View Full Version : Was it True that 'I Dream Of Jeannie' Had A Spinoff Series Of Some Kind???


Brian Damage
10-21-2010, 11:01 PM
I remember vaguely reading somewhere that 'I Dream of Jeannie' had a spinoff series. I could be wrong, but it took place in the 70's and didn't last long. That is all I know...

tv star collector
10-22-2010, 09:04 AM
The only "spinoff" series that I'm aware of is the Hanna-Barbera cartoon,
titled simply Jeannie (CBS; 1973-'75), which was loosely based on I Dream of Jeannie. The stories depicted a teenage surfer who found a bottle containing a genie who protects her new master from other high school
suiters. Voices included Mark Hamill (yes, THAT Mark Hamill), Joe Besser, Bob Hastings,
Julie McWhirter (as Jeannie), Janet Waldo, Susan Silo, Sherry Jackson, Judy Strangis and Hal Smith.

Brian Damage
10-22-2010, 09:41 AM
The only "spinoff" series that I'm aware of is the Hanna-Barbera cartoon,
titled simply Jeannie (CBS; 1973-'75), which was loosely based on I Dream of Jeannie. The stories depicted a teenage surfer who found a bottle containing a genie who protects her new master from other high school
suiters. Voices included Mark Hamill (yes, THAT Mark Hamill), Bob Hastings,
Sherry Jackson (as Jeannie), Don Messick, Judy Strangis and Joe Besser.


Wow, ok thanks alot! That must be it, was it any good?

tv star collector
10-22-2010, 06:31 PM
Wow, ok thanks alot! That must be it, was it any good?

I only saw one episode, as part of the Fred Flintstone and Friends
syndicated package and don't remember much about it. I do recall that Joe
Besser voiced another genie named Babu. He also appeared on Laffalympics. They couldn't use Jeannie herself on that show because H-B didn't own
the character.

CAJeannieFan57
10-22-2010, 11:21 PM
I have the episodes on DVD. They're pretty poor copies.

I remember when it originated - - Jeannie the Genie swung her ponytail to make her magic, and had this little genie friend named Babu. There was no Major Nelson or Healey on it, so I only watched a few episodes when it originally ran. (OK, I've given away my age here.)

I only bought the cartoon series as part of my growing IDOJ collection. Ugh.

TV Knowledge Fan
10-23-2010, 11:39 PM
Babu was twice as big as Jeannie! And you couldn't have picked a better voice for him than Joe Besser...

The animated version was okay- and the teen-age Jeannie was a bit sexy [although she could have passed as Daphne's cousin on "SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?"...and the two of them did appear together in "THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES" episode, "Scooby Meets Jeannie and Babu" (9/15/73)]. When Fred Silverman, the chief programmer of CBS' Saturday morning schedule, wanted a cartoon version of "JEANNIE", he wanted a different set of characters than the original series....preferrably teen-aged (after all, didn't he hit the jackpot "packaging" Archie and his comic book gang, and contributed to the development of "SCOOBY-DOO"?). 'And let's soft-pedal the "master"/"slave" situation while we're at it....after all, this is supposed to be a children's show!'.

:tv:

Rezny@gmail.com
10-24-2010, 01:17 AM
When Barbara Eden,Larry Hagman,Bill Daily,and especially the late Sidney Sheldon learn about the show,how did they react?

TV Knowledge Fan
10-28-2010, 02:41 AM
...but I suspect they hardly had anything to say about it, as Larry Hagman was trying to distance himself from "JEANNIE" as much as possible (his acting career was in somewhat of a "slump" at the time: his most recent sitcom, "HERE WE GO AGAIN", had been cancelled earlier in 1973); Barbara was in the midst of divorcing Michael Ansara after her miscarriage, two years before, had driven them apart; Bill was busy on "THE BOB NEWHART SHOW", finally in the "spotlight" again; and Sidney was starting to achieve status as a successful author with "The Other Side Of Midnight", and was already finished with creating and producing TV series....

:tv:

comedyfreak
10-29-2010, 08:18 AM
I remember the cartoon well, it was my favorite of that year. Baboo would say Yapple Dabble when using magic his magic alwasy messed up. Baboo was often the source of trouble for Jeannie and her master.