I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later

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I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later
Directed by William Asher
Produced by Hugh Benson
Written by Irma Kalish
Starring Barbara Eden
Wayne Rogers
Bill Daily
Hayden Rorke
Mackenzie Astin
Music by Mark Snow
Cinematography Jack Whitman
Editing by Michael F. Anderson
Bud Friedgen
William Martin
Distributed by NBC
Release date(s) October 20, 1985
Running time 100 minutes
Language English
Followed by I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991)
IMDb profile

I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later is a two-hour made-for-television movie based on the popular 1965-1970 series I Dream of Jeannie which aired on NBC October 20, 1985 and produced by Columbia Pictures Television.

Barbara Eden re-created her world-famous role as the sexy and magical Jeannie. Also reprising their roles from the original series were Bill Daily as Tony's fellow astronaut and best friend Roger Healy, and Hayden Rorke as NASA psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Bellows. Larry Hagman was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson reportedly because of a payment dispute and also because he was busy filming his CBS series Dallas at the time. Instead, he was replaced with Wayne Rogers, best known for his role as Trapper John McIntyre on the 1970s hit series M*A*S*H.

The film was directed by William Asher (who was also director of the 1960s show Bewitched) and the teleplay was written by Irma Kalish.

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[edit] Synopsis

Jeannie has been a happily married housewife for 15 years to her astronaut husband Tony Nelson and has a teenage son, T.J. When Tony is promoted to Colonel and is about to retire from the NASA space program, Jeannie decides to give him a celebration party in their backyard. However, Tony breaks his promise to Jeannie for one more space flight, this time with a female astronaut, Captain Nelly Hunt. Jeannie is furious, so she decides to separate from her husband temporarily to be a more independent modern woman. In the meantime, Jeannie's always-scheming evil sister Jeannie II is determined to have Tony for herself and she teams up with Haji, the chief genie, to break up her sister's marriage.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

  • At first, Barbara Eden said no to NBC executives about reprising her role as Jeannie: "I had no intention of playing Jeannie again. It's a super-high risk to repeat something done well in the first place. And the series is still running in syndication". She later explained: "I read the script, and it was fun - and before I knew it, I was doing it. And I don't have any regrets".
  • Originally, the film was intended to be a pilot for a proposed new I Dream of Jeannie 1980s series; despite the film's ratings success, the series never materialized.
  • This was Hayden Rorke's final screen appearance before his death in August 1987.
  • Following years of controversy, Barbara Eden's navel was finally exposed in her Jeannie costume on this movie. Back in 1965, censors insisted that Miss Eden's navel remain hidden from public view.
  • The role of T.J. Nelson is played by Mackenzie Astin, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin.
  • The familiar "boing" sound effect used when Jeannie blinks during the original series is inexplicably absent from the movie; instead, a light xylophone sound was used in its place.
  • The opening sequence and theme music of this film were also used for the follow-up TV movie I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991).

[edit] External links