Add Jeannie's evil sister to the show?And 2 Questions:1)What was the first episode Jeannie's evil sister appeared in?And 2)What was the LAST episode Jeannie's evil sister appeared in?Oh,sure,it was fun watching Jeannie and Tony thwart her sister's evil plans,but after a while it got kind of boring after a while.

:1)What was the first episode Jeannie's evil sister appeared in?And 2)What was the LAST episode Jeannie's evil sister appeared in?

First Episode: Jeannie or the Tiger? Season 3
Last Episode: My Sister, The Home Wrecker Season 5

...that, by 1967, Jeannie was becoming, according to head writer James Henerson, "Gracie Allen"...more naive, more "illogical", and more "childlike". Any of the defiance she demonstrated towards "Master" in earlier seasons had just about disappeared. In season three, Sidney decided to introduce her twin sister "Jeannie" {it worked when Patty Duke appeared as "twin cousins", why not Barbara?}, who was everything Jeannie was no longer capable of being: deceitful, scheming, sensual, and flamboyantly sexy [and she KNEW it]! You could tell exactly what kind of woman she was, with all those rings and bracelets adorning her (and if she could show her navel, she'd have done that, too!). You always got the feeling she'd just turned up from one of her sexual liasons with her "Master" {hah!}, or whatever man she was currently involved with. The plots involving her may have looked the same after a while [James Henerson wrote the majority of them], but viewers LOVED her- that's why she appeared nine times during the last three seasons....and in both "reunion" movies as well.

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...that, by 1967, Jeannie was becoming, according to head writer James Henerson, "Gracie Allen"...more naive, more "illogical", and more "childlike". Any of the defiance she demonstrated towards "Master" in earlier seasons had just about disappeared. In season three, Sidney decided to introduce her twin sister "Jeannie" {it worked when Patty Duke appeared as "twin cousins", why not Barbara?}, who was everything Jeannie was no longer capable of being: deceitful, scheming, sensual, and flamboyantly sexy [and she KNEW it]! You could tell exactly what kind of woman she was, with all those rings and bracelets adorning her (and if she could show her navel, she'd have done that, too!). You always got the feeling she'd just turned up from one of her sexual liasons with her "Master" {hah!}, or whatever man she was currently involved with. The plots involving her may have looked the same after a while [James Henerson wrote the majority of them], but viewers LOVED her- that's why she appeared nine times during the last three seasons....and in both "reunion" movies as well.

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But my question 'TV Knowledge Fan' is (in regards to your post) WHY did they feel the need to make Jeannie change (or - even though I always loved her, in my opinion) regress to a more Gracie Allen type character??? I mean, the more time passed by and she learned she should have PROGRESSED as far as being more savvy and knowing more of the American customs. And WHO decided that Jeannie II was everything Jeannie was "no longer capable of being"? Did they slightly alter her character simply BECAUSE they wanted to introduce her sister and there needed to be more of a contrast between the two characters? Just wondering????

It certainly made the show seem even more like a clone of Bewitched,
since Elizabeth Montgomery also played dual roles on her series! :)

It certainly made the show seem even more like a clone of Bewitched,
since Elizabeth Montgomery also played dual roles on her series! :)


There certainly were certain similarities (two beautiful, blonde women with magical powers) but there were many differences and the characters of Jeannie and Samantha were certainly very different - as well as all of the other characters. The fact they were both produced by Screen Gems and were filmed on the same lot certainly adds to the similarities as well. Though Sidney Sheldon tried from the beginning NOT to copy Bewitched. Sidney Sheldon actually wanted a brunette simply as a contrast FROM Bewitched - as well as having a more Middle Eastern type - but he could not find the unique qualities in anyone he wanted for Jeannie until he found Barbara Eden.

As for Jeannie II and Serena it is important to remember that before Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie ever aired William Asher worked on The Patty Duke Show with Sidney Sheldon. Sheldon wrote most evey script AND IT WAS SHELDON'S CONCEPT TO HAVE TWINS. He originally wanted to have twin sisters but at Asher's suggestion it was changed to identical cousins. Secondly, Serena was introduced in the second season of Bewitched but it wasn't until two seasons later (season three of I Dream of Jeannie and season four of Bewitched) in I Dream of Jeannie that Jeannie II was introduced. The ONLY time Serena was seen before Jeannie II was the ONE black and white episode when Tabitha was born in the second season of Bewitched. Actually Serena showed back up for the first time in a color episode of the series (season four of Bewitched) ONLY ONE WEEK AFTER (but during the same season) Jeannie II was introduced!

Jeannie was not a 'clone' of Bewitched anymore than Bewitched was a clone of My Favorite Martian (which aired one year before Bewitched) or the movies "Bell, Book and Candle" or "I Married a Witch" which both came way before Bewitched. Bewitched MAY have been inspired by those movies just as I Dream of Jeannie was inspired by the movie The Brass Bottle which premiered in 1964 (one year before I Dream of Jeannie), starred Berle Ives as a male genie and also featured Barbara Eden as Tony Randall's fiance - but neither were copies. It has been noted before that due to the success of Bewitched Screen Gems went to Sidney Sheldon and asked him to come up with another supernatural sitcom for NBC (Screen Gems produced Bewitched for ABC). Already having wanted to do something about a female genie after having seen The Brass Bottle this opened the door for I Dream of Jeannie. It was due to the success of Bewitched and the inspiration from The Brass Bottle that we have I Dream of Jeannie though both I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched certainly have their own 'uniqueness' and own identity:)

The Jeanie 2 was a straight rip off of Bewitched, but so what, I liked it. It was cool to see Barbara Eden play a more sinister role. Unlike Serena, Jeannie's sister was always after Major Nelson.

The Jeanie 2 was a straight rip off of Bewitched, but so what, I liked it. It was cool to see Barbara Eden play a more sinister role. Unlike Serena, Jeannie's sister was always after Major Nelson.


....Then I guess that makes Serena a straight rip off from Sidney Sheldon's twins from The Patty Duke Show (since Sheldon wrote virtually every script for The Patty Duke Show and created the concept of twins for the show. As stated in my earlier post Bewitched producer/director William Asher worked with Sheldon on The Patty Duke Show before Bewitched started. Sheldon came up with the idea of twin sisters but Asher wanted to change it to twin cousins). ...but I loved Serena and Bewitched / Jeannie II and I Dream of Jeannie both!

Probably because Sidney Sheldon turned over more of the script writing over to people like James Henerson, who, while talented himself, didn't have the same kind of gift Sidney had with his "battle of the sexes" stories between Jeannie and Major Nelson, and depicted her with having more intelligence than she appeared to have. Sidney certainly wouldn't have had Jeannie repeat Tony's instructions literally- "You're my cousin Jeannie from Kansas, you're only going to be in Cocoa Beach for one day, and you'll never see them again"- on what to say to the Bellows' and their cousin Homer in Henerson's "Have You Heard the One About the Used Car Salesman?" JEANNIE: "Oh,IamCousinJeanniefromKansas,andIwillbeinCocoaBeachforonlyoneday,andyouwillneverseemeagain!"
As funny as that sounds (especially when Barbara says it), that's really out of character for Jeannie. She's "smarter" than to repeat something like that. But, by then, the series was appearing at 7:30pm(et), and was becoming more of a live-action cartoon...only in Sidney's scripts {written under his three pseudonyms} did she retain her "savvy".

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Thanks for the reply, TV Knowledge Fan:)

As I believe I have stated in previous posts I loved Jeannie all the way through the series but personally I think it's kind of a shame Henerson went in a slightly other direction from Sheldon's original concept of the character of Jeannie AND that Sheldon didn't "redirect" him when he veered from Sheldon's original concept.


Probably because Sidney Sheldon turned over more of the script writing over to people like James Henerson, who, while talented himself, didn't have the same kind of gift Sidney had with his "battle of the sexes" stories between Jeannie and Major Nelson, and depicted her with having more intelligence than she appeared to have. Sidney certainly wouldn't have had Jeannie repeat Tony's instructions literally- "You're my cousin Jeannie from Kansas, you're only going to be in Cocoa Beach for one day, and you'll never see them again"- on what to say to the Bellows' and their cousin Homer in Henerson's "Have You Heard the One About the Used Car Salesman?" JEANNIE: "Oh,IamCousinJeanniefromKansas,andIwillbeinCocoaBeachforonlyoneday,andyouwillneverseemeagain!"
As funny as that sounds (especially when Barbara says it), that's really out of character for Jeannie. She's "smarter" than to repeat something like that. But, by then, the series was appearing at 7:30pm(et), and was becoming more of a live-action cartoon...only in Sidney's scripts {written under his three pseudonyms} did she retain her "savvy".

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Didn't all the sitcoms do that back then?

I Dream of Jeannie had Jeannie 1 and 2.
Bewitched had Samantha and Serena.
The Addams Family had Morticia and Ophelia.

It was a staple.

I agree with what you are saying here. I may be alone in my opinion here, but Jeannie's sister has always been my least favorite character on IDoJ. She did things to Tony which were really vicious, especially in her first appearances in S3. She may have toned it down a bit later, but she was always more of an annoyance to me than an entertaining character.

The Jeanie 2 was a straight rip off of Bewitched, but so what, I liked it. It was cool to see Barbara Eden play a more sinister role. Unlike Serena, Jeannie's sister was always after Major Nelson.


Not true. Samantha didn't have a sister. She was an only child. Serena was a twin cousin, which was similar to the Patty Duke Show about twin cousins. One was conservative like Samantha, and the other was a free spirit like Serena.

Jeannie did not have a cousin.

I loved the episodes with Jeannie's sister.

The Jeanie 2 was a straight rip off of Bewitched, but so what, I liked it.

That's ridiculous. Bewitched was not the only show that ever had a twin relative. Plus, it was Jeannie's sister, not her cousin. Barbara Eden also played her mother. I suppose that's a "ripoff" of Bewitched, too. Jeannie was nothing like Bewitched. Jeannie was a much better show.