| 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 |
| Editing by | Michael F. Anderson Bud Friedgen William Martin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Release date | October 20, 1985 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Preceded by | I Dream of Jeannie |
| Followed by | I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991) |
I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later is a 1985 made-for-television reunion film based on the 1965-70 series I Dream of Jeannie which aired on NBC on October 20, 1985 and produced by Columbia Pictures Television.
Barbara Eden re-created her world-famous role as the 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. The role of Tony Nelson was played by Wayne Rogers, best known for his role as Trapper John McIntyre on the 1970s series M*A*S*H.
Larry Hagman was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson reportedly because he was busy filming his CBS series Dallas at the time.
The film was directed by William Asher (who was also director of the 1960s show Bewitched) and the teleplay was written by Irma Kalish. It was filmed at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California from April 24, 1985 to May 1985.
Contents |
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, egged on by his colleagues to retire with a dramatic flair, Tony breaks his promise to Jeannie for one more space flight (aboard the shuttle), 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 (operating a fitness gym in the United States), to break up her sister's marriage. Jeannie II traps her sister in a bottle with a special stopper, that nobody but another genie could open.
Meanwhile, Tony's space flight is in trouble; the engines won't fire and the shuttle's on collision course with a meteoroid.
When T.J. comes home and hears his mother trapped in the bottle, he attempts to open the bottle, but after many times of blinking, like his mother does to invoke her powers, the stopper moves, which shows that T.J. also had inherited his mother's powers and is a genie. After blinking, and releasing his mother from her prison, Jeannie and T.J. go to Haji, explaining the trick. Rules must have changed since 1970, because Jeannie now needs special dispensation from the chief of genies in order to do something major, like saving a human life.
Haji will give Jeannie that special dispensation... if she agrees to end her relationship with Tony. T.J. tells his mother that they'll lose dad either way, so they might as well do it so Tony lives. Jeannie invokes her magic, saving the shuttle from certain doom, and it is able to return to the ground. However, Jeannie got Haji to agree to one final night together for her and Tony, allowing Jeannie to say farewell to Tony in her heart. Jeannie then alters the bedroom and then the house to what it might look like if Tony was a bachelor; doubtless, Haji arranged for everyone to forget about Jeannie.
With T.J., Jeannie moves on with her life. The final scene shows Jeannie and Tony passing each other on the street, and Jeannie magically gets Tony's attention, indicating that they will in fact find each other again. Before the movie ends, Jeannie says "Haji made me agree to an ending. He never said there couldn't be a new beginning". The movies ends with Tony following Jeannie down the street.