When they say “speak now or forever hold your peace,” they aren’t talking about television stars.
Barbara Eden, who will celebrate her 94th birthday in a few short weeks, recently granted an interview to Forbes in which she spoke about her career, current hobbies, and opinions on current events. (“AI, for goodness’ sake! It’s interesting,” she said.)
The actress remains best known for the zany sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which mixed The Arabian Nights with the Space Age from 1965 to 1970 on NBC. (The similar Bewitched ran from 1964 to 1972 on ABC, if you were curious.) The weekly antics involved Jeannie, a 2,000-year-old spirit in corporeal (and blonde!) form, who is freed from her bottle by an errant NASA astronaut played by Larry Hagman.
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Barbara Eden in a 1965 promotional image from ‘I Dream of Jeannie’
It was never a top-of-the-charts ratings hit, but its good cheer served it well for five seasons and a ceaseless afterlife in syndication.
Like so many shows of the era, however, it did take some narrative turns that many fans disagreed with (see: The Fonz, a shark, and jumping over it). One of I Dream of Jeannie‘s critics turns out to be the series’ provocatively-dressed lead actress herself.
Concerning the fifth season decision to have Jeannie and her “master” Tony Nelson get married, Eden was blunt: “I was very upset about it — not that anybody would listen to me.”
When asked if she ever brought her concerns to the show’s producers, she replied, “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.”
Courtesy Everett
Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden in a promotional image from ‘I Dream of Jeannie’
Among those who agreed with Eden was the show’s creator, Sidney Sheldon.
“What finally killed us was the head of our network, in the fifth year, saying, ‘You have to get them married.'” Sheldon said in an interview with the Television Academy.
Sheldon tried to explain that the sexual tension between the characters was what propelled the comedy, but it fell on deaf ears, he said. Don’t weep for Sheldon, though; he later created the popular series Hart to Hart and then became a phenomenally successful novelist.
Oh, but if only there were someone who had the power to grant wishes and make the network exec change his mind! The show might still be on the air!
Franziska Krug/Getty
Barbara Eden at an event in Spain in 2024
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Jeannie and Tony’s wedding episode aired on December 3, 1969. It was the 124th out of 139 episodes.
You can check out the classic animated opening sequence to I Dream of Jeannie, with its classic post-season 1 theme song below.
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