Games - I Dream of Jeannie

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	Games - 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 also claims to have been inspired by the movie "The Brass Bottle", which starred Tony Randall, Burl Ives and Barbara Eden. Eden didn't play the genie in this movie, however, but rather Burl Ives played the genie Fakrash Alamash. William Asher, the producer of Bewitched
, was called upon unofficially to comment on the final script for the pilot episode which Sheldon was hoping would capture the essential elements of Bewitched. Interestingly, when casting was opened for the role of Jeannie, Sidney Sheldon had one very strict rule... NO BLONDES! He didn't want too obvious a connection with Bewitched
. Yet, he let Barbara Eden audition, and the rest is history.

The premise of the two programs was very similar. Both featured beautiful women who were possessed of magical powers and who tried to integrate with the mortal world to please the men they loved. The comedy in both series was derived from her attempts at keeping her powers secret, while very often needing to use those powers to resolve situations. Both featured a rambunctious relative (Jeannie's sister, Samantha's cousin) played by the lead actress, with a black wig to mark her "black hat" status.

Jeannie was a genie awakened from her two thousand year imprisonment when astronaut Anthony Nelson, who worked at Cape Kennedy (as Cape Canaveral was called in the 1960s) in Florida, found a bottle washed up on a desert-island beach. As he had found her, it was both his right and his obligation to take future responsibility for her. Returning home to Cocoa Beach, Florida, with him, Jeannie was initially little more than a servant, but as the series developed, so did their relationship, and eventually the couple was married.

In most episodes, Barbara Eden wore little more than her revealing "Jeannie" costume. But despite the fact that she was allowed to be depicted living in a house with a man to whom she was not married, censors of the day would not allow 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, without writing it into the Jeannie storyline.

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. Its reruns became one of the highest rated series during the 1970s (even more so following the success of Larry Hagman's role as J.R. Ewing on Dallas), and 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).

Much I Dream of Jeannie cast reunited for several television features, with their most recent reunions taking place in I Dream of Jeannie: 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, and the character being written out of the latter's script. 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. According to many sources, Columbia Pictures is set to release a feature film version of I Dream of Jeannie in September, 2006 with Gurinder Chadha set to direct. Jessica Alba, Amanda Bynes, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, Jenna Elfman, and Lisa Kudrow have been considered for the part of Jeannie. However, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, and Lindsay Lohan have emerged as the frontrunners for the role of Jeannie. The only name mentioned for the role of Major Tony Nelson is ex-Saturday Night Live actor Jimmy Fallon. 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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for I Dream of Jeannie ]

Games - I Dream of Jeannie

Show history

Original run

After the original run

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