The first season of the hit TV show I Dream of Jeannie launched all of the major characters and set the show on a course that would lead to four more seasons, plus a number of other reunion movies, and a raft of pop culture references and guest shots in other shows.
The show gave actor Larry Hagman (starring as astronaut Tony Nelson) a sugar-coated launching pad into the role of a lifetime as evil no-goodnik J.R. Ewing in Dallas.
I Dream of Jeannie was originally concocted as NBC’s answer to rival ABC’s Bewitched, though a case can be made that the show was anything but derivative, delivering vivid style and colorful flamboyance that gave it much further reach. And while Elisabeth Montgomery was quite the hottie in her day, she didn’t hold a candle to Barbara Eden’s sunny smile … extreme décolletage and exposed tummy.
For those who either weren’t watching, never saw the show in syndication, or weren’t born yet, Tony Nelson, handsome astronaut and rising star within the early NASA manned space flight program, was living the high life in Cocoa Beach, until his capsule wound up splashing down on a remote island. While awaiting rescue, he discovered a bottle on the beach and released the genie inside … a beautiful, curvaceous genie named Jeannie. What follows is a mad-capped peek into ‘60s TV at its best.
The cast, a mixture of veteran actors and newbies, gelled almost from the beginning. Tony’s best friend is Roger Healey (Bill Daily) and his boss at the base is Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke). Daily, a popular comedian, had not acted until he was cast in the role. It is worth noting that during the first four episodes, Tony has a fiancée (Karen Sharpe) and a fiancée’s father (Philip Ober), but they were mercifully written out as the budding attraction between astronaut and genie became part of the show’s unique charm.
One of the reasons such shows as I Dream of Jeannie were successful was that they were like magnets to popular stars of the day, especially those on the rise and on the fade. Season One is no exception as it contains cameo performances by Richard Kiel (Jaws from the James Bond films), Jamie Farr (Klinger from M*A*S*H,), Vic Tayback (Alice), and Judy Carne (Laugh-In). Even B-movie villain J. Carrol Naish appears as Jeannie's great-grandfather Bilejik in the episode called, Djinn and Water .
The I Dream of Jeannie Season One DVD includes two extras (and I’m not counting the unrelated promos and trailers that inevitably pad out the content listings of such TV releases). Out of the Bottle, the second short feature, at just over 14 minutes in length, is the most satisfying. The shows stars are interviewed about shooting the series, combating the censors, and Eden discusses the numerous problems of filming in what was for those days an amazingly outlandish and troublesome costume. Sidney Sheldon also contributes some anecdotes about the show’s origin and production. The first featurette is a second-rate commentary on the pilot episode. Bill Daily has very little to contribute, but Eden brings up a few interesting points, such as the fact she actually learned to speak a bit of Farsi, and that the original costume was green rather than the familiar pink.
Woo hoo!!
All other production values, including sound and image transfer, are either good or very good.
Overall, I Dream of Jeannie works on DVD today for the same reasons it worked as a prime time comedy back in the day: the premise is fresh, the comedy and timing are spot on, and ... did we mention Jeannie's costume?
** Sigh **
