"The Lady in the Bottle" is the pilot for I Dream of Jeannie that was picked by NBC for its Fall 1965 schedule. The episode first aired on September 18, 1965. It would not air again until Fall 1970 when the series went into syndication.
Plot
Capt. Anthony Nelson (Larry Hagman) is on a rocket, on a space mission. When his final stage misfires, his one-man capsule, Stardust One, is unable to maintain orbit and he has to make an emergency landing on a desert island in the South Pacific. There, while gathering items on the beach to form a giant "S.O.S." in the sand, he finds an old bottle that seems to move. When he opens it, smoke pours out, and a 2000-year-old beautiful blonde-haired girl named Jeannie (Barbara Eden) appears, dressed in harem clothing and speaking in Persian (in the unaired version of the episode, her first words to him are translated on screen as,"Your wish is my command, Master"), and gratefully kisses him. Tony, shocked at first, realizes she's a genie, and that she can get him off the island. However, the language barrier between them is such that he can't get Jeannie to understand what an airplane or ship is, "blinking" up a falcon and an ancient galley ship instead. Frustrated, Tony idly wishes she could speak English...and she does begin to speak English ("Somehow, I must find a way to please thee, Master!"). She makes it quite clear that she is a genie and that Tony is her new master. He can wish whatever he wants and she will make that wish come true. Tony tests her, again wishing a helicopter would appear to rescue him from the island. This time, she gets it right. After it lands nearby, Tony realizes he can't take Jeannie with him; not only can't he explain her presence logically, it's left unsaid she would also complicate matters with the fiancee he is about to marry, Melissa Stone (Karen Sharpe), the daughter of his commanding officer. Tony tells Jeannie she's free of her obligation to serve him as a genie, explaining to her, "I rescued you, you rescued me - we're even". He says goodbye, and heads for home; but he doesn't see that the girl, smoking inside her bottle, rolls it into his duffel bag and returns to Cocoa Beach, Florida with him.
Upon his return to Cape Kennedy, Tony is debriefed by the base psychiatrist, Col. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke). When Tony tries to explain to the doctor about seeing Jeannie, Bellows believes Tony suffered hallucinations while stranded on the island, and that the image of the "beautiful girl on a desert island" was, in his opinion, actually that of his mother. "My mother's in Salt Lake City", Tony points out. "I'm a psychiatrist", Bellows insists. "I know a mother when I see one". After dismissing Capt. Nelson, the doctor, worried about Tony's mental health, immediately phones his superior, Gen. Wingard Stone (Philip Ober).
