I Dream of Jeannie was a beloved TV series from the 60s and fans still love it today. But there are some things about this show that don't make sense.
I Dream of Jeannie was a magical show for the 60s, brimming with high stakes, love, magic, and comedy. The show followed the lives of Tony Nelson, an astronaut, and Jeannie, a genie, as episode after episode they faced many continuous problems and hijinks.
But some things didn't make sense about the show within its five-season run, from its plot holes, and common sense issues, to audience perspectives and questionable choices made on the show. Here are just a few of the issues that have been spotted in the beloved series.
Jeannie used to be mortal before the Blue Djinn turned her into a genie out of spite (she had rejected his marriage proposal). But was the rest of Jeannie's family also mortal?
In early seasons, it was established that Jeannie's family were mortal, but the storyline was changed in later seasons. Jeannie's mother, sister, and other relatives are mostly genies, such as her nephew. Was this also the Blue Djinn's doing?
Jeannie has magical powers, not something that comes around every day. But any time Jeannie did something with her magical abilities to help Tony at work or even make fun and levitate him, he would protest.
When he was in a real scrape, he didn't seem to mind. This situation is also the same in the series Bewitched, where the mortal man Darrin doesn't approve of magic.
In the season 1 episode "Too Many Tony's," Jeannie asks Tony to marry her. After Tony refuses, she blinks up a romantic Tony duplicate. Dr. Bellows sees Jeannie and the Tony duplicate and believes they are getting married. Unbeknownst to Jeannie, the Tony that attends the wedding is the real version.
Jeannie calls off the wedding because she can't go through with it. In later seasons, Bellow's does not recognize Tony's fiance Jeannie, as the same girl from the wedding. Jeannie has also been seen by General Peterson and Mrs. Bellows on separate occasions.
Logically, the answer to this has to do with plot. If Jeannie can just blink anyway any problem and its repercussions as soon as she made the mistake, there would be no story. Can't Jeannie blink away Dr. Bellow's suspicion? Or rewind time, as she did several times before? Does this mean there is a cap to how powerful Jeannie's powers are?
In the season 1 episode "Jeannie and The Kidnap Caper," Jeannie promises Tony not to use her powers, she can't break the promise or she will be turned to dust. Jeannie becomes Roger's genie, saves Tony, and returns as his genie.
Yes, Jeannie calls Tony "Master," but make no mistake, she's the one with the power and control. Jeannie has magic at her disposal, magic that Tony couldn't last a day without while at his disposal.
Tony freed Jeannie the day he found on her on the beach, but it was Jeannie's choice to stay. Jeannie doesn't sacrifice her bubbly and warm personality to be seen as a stronger person, instead, using it to become more compassionate and understanding.
Jeannie's bottle is precious. It's where she spends most of her time. But where is it kept? In the living room or on a table, somewhere easily seen. Because Jeannie doesn't have the ability to see who opens her bottle, but can move the bottle around, this has been a source of trouble in several episodes.
The bottle brings attention to itself and if someone opens the top, pink smoke comes out and Jeannie is at the mercy of whoever she appears in front of. This includes the bottle ending up in the possession of a Russian NASA Cosmonaut, Mrs. Bellows, Jeannie II, Roger, and many others.
After having various people walk into the backyard, taking Jeannie's bottle, peering through the house windows, Jeannie II impersonating Jeannie and wreaking havoc, and Jeannie meddling in Tony's career, the cycle continued with no one ever learning from past mistakes.
Tony and Jeannie faced problems, often including Roger in the madness and stress, and laughed after finding solutions to crazy incidents.
In the season 2 episode, "The Birds And Bees Bit," Tony learns through a source on genies that Jeannie will lose her powers if she marries a mortal. So, he asks her to marry him.
Jeannie looks into the future and sees one of their children will become a genie. But when Jeannie and Tony do get married in season 5, Jeannie still has her powers.
Throughout the series, Jeannie manages to get Tony into a lot of scrapes, but she also saves him from his own mistakes, such as when he unknowingly goes on a date with the wife of a mobster.
In the season 3 episode "There Goes The Best Genie I Ever Had," Tony finds out that it's "Haji's Day" and he can wish away his genie. Tony considers this by contemplating all the times Jeannie made his life difficult.
From the very beginning of the series, Tony and Jeannie are constantly surrounded by nosey people. If they weren't, there would be no threat of Jeannie being discovered.
But almost everyone posed a threat. Roger, Doctor Bellows, Mrs. Bellows, Jeannie's sister, NASA employees, little children, and most of the characters who made special appearances.
