I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later (1985 TV Movie) User Reviews

OK movie but is missing elements

[rlatanville · 6/10 · 4 February 2013]

I like the original series, such a simpler time and nostalgic era. The reason why the 60s series worked is 2 things.

1. Cast! Tony and Jeannie had chemistry! And a lovable Roger and a running gag Dr Bellows. This 4 core cast was the reason why the series worked.

In this movie, there is no Larry Hagman, we have a new Anthony Nelson. But together there is no chemistry. In the series, Jeannie was a carefree, reckless genie who's actions inadvertently causes Tony to be in jeopardy. Where this movie, she is more mellow and mature, that kinda took away from her core character. When do a reunion movie, try have core cast come back or it just wont work.

2. Location Location Location...

The series was located at cape Kennedy and Cocoa Beach in Florida, back in the 60s NASA was in the frontier of technology and were fascinating at the time. In this movie it was Houston, why?

Overview: This movie lacks continuity and a major one. The series sub-plot says Jeannie was 2000 years old, and this one it says shes over 4000 years old! I know ladies do lie about their age, but come on! Only thing worthy of the movie was the telling her son of her secret and putting the two at that beach where Tony and Jeannie met, so nostalgic. Only they screwed it up by having the new Tony instead of replay the pilot of the series.

Disappointing

[MovieBuffMarine · 5/10 · 23 May 2023]

Reunion movies have always been a challenge. Capturing the essence and the magic of a series they are trying to continue is always hit or miss, with little to no middle ground.

I was excited when I heard this TV movie was in the works as I really enjoyed "I Dream of Jeannie" (and still do, albeit through reruns). When I heard Larry Hagman wasn't returning, I wasn't that phased (I was just thirteen at the time), I thought "Dallas" "ruined" Hagman.

(I later come to respect Hagman on his declining to reprise Tony Nelson. While his "Dallas" schedule was said to negate his availability for this sequel, he allegedly indicated when offered to reprise, "What's old, should stay old." He wanted to be known for a diverse career and that was okay. With the way this movie turned out...maybe the original should have been left alone.)

But when I saw the final product, I felt there was something missing in this sequel. No, it was not Hagman, but the magic that made the series a hit and drawn viewers.

Even if Hagman returned, we still have this disappointing fare; the actors/actresses are only a fraction of what makes a great TV show or movie. I don't fault Wayne Rogers for taking on the role, but it was hard to convince fans that he was Tony Nelson plus the poor writing of the movie didn't help.

Then you have the ending; I'm not sharing what has already been posted, I don't know what the writers were thinking, but it was really a blow to Jeannie fans and as was said, it didn't align well with the (just as lame) follow up movie.

Reunion movies to hit TV shows are/were a great idea. Unfortunately writers have/had their work cut out for them to make a very watchable fare. And most found less-than-satisfied audiences.

Regardless of which actors reprised their roles or otherwise, the writers should have put more thought in this reunion movie.

Uneven, overall did not work

[kenstallings-65346 · 6/10 · 4 September 2021]

This was a nice idea, and with the right script and ensemble, could have been very nice. But, with Larry Hagman committed to "Dallas," and with an ending that made no sense, it's really a collection of good vignettes poorly connected to each other.

The revised musical intro was a nice combination of classic and 1980's, and there are very nice scenes with Eden and her in-character son. Wayne Rogers turns a very nice effort as Anthony Nelson.

But, despite some delightful moments, overall TV movie failed at the end due to an entirely needless plot twist that served no overall purpose. Ultimately, when second made-for-TV movie was made, it ignored this poor plot twist, which is really its ultimate indication of how bad it was.

Acceptable TV-movie reunion

[sjbradford · 17 September 2001]

A seemingly ageless Barbara Eden reprises her role from the 60s sitcom as a genial genie married to her mortal astronaut master. Jeannie, who seems to have discovered women's lib since we last saw her, is anxiously awaiting husband Tony's retirement from the space program, so he can be at home more to help her raise their teenaged son, TJ. But Tony's agreement to undertake one more space mission threatens their marriage, and even his life.

The script tends toward corny, and Larry Hagman is missed as Tony Nelson (Wayne Rogers from "M*A*S*H" fills in). And the ending makes the whole thing smell like a failed pilot to revive the series. Still, there are some nice nostalgic moments with Eden, Bill Daily (as Tony's best friend, Roger), and Hayden Rorke as the always-suspicious Dr. Bellows.

Very disappointed at the changes

[steved-999-828699 · 3/10 · 16 March 2013]

Without Larry Hagman, it was terrible for me. They should have paid Larry Hagman enough to still be Tony.

Even worse, when Jeannie went back in history to show how they met on the beach, it was nothing like how they really met, and changing Tony even going back to the beach was a brutal mistake.

As a big fan of the original series, this flopped for me during the whole movie. The chemistry between Tony and Jeannie disappeared.

Just like in the original series, Jeannie's sister tried to break them apart. Evidently it worked in this movie (Very fitting as the 'new' Tony Nelson was horrible with the relationship with Jeannie anyway).

The ending was also bad. It was not like Jeannie to leave, but I understand now since the new Tony was nothing like the original.

Perhaps younger people who never watched the series didn't notice how far it went from the original and rated higher, and am sad about that.

All around it was so disappointing.

Why? The Show was Great! This was Not!

[EvylOverLord · 3/10 · 26 September 2023]

I absolutely love watching Jeannie and her antics in reruns still even now, but this movie, I wish I'd never knew it existed! It was free on streaming, and so I was excited to see more of Jeannie and the crew, but disappointed with the results. I noticed that Larry Hagman wasn't in it, and hear Barbara Eden almost didn't do it. I wonder if she regrets that she did?

The plot was poorly written. Although there were a few amusing jokes on Bellows and Roger, it felt forced. It just didn't have the fun campy feel of the show. I liked the idea of seeing her with a family, but expected there to be a daughter as well. That little detail didn't affect why I didn't like the movie though. It should be noted that the son's character was actually pretty decent, and the actor did a good job.

Overall, it seemed like a couple of show episodes crammed together by writers who only saw a couple episodes of the series, but thought reprising the show might be fun. Then they realized that a new show wouldn't happen, so they tossed all their ideas into a blender, and filmed what popped out. Then they realized when the movie was all over that the ending was terrible, (even more terriblethan the rest of the movie) so they decided to toss in another little scene... and that fixed it all better... NOT! Could this movie have worked if it had been better written, and if Larry Hagman had been in it instead of the block of wood they hired to play Tony instead? I think this could have been quite fun with some decent tweaks, and if they had focused on the main story line. Also if they had had the full main cast including Hagman. They shouldn't have done it without him.

Writing was Bad

[cdm425 · 3/10 · 4 September 2023]

Obviously not the same writers as when the original seasons aired. Poorly written. That formula of "Jeanie's antics followed by Tony's attempt to hide or save their secret, or repair the damage" was not there -- at all! That is what made the original show hilarious.

The humor was also not there. Any attempts at humor were corny - in my book. And they minimized Tony's role -- I guess they couldn't find anyone with Hagman's range of comedic skill. Instead of taking a shot at it, they used the other characters to carry the weight of the movie. Probably a wise choice.

I was happy that Bill Daily and Barbara Eden (as Jeanie and as her sister) had their original personalities.

As for Hayden Rorke -- his acting was great and consistent with original self - but again the writing was awful. His role was minimized to just literally walking in on scenes already in progress. His role offered no substance towards the main plot (which was in left field from the main premise of the original show).

Lots of useless scenes which didn't contribute to the main plot such as: her son at school, meeting the new neighbor, and the store owner who hired her. That restaurant scene was, well weird, for lack of a better term.

The three star rating was for Barbara Eden, Bill Daily, and Hayden Rorke's superb performances in the midst of poor writing.

Pretty well remade as good as with flashback portions used over.But Bewitched copycatishness too.

[Stebaer4 · 5/10 · 6 September 2019]

Yes it was a pretty well remade scene of Wayne Rogers as Tony Nelson finding Jeannie on the beach and then they disappeared to Cocoa Beach from there. Instead of having Tony picked up in a helicopter and Jeannie in her bottle sneaking into his sack & unknown to him she followed him back to Cocoa Beach. Among the Bewitched copycatishness is when she hick ups and makes things disappear like on that episode in which Samantha did and when a diamond necklace did and her Mother-in-law got the blame by the store detective.Then later it's found back in the display and makes a fool of the detective.I think Jeannie never before this like Samantha froze people this was a plan so that she could argue with Tony,but right afterwards Dr.Bellows shows up and not understanding why the people aren't responding and he's more or less equivalent to Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched never being able to prove the true meaning of the hocus pocus. Earlier when Jeannie blinks to cheat on her typing she then feels guilty about it and the boss saying she under estimated her. Also earlier when Jeannie makes her clothes on hangers fly to get packing T.J. sees what's going on and then Jeannie's evil Sister Jeannie shows up and says oh so now he knows meaning he just found out then and there and as it also shows Jeannie somehow managed to convince her sister not to disclose their secret to T.J. until she'd decide to. When TJ can't get this girl's locker open while trying to blink then some boy came along to bang it open and managed.His Aunt Jeannie offers him the answers to the test to try to win that girl over but then she ripped them up & telling for what reason's she liked him before and now she didn't because of this. In the end when Jeannie after Haji's agreement to an ending and making people forget including Tony she purposely bumps into him like Samantha did a # of times to Darrin on Episode one of "Bewitched."Also a latter episode of bewitched too at the end of the what if sequence that Endora sent him to and Sam puposely bumped into him at the end of it as he was leaving the bar.Tony ignored her and then she blinked to make him fall in love with her and follow her.She then said "Haji Forced me into an ending but he never said that there never couldn't be a new beginning." Yes no matter how much I may've told of this you can still watch and enjoy it for yourselves sometime. The Evil Jeannie gets a special Cork that only another genie can open but T.J. can he and his Mom leave and when she comes back and opens the bottle & can't find Jeannie and then Roger and his girlfriend try to break it open not knowing the top is off and The Evil Jeannie is inside then as a result of the banging she really get's what's coming to her and a big headache.She at first told Jeannie"Our adorable master is in trouble."then Fine if you want me to come in to get you I will.Roger used a sledge hammer and his new girlfriend put the bottle between her thighs.Later on when Jeannie,Her Sister and Haji join forces together to make the boulder in space disappear The Evil Jeannie is holding an icebag on her head.Yes notice how the stuff is out of order? I rate it for 5 stars being only half as good w/o Larry Hagman. The abilty to use Bewitched copying is because both Bewitched and I dream of Jeannie are by Screen Gems and William Asher The Ex-Husband of Elizabeth Montgomery got to work with Sidney Sheldon on this.

Magically, Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a."Ste"of Framingham Ma.USA

Better than Return to Green Acres?

[jp-206 · 4/10 · 5 October 2023]

So I don't know what they were trying to achieve here. I do believe they were thinking about rebooting the series with this movie as a kick off, but too many things fell flat. First of all, Jeannie is waving her hands around for her magic as if she was on "Bewitched"; normally Jeannie just blinked. And speaking of the the blink, why on earth did they sound people think replacing Jeannie's trademark "boing" with a synthesizer riff was a good idea? Rumor has it they couldn't get their hands on the master tapes of the classic sound effects so they made new, but it was really, really weird.

When at the golf course, listen for the players' names being called out over the PA speaker, one of them being "Stephens". I'm surprised there was no mention of a "Tate".

Bill Asher directed this and Elizabeth Montgomery was furious at him for doing so. Wayne Rogers just didn't work as Tony Nelson, though if they rebooted the series with him in the role it might have been a new way to kick things off.

I always wondered why Scheherazade, an ancient genie, had a southern accent.

Barbara Eden looked gorgeous in this (in both roles) but there were too many continuity errors.

Still gorgeous Jeanie

[ericruns-03922 · 5/10 · 18 June 2023]

Not sure how the producer(s) let this film proceed without Larry Hagman's presence. He and ms Eden were the glue that held the successful series together and without the two of them it just doesn't work for me. Casting Wayne Rodgers as Tony Nelson(vice Larry Hagman) was a big mistake. He shows practically no interest in the role, and isn't even given a script or purpose in this film. For example, at the beginning of this drama(it's not really a comedic movie), he gets in a fight with Jeanie and they separate and I mean separate! For basically the rest of the movie Tony disappears and we're left watching poor Jeanie try to survive being separated; goes to the gym, tries to find a job, her evil sister mucks things up, etc. Thankfully. Bill Daly and Hayden Rouke make minor appearances but it didn't improve the movie because their parts were not really comedic parts. Note: the young actor who played. T. J. Mackenzie Astin, her son, was a wonderful addition with good acting skills.

Good Idea, Botched Ending

[Gravity06 · 12 September 2002]

Jeannie has always been a bit on the feisty side (that's a quality I like about her; she's nowhere near as domesticated as Samantha). I can understand her feeling a little taken for granted after so many years (she's not a robot, people -- she has feelings too).

Great idea ... but they messed up the ending. It caused a MAJOR continuity problem for its successor, "I Still Dream of Jeannie".

It had its moments (I liked the scene where she has to tell her son about her ... "secret identity").

nice

[Kirpianuscus · 22 April 2020]

It is almost bizarre this sub-plot because it propose , scene by scene, the comparation with the original serie . And the result is not so happy. A new actor as Tony Nelson is the first big mistake. The second - too many flaws and a childish story. The serie has nerve and charme and humor. In this case, the basic motif to be seems to remind the original serie. And nothing more. But sure, it is a nice film and Barbara Eden does her the best. .