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Barbara Eden says she was no fan of the nuptials between I Dream of Jeannie’s main characters
Speaking to Forbes, Eden said, “I was very upset about it — not that anybody would listen to me”
Still, the actress said she didn’t assert herself
Nearly six decades after I Dream of Jeannie’s main characters tied the knot, the show’s star Barbara Eden said she wishes they hadn’t.
In an interview with Forbes just weeks ahead of her 94th birthday, Eden said of the fifth season nuptials between her character Jeannie and Jeannie’s “master” Tony Nelson: “I was very upset about it — not that anybody would listen to me.”
But Eden added that she didn’t necessarily demand producers change the script, telling the outlet: “I did not so much. No, I didn’t. I guess if I had asserted myself, yes, I would have, but I didn’t. I talked about it; I said, ‘This is ridiculous. She can’t marry you. It’s ridiculous,’ but it was okay. It was still funny. People could relate, one way or another.”
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Barbara Eden as Jeannie, Larry Hagman as Anthony ‘Tony’ Nelson
The beloved sitcom premiered on Sept. 18, 1965, and ran for five seasons on NBC, returning for two TV movies in 1985 and 1991. It centered on the foibles of handsome astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) and Jeannie (Eden), the 2,000-year-old pink chiffon-clad genie who was devoted to him. Much of I Dream of Jeannie‘s appeal derived not only from Eden and Hagman’s comedic chops, but from their undeniable onscreen chemistry.
The episode featuring Jeannie and Tony’s wedding aired on December 3, 1969, and was thought by some to be the death knell for the show, as it ended the sexual tension between the characters.
Even show creator Sidney Sheldon was no fan of the wedding, and told the Television Academy in an earlier interview: “What finally killed us was the head of our network, in the fifth year, saying, ‘You have to get them married.’ “
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