I Dream of Jeannie: Season 01  (1965)

Theatrical Release Information:
I Dream of Jeannie: Season 01

Having crash-landed on a deserted island, astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) wonders if he'll ever be rescued. He doesn't have to wonder long; discovering a strange-looking bottle, Tony uncorks the vessel and releases a sexy female genie (Barbara Eden) who has been trapped therein for 2500 years! "Jeannie" promptly arranges for Tony to be located by the air force search copters, and before long he has been whisked back to his home base in Cocoa Beach, Florida--with Jeannie, vowing eternal devotion to her new "master", dutifully following along. Thus begins the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, filmed in black and white so that Jeannie's magical powers will register better on the small screen. In the first four episodes, Karen Sharpe is seen as Tony's fiancée Melissa, the daughter of base commander Gen. Wingard Stone (Philip Ober). Thanks to the mystical machinations of the jealous Jeannie, Melissa has soon exited the scene, just as Tony's subsequent lady friends will be scared off in future episodes. Frustrated that his life is now in the hands of a capricious sprite, Tony at first tries to convince base psychiatrist Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) that there's a genuine genie in his house. Alas, Tony not only fails to make his case, but he convinces Dr. Bellows that he's crazy, a plot development that will dictate the action of many an episode to come. As it turns out, the only other person who is aware of Jeannie's true identity is Tony's astronaut pal Roger Healy (Bill Daily), who stumbles onto the secret in the episode titled "The Richest Astronaut in the World". Roger's efforts to capitalize upon Jeannie's peculiar talents will, of course, cause nothing but trouble for himself and Tony. Appearing in several episodes during Season One is veteran movie villain Barton MacLane as bombastic air force general Martin Peterson. The season I Dream of Jeannie ends with "I'll Never Forget What's Her Name", wherein Tony develops partial amnesia, which enables him to remember everything and everybody EXCEPT Jeannie! (Incident, if Jeannie appears most modestly garbed than usual in several episodes, it is because star Barbara Eden was pregnant at the time). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide