‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Star, 93, Reveals Plot Line That Deeply Upset Her originally appeared on Parade.
Barbara Eden had second thoughts about one major plot line in I Dream of Jeannie.
Ahead of her 94th birthday, the actress revealed in an interview with Forbes on July 31 that she was most upset by the marriage plot line in season 5 between her character Jeannie and Tony Nelson, the NASA astronaut played by Larry Hagman.
“I was very upset about it — not that anybody would listen to me,” she recalled. “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.”
In a previous interview with the Television Academy, I Dreamed of Jeannie creator Sidney Sheldon said he also pushed back against the specific plot line since it could’ve taken away from the tension between Jeannie and Tony that added to the show’s comedy.
However, Sheldon revealed “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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I Dreamed of Jeannie ran for five season on NBC between 1965 and 1970. When asked about what Eden cherished the most about her time on the show, she said “the sense of family” she felt with the cast even 60 years later.
“We all liked each other and it was fun being in the show, doing it,” she continued. “I have looked back recently… how lucky we were to have Hayden Rorke and Larry and Bill Daily. I mean, they were talented, talented men who could do more than just the comedy – but thank God they could do the comedy. We were surrounded by good people, good talent – and that is rare.”
Related: ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Icon, 93, Recalls Sexism She Faced in Hollywood
‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Star, 93, Reveals Plot Line That Deeply Upset Her first appeared on Parade on Aug 5, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
