I Dream Of Jeanie
October 10, 2008 – 2:03 pm
I dream of Jeannie is an American fantasy sitcom (situational comedy). It was first aired in September 1965. The show was a massive hit and ran for five seasons till May 1970. It has been rerun several times after that. The series became a even bigger hit when it began to be rerun in syndication. A total of 139 episodes were produced during the five seasons. It was produced by Screen Gems. The 1st season consisted of thirty episodes and all of them were filmed in black and white. These episodes had only recently been colorized for a DVD edition and few broadcasts. The other 109 episodes from four seasons were all filmed in color. The series was created by Sidney Sheldon in reply to the huge success of the Bewitched series by the rival network ABC.
Starring Barbara Eden as the sexy female genie and Larry Hagman as the astronaut Tony Nelson, I dream of Jeannie revolve around the adventures that happen after Tony Nelson finds Jeannie in a bottle on a desert island during an aborted space assignment. Though he keeps Jeannie, he doesn’t want her to use her powers and tries hard to keep it hidden from his boss Dr Bellows and his friends. Only his best friend Roger Healy is able to find out about Jeannie in the beginning itself. The show was a laugh riot as Jeannie keeps on getting her master into one mess or the other. Initially they share only a platonic relationship but towards the end of the series they end up getting married. With a blink of her eyes and nod of her head, Jeannie takes us into her magical world. Two I dream of Jeannie movies have also been made which did great business. I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later which was released in 1985 and I Still Dream of Jeannie which released in 1991.
The show was a great example of perfect comic timing. The characters never tried to make the audiences laugh through jokes or witted lines. It was the situation and the performances which made I Dream of Jeannie one of the most watched sitcoms worldwide.