Quotes
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Major Nelson: Jeannie, I never knew how much you meant to me until this happened. I`m never going to let you out of my sight again. Look, I even brought you flowers. Once I get you out of there, I`m going to take you out to dinner... the best candle lit dinner...
[Dr Bellows, Major Healy and Harry walk in on Major Nelson talking to the moon safe]
Col. Alfred E. Bellows, MD: A candle lit dinner...
Major Nelson: I can explain, sir.
Col. Alfred E. Bellows, MD: Being in love with a safe, they haven`t got a name for that one.
Major Nelson: Jeannie`s turned against me.
Major Healey: She can`t turn against you. Your her master. She as to obey you.
Major Nelson: Yeah, who says so?
Major Healey: I don`t know, maybe it`s in the genie manual.
Major Nelson: Then how come she`s deliberately disobeyed me?
Major Healey: Maybe she wasn`t issued a genie manual.
Blue Djinn: How does thou wish to die?
Major Nelson: Of old age.
Jeannie: Master I have a mother-in-law problem.
Major Nelson: You can`t have a mother-in-law problem. We are not married.
Jeannie`s Sister: You can make a man eat shredded cardboard, if you play the right tricks.
Nelson: How are things going?
Jeannie: Terrible. I have to make dinner - I mean actually make it without magic. We are liable to die.
[Dr Bellows to Major Nelson after one of Jeannie`s mishaps]
Col. Alfred E. Bellows, MD: Some men dedicate their lives to science. Some men dedicate their lives to politics. I`m dedicating my life to understanding you.
Mrs Winker (house buyer): How many bedrooms do you have?
Jeannie: How many would you like?
Jeannie: How should I punish him? Should I give him death of a thousand itches.
Major Healey: How about scratches?
Jeannie: Itches are much worse.
Jeannie: Master is football more important to you than I am?
Major Nelson: Of course not, that`s like comparing oranges and lemons.
Jeannie: And I`m the lemon.
Jeannie: Let me see now. A six letter word for rat. M-A-S-T-E-R.
Jeannie: I would not be going out with your best friend if I were married to his best friend.
Officer Anderson: You know, this is a one way street.
Jeannie: I was only going one way.
Jeannie: All I do is think and blink.
Col. Alfred E. Bellows, MD: You may be an expert in financial matters, Mr. Huggins, but I happen to be an expert in Major Anthony Nelson.
Amanda Bellows: [after Jeannie has turned Tony`s living room into a campground with a fire, tent, and running brook] Oh, it`s wonderful! Alfred, how come we never do anything like this?
Col. Alfred E. Bellows, MD: Amanda, I spend half my life *curing* people who do things like this!
Trivia
Sidney Sheldon didn`t originally want a blonde actress to play Jeannie (lest the show draw unfavorable comparisons to "Bewitched" (1964).) However, none of the other actresses competing for the part were able to play the role the way he had written her. Blonde Barbara Eden impressed Sheldon though in "The Brass Bottle", so she was hired.
Barbara Eden was the first blonde to audition for the role of Jeannie; all the other actresses competing for the role had dark hair.
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# During the first season, Jeannie`s mother is portrayed by Florence Sundstrom and Lurene Tuttle; in later episodes "Jeannie and the Wild Pipchicks" and "Is There a Doctor in the House?" Barbara Eden assumes the role.
In a couple of early color episodes, Jeannie is wearing a green harem outfit instead of her customary pink one and in another episode she changes her hair color to black in an attempt to convince Tony to keep her. The green harem outfit as well as the black hair color would later be trademarks of Jeannie`s wicked look-alike sister.
Jeannie`s evil sister was officially known to NBC as "Jeannie II."
Jeannie was born on 1 April 64 B.C.
General Schaeffer`s dog was named "Jupiter".
Michael Ansara, husband of star Barbara Eden, guest-starred in three episodes and directed one episode.
Paul Lynde, guest starred in three episodes - one in season two and two in season three. In each episode he played a different character.
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# The fancy antique bottle in which Jeannie called home was actually a decorative Jim Beam liquor decanter, which originally contained "Beam`s Choice" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky. The bottle had been decorated and painted with gold leaf by the show`s art department.
Anthony Nelson was in the Air Force; Roger Healey was in the Army.
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# Barbara Eden was pregnant during the filming of season one. This was disguised by shooting her in close-up or with a copious veil covering her front.
According to Barbara Eden, network executives and censors were unconcerned about her navel being seen until someone casually mentioned during the third season that it was occasionally visible when the waistband of her costume shifted. After that her navel was required to be covered.
Jeannie`s `60s-era harem costume is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The famous theme music was actually not used during season one, but since the first season was black and white, it was generally not syndicated with the rest of the series, so few people have seen it. The black and white episodes used jazz influenced background music while the color episodes used pop influenced background music.
When asked why did the show go off the air, Barbara Eden replied that producers felt they have enough episodes (over 100) for a syndication sale. She also attributed the end of the show to the fact that Tony and Jeannie got married, so the show lost viewers. Sidney Sheldon, Larry Hagman, and Bill Daily also agreed with the latter.
In several interviews Sidney Sheldon has said that he used The Brass Bottle (1964) (a film about a man, Tony Randall, who unleashes a genie, Burl Ives, who causes more problems for his master than he solves) as a working model for the show. In the movie Randall`s girlfriend was played by Barbara Eden.
In the episode "How to Marry an Astronaut", Barbara Eden`s cries for help from inside the champagne bottle were real. As a prank, director Claudio Guzmán called "lunch!" and had everyone leave the set, leaving Eden trapped in the bottle. While everyone waited in a nearby hallway, the cameras kept rolling, and the resulting footage was used in the episode shown on TV.
Jeannie`s harem shoes were made by Neiman Marcus. They were available in three colors: pink (Jeannie), green (Jeannie II), and white. Originally decorated with lace and beads, the insole read "Taj From India".
In the middle of the first season, Tony and Roger were both promoted from the rank of captain to major.
In one episode, Tony and Roger are working training a chimp named "Sam". This was seen as a slap at the show "Bewitched" (1964), whose producers accused "Jeannie" of stealing some of their ideas.
In the episode "Mrs. Djinn Djinn" you can catch a peek of `Barbara Eden` `s navel, which was still banned.
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# In the episode "My Poor Master the Civilian", Jeannie uses a future telling machine to see how Tony`s life would turn out if he quit the space program and took a civilian job. The interior set used for Tony`s office is the set used for Darrin Stephens` office in "Bewitched" (1964).
The entire cast drove Pontiac automobiles.
Located on the Columbia Pictures back lot - the "Columbia Ranch" - in Burbank the exterior facade used as the Bellows` house was also used as the Stephens` house in "Bewitched" (1964).
Tony Nelson`s Air Force decorations are: Airman`s Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Ribbon, Korean Service Medal and the Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon.
General Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, made a cameo appearance on an episode during the first season in the episode "Bigger Than a Bread Box, Better Than a Genie".
Robert Conrad tested for the role of Maj Tony Nelson.
Before taking the role of Amanda Bellows, `Emaline Henry` appeared in an the episode "Is There an Extra Genie in the House" as a magician`s assistant (the magician was played by Bernard Fox, "Dr. Bombay" from "Bewitched").
Season one was filmed in black-and-white because NBC did not want to pay for the extra expense of filming it in color (The network did not believe the series would last beyond one season.)
Actor Larry Hagman was apparently notoriously difficult to work with, to the point where the producers seriously considered getting rid of him and replacing him with another actor. Darren McGavin was at the top of the list for Hagman`s replacement. They even worked out a story where Tony lost Jeannie and McGavin found her, but the studio execs loved Hagman and wouldn`t consider a change.
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# During the first season, in black and white, the smoke effect was usually a screen overlay of billowing smoke, sometimes combined with animation. Early color episodes used a purely animated smoke effect. Sometime later a live smoke pack, lifted out of the bottle on a wire, was used.
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Barbara Eden
(as Jeannie)
with Larry Hagman
(as Anthony 'Tony' Nelson)
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