About the theme - Which did you like? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Rezny@gmail.com · 09-05-2010, 01:54 AM

A)The season one black and white waltz-type theme B)The second,very bouncy faniliar theme from seasons 2 and 3(I think)or C)The modified version of B used in seasons 4 and 5 ? I personally liked A and B.C in my opinion,was kinda irritating.How about the rest of you?

TV Knowledge Fan · 09-05-2010, 02:37 AM

....the first one was written by Richard Wess, who also wrote most of the music for the first season. Apparently, creator/producer/writer Sidney Sheldon was impressed with his previous work [including his brassy arrangements for Bobby Darin in the late '50s and early '60s: my personal favorite is "Don't Dream of Anyone But Me" for the 1960 album "This Is Darin", which sounds like one of Wess' later music cues for "JEANNIE"]. By the middle of the first season, though, Sheldon was dissatisfied with Wess' approach to the series, and began "auditioning" other composers- Nelson Riddle wrote one score {"The Permanent House Guest"}, but Sidney was more impressed with Hugo Montenegro (his initial score was for "How Lucky Can You Get?"), and decided he was the best choice to write a new theme and score for season two [there was a quirkiness in his musical approach that appealed to Sheldon, and I understand why]. So Hugo wrote a new theme, with Buddy Kaye providing lyrics; for some reason, they were never used on the show (although with opening lyrics like "Jeannie, fresh as a daisy/Just look how she obeys me", I'm not surprised they weren't used). The orchestrations of the theme under the second and third season titles were different....the original second season title {minus Sidney Sheldon's "created by" credit at the end} is not seen in syndicated or cable repeats these days {look for it on YouTube, as posted by 'maradhelkiel'}, as Screen Gems/Columbia originally substituted the third season version for all syndicated editions of the color episodes, even though seasons four and five originally used the third season title.

Got that?

As for me, I prefer the first and second season themes...and the orchestration during the season five/six closing credits.

{incidentally, season three's opening title theme is now partially featured on at least two different Hallmark "Jeannie" sound birthday cards}.

09-05-2010, 01:54 AM	#1
Rezny@gmail.com Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 20, 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 2,675	About the theme - Which did you like? A)The season one black and white waltz-type theme B)The second,very bouncy faniliar theme from seasons 2 and 3(I think)or C)The modified version of B used in seasons 4 and 5 ? I personally liked A and B.C in my opinion,was kinda irritating.How about the rest of you?

09-05-2010, 02:37 AM	#2
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	A brief explanation of the various themes... ....the first one was written by Richard Wess, who also wrote most of the music for the first season. Apparently, creator/producer/writer Sidney Sheldon was impressed with his previous work [including his brassy arrangements for Bobby Darin in the late '50s and early '60s: my personal favorite is "Don't Dream of Anyone But Me" for the 1960 album "This Is Darin", which sounds like one of Wess' later music cues for "JEANNIE"]. By the middle of the first season, though, Sheldon was dissatisfied with Wess' approach to the series, and began "auditioning" other composers- Nelson Riddle wrote one score {"The Permanent House Guest"}, but Sidney was more impressed with Hugo Montenegro (his initial score was for "How Lucky Can You Get?"), and decided he was the best choice to write a new theme and score for season two [there was a quirkiness in his musical approach that appealed to Sheldon, and I understand why]. So Hugo wrote a new theme, with Buddy Kaye providing lyrics; for some reason, they were never used on the show (although with opening lyrics like "Jeannie, fresh as a daisy/Just look how she obeys me", I'm not surprised they weren't used). The orchestrations of the theme under the second and third season titles were different....the original second season title {minus Sidney Sheldon's "created by" credit at the end} is not seen in syndicated or cable repeats these days {look for it on YouTube, as posted by 'maradhelkiel'}, as Screen Gems/Columbia originally substituted the third season version for all syndicated editions of the color episodes, even though seasons four and five originally used the third season title. Got that? As for me, I prefer the first and second season themes...and the orchestration during the season five/six closing credits. {incidentally, season three's opening title theme is now partially featured on at least two different Hallmark "Jeannie" sound birthday cards}.