Happy birthday, Barbara Eden!

Barbara Eden, born August 23, 1931 in Tucson, Arizona, is best known for her role as Jeannie in the iconic I Dream of Jeannie television series, which ran from 1965-1970.  She garnered two Golden Globe nominations for her work. 

Her first appearance was in 1956 an uncredited role in Back from Eternity, which is a remake of Lucille Ball's Five Came Back (1939).  She appeared in the 1961 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, before landing the role of Jeannie in 1965.  Later, she appeared in TV movie Harper Valley P.T.A., and went on to star in two seasons of a series spun off from the movie.

She continues to act and make guest appearances.

Ted Cassidy, Lurch from the Addams Family, born 1932

Actor Ted Cassidy, born July 1932, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is best known for his role as the faithful butler to the Addams Family, which ran for two seasons in the mid-1960's.  He was a successful actor but also found success doing voice-overs.  He appeared on Star Trek as Ruk on What Are Little Girls Made Of?. He provided the voice of Balok's puppet in the Corbomite Maneuver and Gorn in Arena.

He appeared in I Dream of Jeannie, The Six-Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.  He even provided the voice for Godzilla in the animated series in the late 1970's.

He passed away in January 1979 following heart surgery.

My Top 10 "I Dream of Jeannie" episodes

In honor of one I Dream of Jeannie debuting September 18, 1965 and also with the passing of Bill Daily (Major Healy), I decided to post my top 10 favorite I Dream Of Jeannie episodes.  There are so many good ones, but I narrowed them down to a few.  Here, in no particular order, are my favorite ten episodes:

1. One of Our Hotels is Growing

When their hotel reservations get inexplicably cancelled, Jeannie blinks a 13th floor onto the hotel. I never knew until this episode that high-rise hotels do not have a Floor 13!



2. U-F-Oh Jeannie

Majors Nelson and Healey are testing a new aircraft that looks like a flying saucer when they crash-land in rural Florida and hillbillies think they are Martians!




3. Invisible House for Sale

 Jeannie wants to move to an apartment so Tony won't have to spend all of his weekends doing chores, so she decides to sell the house. I loved seeing the shots of Hearst Castle in this one. Jeannie Uppington-Smythe!




4. See you in C-U-B-A

 Jeannie blinks Tony's plane to Cuba. Farrah Fawcett made one of her first television appearances in this one.



5. My Master, the Rich Tycoon

 Paul Lynde plays an internal revenuer. When he drops by the house to give Tony his IRS refund check, he insults Tony's taste. Jeannie takes umbrage and blinks up many priceless treasures.



6. The Wedding

 Jeannie and Tony get married. This was one of the reasons the show lost viewers and thus got cancelled. The actress who plays Mrs. Bellows is hilarious.


7.  How to Be a Genie in 10 Easy Lessons

Tony, fed up with Jeannie, gives her the book "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights" and tells her to read it to know how genies are supposed to act. He doesn't realize that it is a book on how genies are to torture their masters.

 


8. Meet My Master's Mother

 Tony's mother comes to stay. Permanently, or until she can find him a nice girl to take care of him.




9. Jeannie to the Defense

 Jeannie has to come to Tony's defense when he gets caught up in a hit-and-run scam in a small town.

  


10. Hurricane Jeannie

 While Tony tries to talk two astronauts down during hurricane, Dr. Bellows discovers that Jeannie is a genie. This was the last episode filmed and the series wrapped up afterwards. This was meant to be the final episode in case the show was not renewed. The producers hadn't decided on another season yet, so it was made into a dream sequence in case they needed to continue the story. But it wasn't to be. :(

 

Remembering Bill Daily (1927-2018)

While we were mourning the loss of Burt Reynolds, another one of our beloved characters from our youth passed away.  Bill Daily, who played Major Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and Howard Borden on the Bob Newhart Show, died September 4 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  His family announced his passing on September 7. 

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Daily served in the Korean War before going into entertainment, as a musician playing bass.  He appeared in several TV shows, including Bewitched, before being cast as the bumbling, playboy sidekick to Larry Hagman's Major Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, which also starred Barbara Eden. 

"I Dream of Jeannie" premieres 1965

September 18, 1965, the first episode of I Dream of Jeannie, with The Lady In The Bottle.  It had a sort of rivalry with Bewitched, which premiered one year and a day earlier.  It made Barbara Eden a household name and she was nominated for two Golden Globes for her performances.  I Dream of Jeannie will always be a top TV show in our pop culture.  Her pink costume is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

"I Dream of Jeannie" debuts 1965

Everyone's favorite genie debuted September 18, 1965!