‘I Dream of Jeannie’s’ Barbara Eden on Why She Did Not Want to Wed Larry Hagman (Exclusive)

Barb Oates December 2, 2024

I DREAM OF JEANNIE, from left: Larry Hagman, Barbara Eden, 1965-1970. ph: TV Guide / Courtesy Everett Collection — TV Guide / Courtesy Everett Collection

It was an epic TV wedding, one riddled with some usual genie chaos, but Barbara Eden remembers vividly the day she walked down the aisle with Larry Hagman on the beloved I Dream of Jeannie.

I Dream of Jeannie’s “The Wedding” episode aired on Dec. 2, 1969, and it was surrounded by controversy over whether the two main characters — a 2,000-plus-year-old genie and her astronaut Major Tony Nelson master — who enjoyed over four seasons of will-they-or-won’t-they brilliant chemistry, should finally tie the knot.

It was the 11th episode of Season 5, and many believe that was the “jump the shark” episode of the series, as ultimately Season 5 would be its last. Only 14 episodes followed “The Wedding,” with the series finale airing in May of 1970. But NBC executives wanted the characters to wed, though creator Sidney Sheldon disagreed, along with the show’s lead writers and some of the cast. That decision had fans divided for decades.

Ahead of I Dream of Jeannie’s 60th anniversary coming in 2025, we talked to Barbara Eden and reminded her of the iconic episode’s premiere today. The 93-year-old laughed, saying she had no idea that today was indeed the anniversary of the episode airing 55 years ago. (I mean, who would track that, besides us?) Eden has always said she didn’t agree with the direction of marrying the two.

“I didn’t agree, but I had no say in it,” she tells us. “I just told him, ‘She’s not a human. She’s an entity, and you’re mixing a human with an entity. It wouldn’t happen.’”

I DREAM OF JEANNIE, Barbara Eden, 1965-1970

Ken Whitmore/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection

Jeannie’s wish (along with network officials) would come true, and Eden was outfitted with an elegant divided-skirt gown and a genie-style hat draped in white satin with acres of tulle (thanks to series costume designer Joie Hutchinson) — a nice change from her usual harem costume. The only hitch in the nuptials was that genies don’t show up in photographs, so the resourceful Jeannie uses a stiffer-than-stiff mannequin to sub for her. Cue the laughs. But the episode made it official.

Throughout the series Eden and Hagman’s chemistry was unmatched.

“He was one of the rare actors who I’ve worked with who we just right away understood and believed, and we did it on the same rhythm. But I loved working with him.”

Fans all over the world continue to shower Eden with letters of adoration on the timeless series. You can watch I Dream of Jeannie on Antenna TV and buy episodes via Prime and Apple TV+.