Grunge By William Fischer 6/19/2023
Call them jinn, djinn, or genie — the conception of these spirits from Arabian folklore has come a long way from initial notions of mercurial, often destructive beings. Modern generations are more likely to picture genies not unlike Disney's big blue wisecracker with the voice and energy of Robin Williams. But television had softened the ground decades earlier with its own comic, benevolent genie. Across five seasons, Barbara Eden offered up laughs of her own as the star of "I Dream of Jeannie," the continuing misadventures of a lovesick genie who insists on helping her master, NASA major Tony Nelson. Whether she knows how to help, or whether he wants any, is beside the point.
Debuting on NBC in 1965, "I Dream of Jeannie" was the yin to "Bewitched's" yang. Both shows were produced by Screen Gems (albeit for different networks), and both featured beautiful and well-intentioned blondes with magical powers who leave havoc in their wake. Julia Harari of Collider has argued that "Bewitched" carried a more pointed commentary on family and diversity in 1960s America, and so has more staying power; other critics have found "Jeannie" comparably subversive. For many viewers, the two were just fun. And "Jeannie's" production and afterlife came with some fun and strange episodes of their own.
It was sparked by an obscure fantasy movie"I Dream of Jeannie" was created by TV veteran Sidney Sheldon. For inspiration, Sheldon looked to a film he had seen in 1964. Starring Burl Ives and Tony Randall, "The Brass Bottle," adapted from a novel by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, tells the story of a put-upon architect (Randall) who comes across an antique bottle. Convinced it's a fake, he decides against giving it to his fiancée's father, only to discover that the bottle holds an ancient and affable genie (Ives). Said genie is so grateful to be released that he insists on turning his master's life around, to near-disastrous results.
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The pilot was nearly derailed by line issues/In his memoir "The Other Side of Me," Sidney Sheldon had plenty to say, good and bad, about the creation and production of "I Dream of Jeannie." In preparing the initial pilot, he got things off to a good start. The now-iconic animated opening was put together by Friz Freleng, the prerequisite genie bottle was converted from a Jim Beam decanter, and the initial rehearsals had gone off without a hitch. On the day filming began, Sheldon went to his office, confident that all was well. And it was — until director Gene Nelson called, threatening to quit.
Sheldon rushed to the set to see what was the matter. Nelson told him that two of the series leads, Larry Hagman and Bill Daily, didn't know their lines. Furious, Sheldon confronted his actors, but the truth was a little more complicated. Daily, a veteran comic used to nightclubs and improvisation, was unused to scripted television. In Hagman's case, he knew his lines; he just wanted to embellish them, despite voicing his approval of the script along with the rest of the cast at the last readthrough.
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Jeannie's navel wasn't the only note the censors hadA favorite anecdote of the cast and crew of "I Dream of Jeannie" is that the censors didn't allow Barbara Eden to show her navel as Jeannie. 1960s television could only handle so much midriff, or so select members of the press thought. But Sidney Sheldon was facing questions about the sexual content of "I Dream of Jeannie" well before the series needed a wardrobe department.
In his memoir "The Other Side of Me," Sheldon wrote that he was so raring to go on the pitch for "I Dream of Jeannie" that he dictated an entire script instead of an outline. It went over well at Screen Gems, who brokered a deal with NBC almost immediately. Once Sheldon's script reached the network executives, however, trouble started brewing. Some of the staff at NBC felt the concept only amounted to one real joke. More seriously, the standards and practices department found the idea of a beautiful genie in a two-piece outfit living with her single male master scandalous. An 18-page memo from the department laid out various conditions, including a prohibition against Jeannie and Major Nelson from so much as touching one another.
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A guest star was paid with a TV set"I Dream of Jeannie" featured numerous guest stars in the course of its run, some of them titanic figures in 1960s pop culture. Sammy Davis Jr. made an appearance on the show, though he and Larry Hagman had a somewhat tense relationship between takes. Comedians like Don Rickles and Milton Berle popped in and out, as did veteran character actors like Jim Backus. Some of these guests appear regrettable with hindsight; Phil Spector appeared in Season 3 when he was still a record producer, long before his conviction for the murder of Lana Clarkson.
No such specter clouds Groucho Marx's cameo on the series. And he wasn't hard to get. He and "Jeannie" creator Sidney Sheldon were friends. Sheldon wrote in his memoir "The Other Side of Me" that Marx called him one day, complaining about the quality of talent on the show. "I know a guy who would be great," Marx said. "He's young and handsome and brilliant." When Sheldon asked who this mystery actor was, Marx replied, "Who else? Me."
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