I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later
Encyclopedia
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.
), 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.
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
reunion film based on the 1965-70 series I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
which aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on October 20, 1985 and produced by Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...
.
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
re-created her world-famous role as the magical Jeannie. Also reprising their roles from the original series were Bill Daily
Bill Daily
Bill Daily is an American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing astronaut Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and commercial airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show.-Biography:Daily's father died when Bill was very...
as Tony's fellow astronaut and best friend Roger Healy, and Hayden Rorke
Hayden Rorke
William Henry Rorke was an American actor best known for playing Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 1960s American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Career:...
as NASA psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Bellows. The role of Tony Nelson was played by Wayne Rogers
Wayne Rogers
William Wayne McMillan Rogers III is an American film and television actor, best known for playing the role of 'Trapper John' McIntyre in the U.S...
, best known for his role as Trapper John McIntyre on the 1970s series M*A*S*H.
Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson reportedly because he was busy filming his CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
at the time.
The film was directed by William Asher
William Asher
William Asher is an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early directors in the budding television industry, producing or directing over two dozen of the leading television series.With television in its infancy, he introduced the...
(who was also director of the 1960s show Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
) and the teleplay was written by Irma Kalish. It was filmed at The Burbank Studios
NBC Studios
The NBC Studios in New York, New York is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the historic GE Building houses the headquarters of the NBC television network, its parent General Electric, and NBC's flagship station WNBC , as well as cable news channel MSNBC.When NBC Universal relocated,...
in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
from April 24, 1985 to May 1985.
Plot
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 shuttleSpace Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
), 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
Meteoroid
A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite...
.
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.
Cast
- Barbara EdenBarbara EdenBarbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
- Jeannie / Jeannie II. Eden initially 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". - Wayne RogersWayne RogersWilliam Wayne McMillan Rogers III is an American film and television actor, best known for playing the role of 'Trapper John' McIntyre in the U.S...
- Tony Nelson - Bill DailyBill DailyBill Daily is an American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing astronaut Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and commercial airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show.-Biography:Daily's father died when Bill was very...
- Roger Healy - Hayden RorkeHayden RorkeWilliam Henry Rorke was an American actor best known for playing Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 1960s American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Career:...
- Dr. Alfred Bellows. This was Rorke's final screen appearance before his death in August 1987. - Mackenzie AstinMackenzie Astin-Biography:Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His older half-brother is actor Sean Astin. He attended Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School and University High School in Los Angeles, California...
- T.J. Nelson - Dody GoodmanDody GoodmanDolores "Dody" Goodman was an American character actress known for her playing the mother of the title character Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman...
- Scheherazade - Leigh Taylor-Allan - Captain Nelly Hunt
- Andre De Shields - Haji
Ratings
- Nielsen ratingsNielsen RatingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for IDOJ: 15 Years Later were high. High ratings by NBC allowed for this reunion episode to be rebroadcast March 30, 1986, Easter Sunday, also in prime timePrime timePrime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
.