Now Performing in the Red Skelton Tribute Theater 167 East Wears Valley Road Suite #17 (Shops of Pigeon Forge) Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie was an American television show that aired from Sepetember 18, 1965 and ran until May of 1970. There were 139 episoded of I Dream of Jeannie. The story line for I Dream of Jeannie is one of an astronaut who finds a bottle with a genie in it. When he opens the bottle the genie named Jeannie appears and is so gratefull about being released that she is willing to serve her master, astronaut Tony Nelson.
The main cast consisted of:
Barbara Eden as Jeannie
Larry Hagman as Captain/Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson
Bill Daily as Captain/Major Roger Healey
Hayden Rorke as Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows
Emmaline Henry as Amanda Bellows, Dr Alfred Bellows wife.
The show begins with an episode titled "The Lady in the Bottle". It happens that astronaut Captain Tony Nelson, US Air Force, is on a space flight. His one-man space capsule, Stardust One, comes down far from the planned recovery area, near a deserted island in the South Pacific. On the beach, Tony notices a strange bottle that rolls by itself. He picks it up, removes the stopper and rubs the bottle. Smoke starts shooting out and a Persian-speaking female genie who is wearing an enticing harem costume materializes and kisses Tony on the lips with passion. The scene shows that the kiss is shocking to him. In the second season's animated opening, it's a kiss on the cheek and Tony is happy to receive it.
They can't understand each other until Tony expresses his wish that Jeannie could speak English, which she then does. Captain Tony Nelson then wishes for a recovery helicopter to show up to rescue him, the genie blinks and it appears. Tony is so grateful that he tells her she's free, but Jeannie, who has fallen in love with Tony at first sight after being trapped for 2000 years, re-enters her bottle and places it in Tony's duffel bag so she can accompany him back home.
From the start of the series, Tony keeps Jeannie in her bottle most of the time, but finally relents and allows her to enjoy a life of her own. However, her life is devoted mostly to his, and most of their problems stem from her love and affection towards Tony, her Master, and her desire to please him and fulfill her ancient heritage as a genie – especially when he doesn't want her to do so. He tries to keep it a secret that he has a genie in a bottle since he is in a very secret program as an astronaut and feels if anyone finds out he will be dismissed.
After a few episodes his best friend and fellow astronaut Captain Roger Healey, finds out about the genie in a bottle. He steals her so he can live in luxury. It's not long though before Tony reclaims his status as Jeannie's master. Roger continues to demonstrate his desire to use Jeannie's powers for his own "selfish" benefit, but for the most part he respects Tony's status as Jeannie's master. Both Tony and Roger are promoted to the rank of major late in the first season.
The setting for the series was set in and around Cape Kennedy, Florida and Nelson lived at 1020 Palm Drive in nearby Cocoa Beach, but California locales were used in place of Florida ones. The exterior of the building where he and Healey had offices was actually the main building at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles. If you look at some of those episodes, it's supposed to be shot in Cocoa Beach Florida, but in the background you have mountains. Mountains are not in Florida.
Here's a little trivia about the show you may have not known. Jeannie's famous bottle was not created for the show. The actual bottle was a special Christmas 1964 Jim Beam liquor decanter containing Beam's Choice bourbon whiskey. It was designed by Roy Kramer for the Wheaton Bottle Company.
All of us at the Red Skelton tribute show hope you have enjoyed this page about I Dream of Jeannie. Are you a big fan of TV shows from the 1960's???
Re-live those memories by attending Brian Hoffman's Remembering Red - A Tribute to Red Skelton show performing afternoons in Pigeon Forge.
CLICK HERE or on the Show Schedule link above to find out more. "Goodnight now and may God bless"
