I Dream of Jeannie aired on NBC for five seasons, from 1965-1970, and Mill Creek Entertainment is bringing the series to Blu-ray for the very first time so fans can enjoy the series in HD.
Captain Anthony Nelson (Larry Hagman) of the U.S. Air Force is on detached service to NASA, serving as an astronaut. During one of his missions, there is an issue with his rocket, and he lands on a remote island in the South Pacific. While waiting to be rescued, he discovers a bottle on the beach, and when he rubs it, a beautiful genie comes out. After some initial communication difficulties, he discovers that her name is Jeannie (Barbara Eden), and that she had been trapped in the bottle for 2000 years. Jeannie informs him that he is now her master, and she is eager to grant anything he wishes, but after she arranges for him to be rescued, Tony wants to set her free. However, Jeannie insists on coming back home with him to serve him.
In the opening episode of the series, Tony Nelson is engaged to be married, but this is quickly abandoned as the series follows the blossoming romance between Tony and Jeannie, with the two ultimately ending up married in the fifth/final season. Many of the storylines/humor involves Tony trying to keep Jeannie’s existence/powers a secret, but there are some who discover the truth, such as Tony’s best friend/co-worker Captain Roger Healey (Bill Daily). Being locked up in a bottle for 2000 years, Jeannie doesn’t quite understand the modern world, and so over the course of the series, Tony and Jeannie often get into crazy situations when Jeannie’s hijinx and misguided attempts to please her master go wrong. For example, when Tony mentions that he had always dreamed of being a surgeon, Jeannie blinks her eyes, and he finds himself in the operating room as the lead doctor to perform an appendectomy on Roger.
There are several main and recurring characters that appear throughout the series, such as Air Force psychiatrist Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke), who suspects there is something odd about Tony and is constantly trying to prove it to the General, only to have his plans fail. There’s also Jeannie’s evil twin sister (also played by Eden, and also named Jeannie, but a brunette) who’s constantly trying to mess things up for Jeannie and steal Tony for herself. Also, Haji (Abraham Sofaer), the master of all the genies, as well as Tony’s bosses, General Martin Peterson (Barton MacLane, seasons 1–4) and Maj. Gen. Winfield Schaeffer (Vinton Hayworth, seasons 4–5).
The series still holds up quite well. While some of the stories are your typical sitcom fare, others are quite fun and creative. A show like this could easily feel quite dated, especially given the central premise of a woman serving her man. However, to me it never felt like this was some sort of exploitation or was over-sexualizing the main character. Eden is hilarious and has turned this character into an icon that is still easily recognizable and fondly remembered a half a century later. She and Hagman have such great chemistry, and work well on screen together, along with some hilarious recurring characters and some recognizable guest stars—Dabney Coleman, Bill Mumy, Maureen McCormick, Sammy Davis Jr., Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Chuck Yeager, Phil Spector, Paul Lynde, Bob Denver, Farrah Fawcett, Dick Van Patten, Gary Owens, Richard Kiel, Mako, Don Ho, and more.
I found myself laughing quite a bit as I watched these episodes. And speaking of laughing, the one thing that does feel slightly dated is the show’s use of a laugh track. Fortunately, it is implemented sparingly and doesn’t overpower the show. Most of the episodes are somewhat stand-alone, but there is one four-part and several 2-part episodes across the series. I enjoyed this mix of storytelling styles—the show works great in both 25-minute stories as well as the longer arcs.
Sony previously released a Complete Series DVD set in 2008, and that included the colorized version of the first season (the original DVD release for the first season was in Black & White). But the first season episodes on this Blu-ray set are presented in their original Black & White format. While the Black & White looks great, after seeing the vibrant colors of the following seasons, I would have loved to be able to watch the first season in color as well. None of the bonus material from Sony’s previous first season/complete series DVD sets has been ported over to this release—this includes an audio commentary on the pilot and a 14-minute cast/crew featurette. However, Mill Creek’s Blu-ray release does include the first 1985 follow-up TV movie “I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later”, which was not a part of the previous Complete Series DVD release. The 1991 TV movie, “I Still Dream of Jeannie”, is not included, and has still never been made available on disc.
The picture quality is quite good, both for the Black & White and color episodes—this certainly does not look like a show that’s 55 years old! The picture is generally clean with a nice level of detail. However, stock footage such as of the exterior of shuttle launches and NASA command center footage looks quite grainy and nowhere near as clear as the show itself. There are also some dream sequence shots, such as in the wedding episode, that are also a bit out of focus, but that may have been a style choice. Effects look surprisingly great—even better than some shows that were made far more recently. In fact the effects of Jeannie coming out of her bottle look better in the 1960s episodes than in the 1985 TV movie, where the smoke comes off more like a single solid pink drawing. The audio track sounds very good. This show was made before surround sound, so I wasn’t expecting anything too ostentatious. However, the dialogue is clear throughout, and the track never felt lacking.
The series’ 139 episodes are spread across 12 discs, with 3 for each of the first two seasons and 2 for each of the last three seasons. The 1985 TV movie is included as a bonus feature on the second disc. The discs reside in two six-disc cases that are slightly thicker than a standard HD keepcase, which are are placed inside of a cardboard slipcover.
What’s Included:
Episodes: (57:50:40)
- All 139 episodes of the TV series spread across 12 discs:
- Season 1 (1965–66), 30 episodes, Black & White
Disc 1: “The Lady in the Bottle”, “My Hero?”, “Guess What Happened on the Way to the Moon?”, “Jeannie and the Marriage Caper”, “G.I. Jeannie”, “The Yacht Murder Case”, “Anybody Here Seen Jeannie?”, “The Americanization of Jeannie”, “The Moving Finger”, “Djinn and Water”
Disc 2: “Whatever Became of Baby Custer?”, “Where’d You Go-Go?”, “Russian Roulette”, “What House Across the Street?”, “Too Many Tonys”, “Get Me to Mecca on Time”, “The Richest Astronaut in the Whole Wide World”, “Is There an Extra Genie in the House?”, “Never Try to Outsmart a Jeannie”, “My Master, the Doctor”
Disc 3: “Jeannie and the Kidnap Caper”, “How Lucky Can You Get?”, “Watch the Birdie”, “The Permanent House Guest”, “Bigger Than a Bread Box and Better Than a Genie”, “My Master, the Great Rembrandt”, “My Master, the Thief”, “This Is Murder”, “My Master, the Magician”, “I’ll Never Forget What’s Her Name” - Season 2 (1966–67), 31 episodes, Color
Disc 1: “Happy Anniversary”, “Always on Sunday”, “My Master, the Rich Tycoon”, “My Master, the Rainmaker”, “My Wild Eyed Master”, “What’s New, Poodle Dog?”, “The Fastest Gun in the East”, “How to Be a Genie in 10 Easy Lessons”, “Who Needs a Green Eyed Jeannie?”, “The Girl Who Never Had a Birthday: Part 1”
Disc 2: “The Girl Who Never Had a Birthday: Part 2”, “How Do You Beat Superman?”, “My Master, the Great Caruso”, “The World’s Greatest Lover”, “Jeannie Breaks the Bank”, “My Master, the Author”, “The Greatest Invention in the World”, “My Master, the Spy”, “You Can’t Arrest Me… I Don’t Have a Driver’s License”, “One of Our Bottles is Missing”
Disc 3: “My Poor Master, the Civilian”, “There Goes the Best Genie I Ever Had”, “The Greatest Entertainer in the World”, “My Incredible Shrinking Master”, “My Master, the Pirate”, “A Secretary is Not a Toy”, “There Goes the Bride”, “My Master, Napoleon’s Buddy”, “The Birds and Bees Bit”, “My Master, the Swinging Bachelor”, “The Mod Party” - Season 3 (1967–68), 26 episodes, Color
Disc 1: “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Jeannie or the Tiger?”, “The Second Greatest Con Artist in the World”, “My Turned-On Master”, “My Master, the Weakling”, “Jeannie, the Hip Hippie”, “Everybody’s a Movie Star”, “Who Are You Calling a Jeannie?”, “Meet My Master’s Mother”, “Here Comes Bootsie Nightingale”, “Tony’s Wife”, “Jeannie and the Great Bank Robbery”, “My Son, the Genie”
Disc 2: “Jeannie Goes to Honolulu”, “The Battle of Waikiki”, “Genie, Genie, Who’s Got the Genie?: Part 1”, “Genie, Genie, Who’s Got the Genie?: Part 2”, “Genie, Genie, Who’s Got the Genie?: Part 3”, “Genie, Genie, Who’s Got the Genie?: Part 4”, “Please, Don’t Feed the Astronauts”, “My Master, the Ghostbreaker”, “Divorce, Genie Style”, “My Double-Crossing Master”, “Have You Ever Had a Jeannie Hate You?”, “Operation: First Couple on the Moon”, “Haven’t I Seen Me Someplace Before?” - Season 4 (1968–69), 26 episodes, Color
Disc 1: “U-F-Ohh Jeannie”, “Jeannie and the Wild Pipchicks”, “Tomorrow is Not Another Day”, “Abdullah”, “Have You Heard the One About the Used Car Salesman?”, “Djinn-Djinn, Go Home”, “The Strongest Man in the World”, “Indispensable Jeannie”, “Jeannie and the Top Secret Secret”, “How To Marry an Astronaut”, “Dr. Bellows Goes Sane”, “Jeannie, My Guru”
Disc 2: “The Case of My Vanishing Master, Part 1”, “The Case of My Vanishing Master, Part 2”, “Ride ‘Em Astronaut”, “Invisible House For Sale”, “Jeannie, the Governor’s Wife”, “Is There a Doctor in the House?”, “The Biggest Star in Hollywood”, “The Case of the Porcelain Puppy”, “Jeannie for the Defense”, “Nobody Loves a Fat Astronaut”, “Around the Moon in 80 Blinks”, “Jeannie-Go-Round”, “Jeannie and the Secret Weapon”, “Blackmail Order Bride” - Season 5 (1969–70), 26 episodes, Color
Disc 1: “Jeannie at the Piano”, “Djinn-Djinn, the Pied Piper”, “Guess Who’s Going to Be a Bride? Part 1”, “Guess Who’s Going to Be a Bride? Part 2”, “Jeannie’s Beauty Cream”, “Jeannie and the Bachelor Party”, “The Blood of a Jeannie”, “See You in C-U-B-A”, “The Mad Home Wrecker”, “Uncles a Go-Go”, “The Wedding”, “My Sister, the Homewrecker”, “Jeannie, the Matchmaker”
Disc 2: “Never Put a Genie on a Budget”, “Please Don’t Give My Genie No More Wine”, “One of Our Hotels is Growing”, “The Solid Gold Jeannie”, “Mrs. Djinn-Djinn”, “Jeannie and the Curious Kid”, “Jeannie, the Recording Secretary”, “Help, Help, a Shark”, “Eternally Yours, Jeannie”, “An Astronaut in Sheep’s Clothing”, “Hurricane Jeannie”, “One Jeannie Beats Four of a Kind”, “My Master, the Chili King”
- Season 1 (1965–66), 30 episodes, Black & White
Extras:
- I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later (1:34:13)
The first 1985 follow-up TV movie. It’s been 15 years since Jeannie and Colonel Tony Nelson (Wayne Rogers) got married, and they have a teenaged son TJ (Mackenzie Astin), Tony Junior. They’ve moved from Florida to Houston, and after 20 years Tony is ready to retire from NASA. Jeanie does an interview for Genie Home Journal about their happy marriage, which catches the eye of her evil sister Jeannie and Haji (Andre De Shields), king of the genies. They are afraid this will encourage other genies to settle down and get married to a mortal and have children, so Jeannie II manipulates the situation to get Tony assigned to another mission, along with a young female astronaut. Jeannie is both jealous and upset, and and gives Tony an ultimatum. She threatens to leave him, but he says she could never survive on her own without her powers. So Jeannie takes TJ and moves out, trying To prove she can do things without her powers, but quickly realizes that is much easier said than done. Meanwhile, the evil Jeannie II keeps up with her tricks to make sure the separated couple won’t reconcile, including introducing a new man, Wes Morrison (John Bennett Perry), into Jeannie’s life. Also, TJ learns the truth about his mother’s origin and powers and starts to wonder if he will also get them. The film also features the return of Dr. Alfred E. Bellows and Colonel Roger Healey for more fun hijinx. There are no subtitles offered on this movie, and the film does not use a laugh track like the series.
Final Thoughts:
I Dream of Jeannie remains a classic over 50 years after it originally aired on TV and it’s easy to see why. The show is still a lot of fun to watch, with great comedic lead performances by Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman. Mill Creek has made the series available in HD on disc for the first time, and it looks and sounds quite good (with some flaws as noted above). Unfortunately, the two bonus features from the previous first season DVD release have not been ported over, and the first season is only presented in its original Black & White format. However, the Blu-ray does include the first follow-up TV movie. The release is reasonably priced, and an easy recommendation for any fan of this classic series.
