substantial margin, perhaps due to the fact that substantially more colorized versions were produced than black and white. Despite more sophisticated colorization techniques, there are some inconsistencies. In the first and second seasons, a variation of the costume worn by Jeannie's sister was also worn by Jeannie a few times. This costume is aqua-green in color. However, it is colorized as crimson and pink. Additionally, Jeannie's smoke varied in some later episodes based on what she was wearing (blue when rising in the morning in white and blue pajamas, green when wearing that costume). Her smoke is colorized as plain white when wearing a white oxford shirt in the pilot, but does not change colors in any of the other episodes. The first season sold surprisingly well; enough so that complete second season was released in July, 2006.

Main cast

Jeannie — Barbara Eden
Jeannie's Sister (also named Jeannie) and Mother — Barbara Eden
Tony Nelson — Larry Hagman, who occasionally directed
Roger Healey — Bill Daily, who occasionally wrote
Dr. Alfred Bellows — Hayden Rorke
Amanda Bellows (Dr. Bellows' wife) — Emmaline Henry
Gen. Martin Peterson (1965–1969) — Barton MacLane
Gen. Winfield Schaeffer (1969–1970) — Vinton Haworth

Plot outline

Main story

Astronaut Captain Tony Nelson is on a space flight when his one-man capsule comes down far from the planned recovery area, near a deserted island. Tony notices a strange bottle that rolls by itself, and when he rubs it after removing the cork, smoke starts shooting out and Jeannie materializes. "I must have gone further into orbit than I thought!" he says. Eventually, Jeannie, who was locked up in her bottle 2,000 years prior by the Blue Djinn, "blinks" a recovery helicopter into the area to rescue Tony, who is so grateful for her help that he tells her she's free. But Jeannie, who falls in love with Tony at first sight, reenters her bottle and moves it into Tony's duffel bag so she can accompany him back home.

Tony at first keeps Jeannie in her bottle most of the time, but finally relents and allows her to develop a life of her own. The first thing Jeannie does is break up Tony's engagement to the general's daughter.

Tony's efforts to cover up Jeannie's antics brings him to the attention of NASA's resident psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Bellows. Dr. Bellows tries over and over to prove to his superiors that Tony's either crazy or hiding something, but somehow or other he's always foiled and Tony's job remains secure.

Tony's best friend and fellow astronaut Roger Healy doesn't know about Jeannie for several episodes – when he finds out, he steals her so he can become rich and live in luxury. It's not long though before Tony reclaims his status as Jeannie's master. Roger continues to demonstrate his desire to use Jeannie's powers for his own benefit, but for the most part he respects Tony's status as Jeannie's master. Both Tony and Roger are promoted to the rank of major early in the series.

Jeannie's sister, mentioned in a second season episode (and also named Jeannie), proves to have a mean streak starting in the third season, repeatedly trying to steal Tony for herself, with her as the master! One of her final efforts comes right after Tony and Jeannie get married.

Early in the fifth season, Jeannie is called upon by her Uncle Sully to become queen of Basenji, and she decides, for his birthday gift, to give Tony the country of Basenji and make him its king. However, NASA has assigned Tony to deal with the ambassador from Kajsa, Basenji's neighbour and enemy, to secure finkilium, a mineral needed for the space program. Sully causes Tony to unwittingly and repeatedly threaten Kajsa's ambassador, harming America's friendship with Kajsa. When Roger warns Tony about Sully, Tony tries to trap Sully and tells him he won't marry Jeannie. Jeannie had gotten Sully to leave and she was waiting to talk to Tony, so he alienated her. She leaves to become queen, while Tony and Roger are exiled to a remote post in Alaska. NASA finds another source of finkilium, and sends a dispatch that recalls Tony and Roger to Cocoa Beach. However, the newspaper came with the message, mentioning the new queen of Basenji. The boys fly to Basenji (somewhere near Russia) where Tony reconciles with Jeannie. They arrive back at NASA and Tony introduces Jeannie as his fiancée. The two were wed before the end of the season.

Multi-arc stories

In a four-part episode, it is established that Jeannie did not know her birthday, and her family members couldn't agree when it was, either (2,000 years being a long time to remember such a thing). Tony and Roger use NASA's powerful new computer, and horoscopic guidance based on Jeannie's traits, to calculate it, but Roger wants to make a game out of revealing it. Jeannie finally forces it out of him in the fourth episode: April 1, 64 B.C. (See Trivia, below)

In another four-part episode, Jeannie is locked in a safe bound for the moon, and any attempt to force the safe or use the wrong combination will destroy the safe with an explosive. Jeannie is in there so long, four weeks, that whoever opens the safe will become her master. The episodes spread out over a month, during which a national contest was held to guess the safe's combination. This explains why Larry Hagman is never seen actually saying the combination out loud... his face is turned away from the camera, or the shot is on Jeannie when he says it. The actual combination wasn't decided until right before airing, and Hagman's voice was dubbed in. Over the closing credits, Barbara Eden announced and congratulated the contest winner. The combination: 4-9-7. ^*

The Jeannie Theme

The first season Jeannie theme was an instrumental jazz/waltz written by Richard Wess. From the second season on, however, a new theme, titled Jeannie, was written by Hugo Montenegro, with lyrics by Buddy Kaye. The lyrics were never used in the show, but here they are:

Jeannie, fresh as a daisy Just love how she obeys me Does things that just amaze me so She smiles, presto, the rain goes She blinks, out pops a rainbow Cars stop, even the train goes slow When she goes by She paints sunshine on every rafter Sprinkles the air with laughter We're close as a quarter after three There's no one like Jeannie I'd introduce her to you But it's no use, sir Cause my Jeannie's in love with me She's in love with me!

Songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carol King wrote a spec theme, called Jeannie, for Sidney Sheldon before the series started, but it was rejected.

The Bottle

Jeannie's famous bottle was not created for the show. It was actually a 1964 Jim Beam liquor decanter containing 'Beam's Choice' scotch whiskey.
The studio prop department painted the bottle to look like an antique. For years it was said that Sidney Sheldon received one as a gift and thought it would be a perfect design for the series. Several people in the Screen Gems art department also take credit for finding the bottle. There is strong evidence, however, that it was first season director, Gene Nelson who saw one in a liquor store and bought it, bringing it to Sidney Sheldon.
The first season bottle had a clear glass stopper that Tony took from a 1956 Old Grand Dad Bourbon bottle in his home, as the original stopper was left behind on the beach where Tony found Jeannie. The color seasons (and the movies) used the original bottle stopper, painted to match the bottle. (During some close-ups, you can still see the plastic rings that hold the cork part of the stopper in place!) Jeannie's bottle was painted mainly in pinks and purples, while the bottle for the Blue Djinn and Jeannie's sister were simply plain, unpainted Jim Beam bottles. The movies again used Jim Beam bottles, but with a new, more dramatic paint job. The TV movie "I Still Dream of Jeannie" showed for the first time and for less than a minute what has come to be known as the sister's bottle in a two tone black and green bottle with gold and pink accents.
Jeannie's bottle was left its original dark, smoke-green color with a gold leaf pattern during the first season. In the first episode, it also looked quite rough and weathered. Since the show was originally filmed in black and white, a lot of colors and patterns were not necessary. When the show switched to color, the prop people came up with a brightly colored bottle to replace the original. On the last day of filming the final episode of the television series Barbara Eden got to keep the color 'stunt' bottle. Several of each season bottles were made, as they did occasionally get broken during production. In the DVD release of the first season, during the first episode commentary, Bill Daily also claims to own an original bottle.
The bottle itself was designed in 1964 by Roy Kramer for the Wheaton Bottle Company.
No one knows exactly how many bottles were used during the show, but members of the production have estimated that from six to eight bottles were painted and used during the run of the series. The stunt bottle used mostly for the smoke effect was broken frequently due to the heat and chemicals used to produce Jeannie's smoke. In the pilot episode several bottles were used for the opening scene on the beach, one was drilled through the bottom for smoke and another was used to "walk" across the sand and slip into Tony's pack. Two bottles were used from promotional tours to kick off the first season and one bottle was used for the first season production.

Trivia

Inconsistencies

Early on, Jeannie's budding movie career ended when she discovered that genies cannot be photographed, but in the middle of the series run, Jeannie was successfully photographed. The original premise is reasserted for the actual wedding episode, in which the fact that people would be trying to take pictures of her was part of the drama.
In a four-part episode, it was determined that Jeannie's birthday was April 1, 64 BC (which was a Thursday, according to the proleptic Gregorian calendar). However, in the fifth episode of the first season, "G.I. Jeannie", she stated that her birthday was July 1, 21 BC (a Tuesday). This is somewhat resolved by the understanding that she did not know her birthday until it was calculated in that later episode (Many people who do not know their birthdays choose one for ceremonial and social purposes, which Jeannie could have done in choosing, or assuming, that date).
The end credits of the pilot episode list Larry Hagman as Capt. Anthony Wilson. (This error was corrected on the DVD release)
In the pilot, when rescued Jeannie speaks Persian, (NOT Arabic as is often stated), and can only speak English when Tony wishes her to. (And even then, she inexplicably speaks archaic English until she learns the modern version.) Yet, whenever anyone from Jeannie's family show up, or she visits them, etc., they speak perfect contemporary English.
In the second episode, we meet Jeannie's mother and father, neither of whom are genies. Yet, later Barbara Eden played her own mother, who WAS a genie! And her father was never again to be seen.
In one early episode, before Roger knew about Jeannie, he was simply made to forget something "impossible" that he'd seen. In a different episode, after Roger has gotten himself into serious trouble while having control of Jeannie, she eventually resolves it by just rewinding time. Yet in later episodes, both of these "easy escapes" seem to be beyond her capabilities.
It was stated that Jeannie became a genie when she refused to marry the Evil Blue Djinn, and as punishment he imprisoned her in a bottle. Yet, later, all of her relatives are genies.
Jeannie was supposedly held captive in her bottle for two thousand years, yet has had relationships with famous people throughout the ages.
One episode asserts that genies are forbidden to marry mortals, while another claims that genies who marry mortals will lose their powers. However, when Tony and Jeannie's marriage actually takes place there are no objections amongst her kind nor any loss of her powers afterwards.
A fortune telling machine also shows a possible future: of the two children they have, the boy is mortal but the girl is a genie. In the movie made in 1985, they have one child, Tony Jr., who turns out to be a djinn (a male genie). However, in the 1991 movie, Tony Jr.'s powers are inexplicably absent.

Miscellany

Actor Larry Hagman was notoriously difficult to work with, to the point where the producers seriously considered getting rid of him and replacing him with another actor. Darren McGavin was at the top of the list for Hagman's replacement. They even worked out a story where Tony lost Jeannie and McGavin found her, but the studio execs loved Hagman and wouldn't consider a change.
Actress Barbara Eden also played the black haired mischievous elder sister of Jeannie.
Gene Nelson, the first director for I Dream of Jeannie, was originally an actor, singer and dancer. He appeared as Will in the motion picture version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!".
The idea that a Genie is female and Djinn is male is mistaken. In Arabic, Djinn (or jinn جن) is the collective name for the whole group, Djinni (or jinnī جنی) is singular and masculine. A female genie is called a jinnīyah (جنیه). The word "genie" is just an alteration of the Arabic word jinnī that was adopted into English, via a mistaken association with the Roman mythological genii.
According to the show, genies have both red and green blood corpuscles.

Comparison to actual NASA astronauts

The NASA shown in the series appears to be launching a few more flights than real-life NASA, since Tony makes it into space at least three times during the series. But several real astronauts did make second and third flights.

The first season pilot uses footage from an actual launch of a Project Gemini spacecraft (identifiable by its LGM-25 Titan II booster with twin rocket engines), and this footage also appears in the opening title sequence for some early first season episodes. However, the pilot storyline has Tony as the only crewmember of the craft, which would imply it must have been a Project Mercury mission, since all crewed Gemini spacecraft were flown with two crewmembers. The cartoon spacecraft shown in the opening titles of later seasons appears to be a one-man spacecraft bearing some resemblance to Project Mercury (flown 1961–May 1963), but during the series' run, the two-man Project Gemini (Mar 1965–Nov 1966) and three-man Project Apollo (Feb 1967–Jul 1975) craft were flying, aside from the hiatus between Gemini 12 and Apollo 7. In fact, Tony was shown on the series to fly all three of these craft, as well as the Space Shuttle (if you count the TV movies).

The only real astronaut in history to fly one of each of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft was astronaut Wally Schirra. (Mercury Sigma 7 flight, Gemini 6, and Apollo 7 flights.) Charles Conrad, James Lovell, Thomas Stafford and John Young were the only astronauts to fly two Gemini missions; 15 astronauts made both Gemini and Apollo flights during the series six-year run, and Alan Shepard, finally cleared to fly again after Mercury 3, flew Apollo as well.

Since Tony seems to be comparable to James Lovell and Wally Schirra, he is probably, fictionally, one of NASA's earliest-chosen astronauts, healthy and skilled enough to be valuable for several flights.

External links

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