I caught a couple of episodes this morning on FETV and at first I was surprised to see that they were in black and white. But then I remembered that the early seasons were like that. But they also had a different theme song. The original music was nice, I guess but it didn't really fit the animation the way the classic theme song did. I'm glad they changed the song, to be honest b/c the classic one is definitely catchier!



That being said, the two episodes I watched I'd never seen before and they were hilarious!

Most people like the music of the second through fifth seasons, partly because it was all they were exposed to for the longest time with reruns (such as in the 80s and 90s). TV back then didn't air many shows if they were in black and white, so lots of shows from the 60s whose first seasons were in black and white weren't aired (such as with "I Dream of Jeannie").

Like much of the first season, I prefer that theme best. It's more like the jazz of the time-period, laid-back, like say, Brubeck's "Take Five." And since the romance of the show seems to be the focus of most people's interest in it, that theme is more romantic.

A few years ago I did some research on the music used in the show. Some of the links I saved to the source material no longer work (not even in the Wayback Machine!) so here's what I found that is of interest:

Theme music
The first season theme music was an instrumental jazz waltz written by Richard Wess. Eventually, Sidney Sheldon became dissatisfied with Wess' theme and musical score. From the second season on, it was replaced by a new theme entitled "Jeannie", composed by Hugo Montenegro with lyrics by Buddy Kaye. Episode 20 and 25 used a re-recorded ending of "Jeannie" for the closing credits with new, longer drum breaks and a different closing riff. The lyrics were never used in the show.

Songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote a theme, called "Jeannie", for Sidney Sheldon before the series started, but it was not used.

In the third and fourth season of the show, another instrumental theme by Hugo Montenegro was introduced that was played during the show's campy scenes. Simply titled "Mischief", the theme would be heard mainly on outdoor locations, showing the characters attempting to do something such as Jeannie learning to drive, Major Nelson arriving up the driveway, a monkey walking around, or reactions to Doctor Bellows. This theme featured the accompaniment of a sideshow organ, a trombone, and electric bass. It was introduced in the first episode of season 3, "Fly Me to the Moon".

The following is from a forum discussion elsewhere:

https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?pageID=2&threadID=89376
Posted: Jun 2, 2012 - 9:51 AM
By: Browny (Member)

Many of us thanks to perrenial reruns know the more familiar Hugo Montenegro theme to "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" (which had never used lyrics by Buddy Kaye). This actually began in Season 2, replacing the original jazzy waltz theme from the first season that was composed by Richard Wess.

For Jeannie aficionados, the familiar opening theme music that is now on every color episode, is lifted from Season 3 but there were indeed different arrangements of the Montenegro opening theme for Seasons 2, 4 and 5 that have never made it to modern reruns, albeit can be found on old network film prints featured on Youtube for example. The differing arrangements complement each season's updated end title music, although it should be pointed out that Seasons 4 and 5 are identical. There is a clever recreation on Youtube of a fan-made Season 5 opening theme using the end credit music including some bottle sound effects. Interesting, and it's a shame that these openings (and copyright year for that matter) are no longer seen in syndication let alone on DVD.

All of the color episodes have a 1966 copyright date when in fact the correct years (1966-67 to 1969-70) were also on the episodes when first shown.


Posted: Jun 2, 2012 - 11:38 AM
By: roy phillippe (Member)
Richard Wess also arranged Bobby Darin's famous recording of "Mack The Knife".


Posted: Jun 2, 2012 - 4:51 PM
By: filmusicnow (Member)
The only thing I know about Wess is that his orchestra backed recordings by Bobby Darin and Sammy Davis Jr.. Interestingly, Montenegro scored an episode of "I Dream Of Jeannie" for the first season, which probably led the show's producers to have him compose music for the second season and the remainder of the show's run.

I much prefer the first season theme over the season 2-5 one. I also prefer the first season episodes; they're like an old romantic comedy. The season 2-5 episodes are too slap-sticky.

If you haven't heard it - Hugo Montenegro's pop single of "Jeannie" includes chorus with full lyrics. Also cool are the instrumental arrangements that evoke the TV score!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhSbwYm6UJw