‘I Dream of Jeannie’ wedding ruined the hit show

I Dream Of Jeannie ran on NBC from September 1965 until May 1970 with repeat episodes being broadcast until September of that year. The show was produced by Screen Gems and there were 139 episodes. The first 30 episodes were in black and white and the remaining 109 were colorized. The stars were Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman as astronaut Tony Nelson who found her bottle and became her master. The two had great chemistry and Jeannie fell in love at first sight but it took Tony a bit more time to acknowledge his feelings.

I Drem of Jeannie has run in syndication for many years and continues to be popular today. The premise of the show was quite innocent and would never work in our modern time. Jeannie and Tony had a lot of sexual tension but only kissed every now and then. It was understood that she was a genie and not human and she came across like a teenager with a crush, In season 5, however, things changed and the “ Will they or won’t they?” was taken out of the dynamic. Today's viewing audience will probably consider Jeannie as too submissive and consider the program as degrading to women.

During it's time and prior to the Me Too movement, Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden captured the hearts of viewers who enjoyed their chemistry and accepted the show for what it was which is a sitcom. Barbara Eden believes having the couple marry killed the series. The wedding was inevitable because having a couple living together without marriage was not something that was done during that decade. As Jeannie became more human the idea of her her and Tony continuing this stalemate was unrealistic. Perhaps the writers should have continued to have Tony dating other women and Jeannie interfering. He could have eventually admitted his love for his genie and the wedding episode could have been the final one.

The series creator Sidney Sheldon said he did not care for the wedding and in his biography, The Other Side of Me, he explains the situation. Sheldon said that during the 4th season when the show had not been picked up for an additional season he received a call from NBC exec Mort Woerner who suggested that Tony and Jeannie get married. According to Sheldon, during the show’s fourth season when it hadn’t been picked up for a fifth, he got a call from NBC’s Mort Werner who decided Jeannie and Tony should get married.

Werner pointed out that the sexual tension between the couple is what made the series fun. He said that once the sexual tension was gone there would be nothing to work with. For whatever reason, writers have not yet been able to overcome this aspect of popular television couples. Perhaps it is the viewers who become bored once sex takes place between the two parties. Barbara Eden was also outspoken in her opinion that the couple should not marry but Mort Wernerwent along with the wedding anyhow. Sheldon said that Werner destroyed a hit show but perhaps the handwriting was already on the wall.

Viewers probably would not have continued to tune in to the show if it went on in the same vein for 5 or 10 more years. This was probably a no win situation and Tony and Jeanie's unique dynamic simply had an expiration date. Currently, I Dream of Jeannie can be seen on the Roku channel but check your local listings. This series has also run on Nickelodeon and other retro television stations.