Genie in the House

Genie in the House
Also known as You Wish (original pilot)
Created by Phil Ox
Isabelle Dubernet
Eric Fuhrer
Steven Bawol
Directed by Phil Ox & Steven Bawol
Starring Wayne Morris
Vicky Longley
Katie Sheridan
Jordan Metcalfe
Angus Kennedy
Victoria Gay (season 1)
Theme music composer Jean de Aguiar and Kevin Eldon
Opening theme There's a Genie in the House
Ending theme There's a Genie in the House [instrumental]
Composer(s) Jean de Aguiar and Kevin Eldon
Country of origin UK
Original language(s) English (In the show)
No. of series 4
No. of episodes 78 (74 regular episodes, 2 TV movies, 2 TV specials) (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) Phil Ox
Location(s) Elstree Studios
Running time 28 minutes
Production company(s) Moi j'aime la television S.A
Distributor Moi j'aime la television S.A
Broadcast
Original channel Nickelodeon UK
Canal J (France)
Picture format 16:10
Original run 29 May 2006 – 4 December 2010

Genie in the House is a British sitcom broadcast on Nickelodeon UK about a widowed father (Philip) with two teenage daughters (Emma and Sophie) who find a dusty old golden lamp while exploring the loft of their new home. A quick rub of the lamp releases Adil, a trainee genie from Balamkadaar who has been confined to life in the lamp for 1000 years. Philip has banned any use of magic in the house, yet the girls and Adil the Genie find ways to get themselves into trouble using Adil's wish granting powers.

The show ran for four seasons from May 2006 to December 2010. As of March 2012, Genie in the House is now airing on the Starz Kids & Family cable network. A theatrical movie was also planned for release in 2014, but after spending over three years in development hell, was cancelled, likely due to a lack of consumer interest. The official website of the series has also been shut down.

Production

The show is based on an original idea — the collective work of Phil Ox (AKA Philippe Nguyen, a French producer renowned for not paying his writers, cast or directors for any of their work), Steven Bawol (an American director who said he wanted to make England the 'New America'), Isabelle Dubernet and Eric Führer — and is a French/English co-production, produced in English by French company Moi j'aime la television. At one point, You Wish! was considered as a working title, and was used for the pilot show, but it was discovered that there had been an American sitcom, You Wish, with the same name, so Genie in the House was chosen instead.

The show's theme song was written especially for the show, with music by Jean de Aguiar and lyrics by Kevin Eldon. It is sung by Vicky Longley and Katie Sheridan, the actresses who play Emma and Sophie in the show.

Series 1 was recorded at Elstree Film and Television Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire and was first aired on 29 May 2006. It is currently being repeated on Nickelodeon in the UK. Series 2 started recording at the BBC Elstree Centre in Borehamwood on 29 June 2007, for broadcast in October 2007. The show has been sold, sometimes in dubbed form, to Turkey, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, India, The Netherlands and Germany. Filming for the third and final series took place at Twickenham Film Studios, London and began in June 2008 ending with a 3 part story 'The Legend of The Dragon', filmed on location in Paris and the surrounding countryside.

Soundtrack

There's a Genie in the House by Lorraine Pearson
Tropical Girl by Kevin McDermott and in double trouble with The Ashley B
The Pineapple Song by Ayshea

Episode guide

Characters

Adil the Genie

Adil was born in the fourth century in the suburbs of the city of Balamkadaar. He has the outward appearance of being 15 years old, but has actually lived for 1500 years. His father was a genie (to be found today in a bottle of pop at the bottom of the Nile) and his mother was a teacher of the Dance of the Seven Veils. Like all children, Adil went to school, only his was a Genie School, the world famous School for Genie Arts and Sciences. Adil was not a perfect student. One day he climbed into a lamp for a dare, strictly forbidden for first year students, and got himself stuck. Unfortunately the forty thieves chose that very night to burgle the school and steal the lamp. Forgotten for a hundred years or so in Ali Baba's cave, the lamp eventually passed from hand to hand, before ending up in the attic of the Norton family's new home. Adil is proud to be a genie and is always ready to serve his new master and mistresses. But he does have a problem. Unfortunately, he often skipped his classes and never finished the academic year. Because of this, he has not quite got the hang of magic, and does not always — actually, almost never — get things right, and most wishes are granted more or less 'approximately'. Adil is played by Jordan Metcalfe. Adil is always at the root of whatever is going on, and his costume (red pantaloons, red waistcoat and red turban) rarely changes.

Philip Norton

Philip has his hands full. Though he is a talented and successful designer, he constantly has to meet the deadlines set by his boss, Max, as well as bringing up two teenage girls. Add an over-eager genie to the mix and it's no wonder that Philip sometimes feels a little bit put upon. However, given the chaos of living with world's worst genie, Philip seems to be coping rather well.

Adil is categorically forbidden to grant Emma and Sophie wishes for two reasons:

  1. It's a very bad habit to get what you want simply by clicking your fingers.
  2. If anyone finds out there is a genie in the house, life could become very difficult.

If the girls break this rule, he has no hesitation in using the full range of traditional punishments. He'll ground his daughters, withhold their pocket money or forbid them from staying at their aunt's house in the country, or all of the above. Despite his dislike of magic, Philip seems to like Adil as a person! The genie's presence means that Philip is no longer the only man in the house, and gives him someone to watch sport with on the TV and play Tennis by also having fun at the same time. He has encouraged Adil to become a football fan, an F1 fan, a fan of the Olympic Games... in fact he has made him a fan of every single sport you can watch. But if Adil does break the rule and grant his daughters their wishes, he is severely punished, the most effective punishment is being locked up in the lamp for an entire weekend. Philip has forbidden his daughters to use Adil's services and extends that ban to himself. But you never know what might happen in the future and it's extremely likely that one day, he just might crack.

Sophie Norton

The older of the sisters. Passionate about what makes the world tick, Sophie's favourite lessons are physics, chemistry, history and geography and she would love to go to university and to study as many subjects and languages as possible. She apparently doesn't like drama,however. Days off, weekends and holidays are full of activities, sports, and educational visits of all kinds. She is not particularly interested in romance, often being oblivious to the attentions of boys until Emma 'kindly' points out her crush on her boyfriend Clive. Sophie thinks Adil is great but at times clueless. He never, ever stops asking questions and Sophie just loves to answer as many as she can. Although she doesn't like it, on several occasions she has defied her father by making wishes, and has decided that if she's going to risk breaking her father's rules, she must take the utmost care.She is played by Katie Sheridan

Emma Norton

Younger of the two sisters by a year, Emma finds schoolwork intensely boring unlike her sister. She manages to get by at school without too much difficulty, but without any brilliance either. She does appear to enjoy reading, but much prefers a good story to boring facts and figures in textbooks. Her days off, her weekends and holidays are organised around going to see a film with her friends, spending hours painting, shopping, designing, singing (although she is no good), watching TV, going to parties, dating, dancing or moving the furniture around in her room... She loves her friends and her favourite topic of conversation is boys. She at times gets on well with Adil especially since she loves to hear his wacky stories, whether they are true or not. Although she knows the risks of Adil's botching magic they do not phase her; indeed, she seems to get some fun out of the ridiculous situations his magic gets them into. She loves designing clothes and dreams of becoming a top fashion designer.

Caroline Smart

Philip's helping hand around the house and with the girls. Although technically she lived next door, she managed to persuade Philip years ago to give her a key to the house so she could come and go as necessary. Her character was introduced as a possible love interest for Philip, but it was felt that this was more of a hindrance than a help to his character. Caroline was not brought back for the next two series and her character is referred to as having recently moved to France and married. It is possibly that the actress who played her did not renew her contract.

Other Characters

References

    External links