''Jeannie'' is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

that originally aired for a 16-episode season on CBS from September 8 to December 22, 1973. It was produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

in association with

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

, and its founders

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the anim ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian ...

are the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

s. Despite being a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

of sorts of the television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually mar ...

'', ''Jeannie'' has little in common with its parent show. In this version, the title character is rescued on the beaches of

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

by a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

student, Corey Anders. Jeannie is accompanied by genie-in-training Babu, and they become companions to Corey and his best friend, Henry Glopp, both of whom also help Jeannie and Babu adjust to their new home as well as life in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. The series was marketed towards a younger demographic than ''I Dream of Jeannie''. Julie McWhirter replaces Barbara Eden in the lead role. In his first voice-acting job,

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the '' Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...

plays Corey Anders, and also sings the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

. Babu is voiced by Joe Besser, who had a successful voice-acting career at the time. ''Jeannie'' was shown as part of CBS's Saturday-morning cartoon programming block, and episodes aired between 1973 and 1975. The show was also included on the wheel series '' Fred Flintstone and Friends'', and had crossovers with the ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

'' franchise. Though a few retrospective reviews of ''Jeannie'' have been negative, it has gained popularity after Warner Bros. bought

and its properties in 1996, and it remains popular with the public and industry professionals, and has been recently distributed via two

streaming service Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snac ...

and CTV Throwback. An episode can also be viewed at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Premise and characters

In ''Jeannie'',

student Corey Anders discovers Jeannie's bottle while surfing and draws the title character out of it. Perlmutter (2018): pp. 314315 Terrace (1985): p. 213 LoBrutto (2018): p. 242 Corey becomes the master to Jeannie and her apprentice Babu. Portrayed as a 16-year-old, Jeannie is shown as training the "junior genie" Babu, Erickson (1995): p. 272 who frequently causes trouble due to his inexperience with magic. Playing the role of the

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

, Babu is characterized as having a habit of "popping in at the most inopportune times". The pair become close "friends and protectors" to Corey, who is Jeannie's love interest. Episodes typically focus on Corey's attempts to hide Jeannie and Babu's true identities as he attends Center City High School and Jeannie's difficulties with adjusting to life in 1970s

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

.'' Terrace (2008): p. 935'' Corey's storylines also include his friend Henry Glopp; other than Corey, Henry is the only other person aware of Jeannie's identity as a genie. Terrace (1978): p. 492 Other supporting characters include Corey's mom (Mrs. Anders), a friend and an antagonist (S. Melvin Farthinggale), the Master of all Genies (Great Hadji), and Debbie. S. Melvin is portrayed as a "snobbish snoop", who frequently sneaks around the Anders' home due to his suspicions about Jeannie and Babu. Woolery (1983): p. 152 ''Jeannie'' is an animated

of the live-action television

'', although it has a substantially different plot than its parent show. In this version, Corey replaces astronaut

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

Tony Nelson. While ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was a family show, it focused on '60s-style relationships (especially in its first season), the NASA moon project and broad slapstick. The humor used for the animated ''Jeannie'', more focused toward teenagers and children, is of the "Archie" comics nature, with themes of dating, school events and friendship. Like the original series, Jeannie is emotionally attached to her assumed boyfriend and becomes jealous in the face of competition, a staple of teen-age comics and sitcoms. Unlike the original series, Jeannie is depicted as younger and with red hair instead of blonde; she activates her magic by shaking her ponytail rather than blinking her eyes.

Production

''Jeannie'' was a

production, with the company's founders

and

serving as the show's

Charles August Nichols Charles August "Nick" Nichols (September 15, 1910 – August 23, 1992) was an American animator and film director, who worked in animation for over 50 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Hanna-Barbera. At Disney, he worked on various shor ...

was the director, and Iwao Takamoto was the producer. ''I Dream of Jeannie'' creator Sidney Sheldon is not included in the credits for ''Jeannie'', which '' The A.V. Club''s Will Harris attributes to the extreme differences between the two shows. Hanna-Barbera had created ''Jeannie'' as a way to appeal to a younger demographic. The musical director was Hoyt Curtin and music supervisor was Paul DeKorte. Jeannie was a co-production between Hanna-Barbera and Columbia Pictures, as Columbia's Screen Gems television division was the owner of ''I Dream of Jeannie''. Hanna-Barbera had a long association with Columbia and Screen Gems as they distributed their earlier shows, including ''The Flintstones'' and ''The Jetsons''. However, the rights to all Hanna-Barbera properties were transferred to Warner Bros. after the studio purchased the company in 1996. Hanna-Barbera did not, however, animate the titles for the original ''I Dream of Jeannie''--that was DePatie-Freleng--but they did animate a variety of opening titles (including both Darrins) for Screen Gems' ''Bewitched''. Barbara Eden was replaced by Julie McWhirter as the voice of Jeannie.

provides the voice for Corey Anders, in his first voice-acting job. Along with voicing the character, he sings the

. Hamill would not become well known as a voice actor until his role as the Joker in the television show '' Batman: The Animated Series''.

Bob Hastings Robert Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on '' McHale's Navy'' and voicing Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Universe. Early life Ha ...

and Joe Besser portray Henry Glopp and Babu, respectively. Besser was a successful voice actor during the 1970s and 1980s; along with ''Jeannie'', he also voiced regular characters in the television programs '' The Houndcats'' and ''

Yogi's Space Race ''Yogi's Space Race'' is a 90-minute American animated television series and the third entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise. Thirteen episodes were broadcast on NBC from September 9, 1978, to December 2, 1978, and featured the following four segme ...

''. He had previously appeared in an ''I Dream of Jeannie'' episode, alongside the members of

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

. Lenburg & Maurer & Lenburg (2012): p. 50 Debbie, Mark, and Mrs. Anders are played by Arlene Golonka, Michael Bell, and

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' ...

, respectively. John Stephenson and Tommy Cook voice Great Hadji and S. Melvin Farthinggale. Sherry Alberoni, Julie Bennett,

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

, and Ginny Tyler provide additional voice-acting for the series.

Episodes

Broadcast history and release

''Jeannie'' aired on CBS with its 16 30-minute episodes initially broadcast in 1973. CBS continued to run episodes until August 1975 as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon programming block. The episode "The Decathlon" is available for viewing at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. ''Jeannie'' was made available digitally by

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

through their

CTV Throwback, as well as on Sony and Columbia's streaming service

. ''Jeannie'' was shown as part of the wheel series '' Fred Flintstone and Friends'', which had

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintsto ...

host excerpts taken from Hanna-Barbera programs. Terrace (1985): p. 154 It also had several crossovers with the ''

'' franchise.'''' Babu appears in the television show '' Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'', in which he participates on the "Scooby Doobies" team.'''' Babu, Jeannie, Corey, and Henry return for ''

The New Scooby-Doo Movies ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' is an American animated mystery comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. It is the second animated television series in the studio's '' Scooby-Doo'' franchise, and follows the first incarnation, ' ...

'' episode "Mystery in Persia", also known "Scooby-Doo Meets Jeannie".'''' Jeannie helps to trap the genie Jadal the Evil inside a bottle and uncover that Adbullah is his master.'' Bird (2018): p. 72''

Notes

References

Citations

Book sources

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
''Jeannie''
at

The Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featur ...

{{I Dream of Jeannie 1973 American television series debuts 1973 American television series endings 1970s American animated television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American animated television spin-offs Animated television series about teenagers CBS original programming I Dream of Jeannie Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Screen Gems Adaptations of works by Sidney Sheldon English-language television shows