I recall seeing a number of episodes where Jeannie claims to have been friends with various famous people from the Middle Ages onward. If she had been trapped inside a bottle for 2000 years, how could she have known these people?

Maybe all those famous people were trapped in the bottle with her!! :crazy: :lol:

Tony told her once that she had 2000 years of history to study. I figured that during the day while Tony worked, Jeannie time traveled to visit famous people.

Maybe all those famous people were trapped in the bottle with her!! :crazy: :lol:

How? When she got trapped in that bottle it was centuries before those famous people were even born.

Tony told her once that she had 2000 years of history to study. I figured that during the day while Tony worked, Jeannie time traveled to visit famous people.

That's probably the best theory. But she seemed so involved in Tony's life, even when he was working. My theory: creative license. The writers had to keep coming up with new plots, so at some point they started ignoring the initial premise of the show. This show and Bewitched have a lot of inconsistencies, like Jeannie or Samantha having certain powers in some episodes that they don't in others.

IDOJ was a low-budget show, and they never hired a story continuity consultant of any sort. Writers didn't always know the show. Sometimes they were just given a description of the characters, the basic premise of the show, and went with it. Larry Hagman and Bill Daily used to "fix" certain parts of the show -- one part by adding more physical comedy, change lines when one of the main 4 was supposed to say something that wasn't in line with their character, etc.

Another theory was that Jeannie was able to send her spirit out of the bottle to "see" certain things that were going on outside of it, while she was imprisoned. Not everybody agrees with that theory, though.

IDOJ was a low-budget show, and they never hired a story continuity consultant of any sort. Writers didn't always know the show. Sometimes they were just given a description of the characters, the basic premise of the show, and went with it. Larry Hagman and Bill Daily used to "fix" certain parts of the show -- one part by adding more physical comedy, change lines when one of the main 4 was supposed to say something that wasn't in line with their character, etc.

Another theory was that Jeannie was able to send her spirit out of the bottle to "see" certain things that were going on outside of it, while she was imprisoned. Not everybody agrees with that theory, though.

The same answer as every other TV show. The writers didn't foresee viewers watching the same episode 50 times. They were just trying to get through the week and have a job the next week. They just didn't care.