I Dream of Jeannie is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marries. Produced by Screen Gems, the show originally aired for 139 episodes over five seasons, from September 18, 1965, to May 26, 1970, on NBC.
Plot
In the pilot episode, "The Lady in the Bottle", astronaut Captain Tony Nelson, United States Air Force, is on a space flight when his one-man 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. When he rubs it after removing the stopper, smoke starts shooting out and a beautiful Persian-speaking female genie materializes and kisses Tony on the lips, shocking him.
They cannot understand each other until Tony expresses his wish that Jeannie (a homophone of genie) could speak English, which she then does. Then, per his instructions, she "blinks" and causes a recovery helicopter to show up to rescue Tony, who is so grateful, he tells her she is free, but Jeannie, who has fallen in love with Tony at first sight after being trapped for 2,000 years, re-enters her bottle and rolls it into Tony's duffel bag so she can accompany him back home. One of the first things Jeannie does in a subsequent episode is break up Tony's engagement to his commanding general's daughter, Melissa, who, along with that particular general, is never seen or mentioned again. Producer Sidney Sheldon realized the romantic triangle between Jeannie, Tony, and Melissa would not pan out in the long run.
At first Tony keeps Jeannie in her bottle most of the time, but he 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 both from Jeannie's love for him and her often-misguided efforts to please Tony, even when he does not want her assistance. Tony's efforts to cover up Jeannie's antics, because of his fear that he would be dismissed from the space program if her existence were publicly known, brings him to the attention of NASA's resident psychiatrist, U.S. Air Force Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows. A running gag throughout the series has Bellows being the only eyewitness to many of Jeannie's antics with Tony (and sometimes including his best friend and fellow astronaut, United States Army Captain, later Major, Roger Healey) also being present and trying to offer the doctor far-fetched explanations as Bellows then tries over and over to prove to his superior officers, General Martin Peterson (Peterson is the only superior who refers to Tony by his first name), then General Winfield Schaeffer, that Tony is either crazy or is hiding something. But both Peterson and Schaeffer each refuse to believe him and, after he is always foiled, Bellows repeatedly proclaims, "He's done it to me again!", and Tony's job remains secure. A frequently used plot device is that Jeannie loses her powers when she is confined in a closed space. She is unable to leave her bottle when it is corked, and under certain circumstances, the next person who removes the cork becomes her new master. A multiple-episode story arc involves Jeannie (in miniature) becoming trapped in a NASA safe when it is accidentally locked.
At first Roger does not know about both Jeannie's existence and magic for the first 16 episodes, although they meet in episode 12. When Roger finds out she is a genie, he steals her bottle, temporarily becoming her master. Roger is often shown as girl-crazy or scheming to make a quick buck. He occasionally has hopes of claiming Jeannie so he can use her to have a lavish lifestyle or gain beautiful girlfriends, but overall he is respectful that Tony is Jeannie's master. Both Tony and Roger are promoted to the rank of major late in the first season. In later seasons, Roger's role is retconned to portray him knowing about Jeannie from the beginning (i.e., to him having been with Tony on the space flight that touched down, and thus having seen Jeannie introduce herself to Tony).