I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later

I like the original series, such a simpler time and nostalgic era. The reason why the 60s series worked is 2 things.

1. Cast! Tony and Jeannie had chemistry! And a lovable Roger and a running gag Dr Bellows. This 4 core cast was the reason why the series worked.

In this movie, there is no Larry Hagman, we have a new Anthony Nelson. But together there is no chemistry. In the series, Jeannie was a carefree, reckless genie who's actions inadvertently causes Tony to be in jeopardy. Where this movie, she is more mellow and mature, that kinda took away from her core character. When do a reunion movie, try have core cast come back or it just wont work.

2. Location Location Location...

The series was located at cape Kennedy and Cocoa Beach in Florida, back in the 60s NASA was in the frontier of technology and were fascinating at the time. In this movie it was Houston, why?

Overview: This movie lacks continuity and a major one. The series sub-plot says Jeannie was 2000 years old, and this one it says shes over 4000 years old! I know ladies do lie about their age, but come on! Only thing worthy of the movie was the telling her son of her secret and putting the two at that beach where Tony and Jeannie met, so nostalgic. Only they screwed it up by having the new Tony instead of replay the pilot of the series.

This was a nice idea, and with the right script and ensemble, could have been very nice. But, with Larry Hagman committed to "Dallas," and with an ending that made no sense, it's really a collection of good vignettes poorly connected to each other.

The revised musical intro was a nice combination of classic and 1980's, and there are very nice scenes with Eden and her in-character son. Wayne Rogers turns a very nice effort as Anthony Nelson.

But, despite some delightful moments, overall TV movie failed at the end due to an entirely needless plot twist that served no overall purpose. Ultimately, when second made-for-TV movie was made, it ignored this poor plot twist, which is really its ultimate indication of how bad it was.

Without Larry Hagman, it was terrible for me. They should have paid Larry Hagman enough to still be Tony.

Even worse, when Jeannie went back in history to show how they met on the beach, it was nothing like how they really met, and changing Tony even going back to the beach was a brutal mistake.

As a big fan of the original series, this flopped for me during the whole movie. The chemistry between Tony and Jeannie disappeared.

Just like in the original series, Jeannie's sister tried to break them apart. Evidently it worked in this movie (Very fitting as the 'new' Tony Nelson was horrible with the relationship with Jeannie anyway).

The ending was also bad. It was not like Jeannie to leave, but I understand now since the new Tony was nothing like the original.

Perhaps younger people who never watched the series didn't notice how far it went from the original and rated higher, and am sad about that.

All around it was so disappointing.

So I don't know what they were trying to achieve here. I do believe they were thinking about rebooting the series with this movie as a kick off, but too many things fell flat. First of all, Jeannie is waving her hands around for her magic as if she was on "Bewitched"; normally Jeannie just blinked. And speaking of the the blink, why on earth did they sound people think replacing Jeannie's trademark "boing" with a synthesizer riff was a good idea? Rumor has it they couldn't get their hands on the master tapes of the classic sound effects so they made new, but it was really, really weird.

When at the golf course, listen for the players' names being called out over the PA speaker, one of them being "Stephens". I'm surprised there was no mention of a "Tate".

Bill Asher directed this and Elizabeth Montgomery was furious at him for doing so. Wayne Rogers just didn't work as Tony Nelson, though if they rebooted the series with him in the role it might have been a new way to kick things off.

I always wondered why Scheherazade, an ancient genie, had a southern accent.

Barbara Eden looked gorgeous in this (in both roles) but there were too many continuity errors.

Reunion movies have always been a challenge. Capturing the essence and the magic of a series they are trying to continue is always hit or miss, with little to no middle ground.

I was excited when I heard this TV movie was in the works as I really enjoyed "I Dream of Jeannie" (and still do, albeit through reruns). When I heard Larry Hagman wasn't returning, I wasn't that phased (I was just thirteen at the time), I thought "Dallas" "ruined" Hagman.

(I later come to respect Hagman on his declining to reprise Tony Nelson. While his "Dallas" schedule was said to negate his availability for this sequel, he allegedly indicated when offered to reprise, "What's old, should stay old." He wanted to be known for a diverse career and that was okay. With the way this movie turned out...maybe the original should have been left alone.)

But when I saw the final product, I felt there was something missing in this sequel. No, it was not Hagman, but the magic that made the series a hit and drawn viewers.

Even if Hagman returned, we still have this disappointing fare; the actors/actresses are only a fraction of what makes a great TV show or movie. I don't fault Wayne Rogers for taking on the role, but it was hard to convince fans that he was Tony Nelson plus the poor writing of the movie didn't help.

Then you have the ending; I'm not sharing what has already been posted, I don't know what the writers were thinking, but it was really a blow to Jeannie fans and as was said, it didn't align well with the (just as lame) follow up movie.

Reunion movies to hit TV shows are/were a great idea. Unfortunately writers have/had their work cut out for them to make a very watchable fare. And most found less-than-satisfied audiences.

Regardless of which actors reprised their roles or otherwise, the writers should have put more thought in this reunion movie.