‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Star Barbara Eden Reveals the Truth About Her Relationship With ‘Bewitched’s Elizabeth Montgomery
For years, rumors of a possible sorceress smackdown between bottle-dweller Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie fame and suburban spellcaster Elizabeth Montgomery have made the rounds. The idea that the two magic users of classic television were somehow locked in a mystic melee has always been too good a rumor to cast aside. But you can’t believe everything you hear.
For the most part, such gossip makes sense. After all, Eden and Montgomery starred on rival networks in somewhat similar roles, with one playing an all-powerful Jeannie in a suburban neighborhood, the other portraying a witch who traded her wand for a vacuum as a suburban housewife. I Dream of Jeannie ran on NBC from 1965 to 1970 with decent ratings, while Bewitched ran on ABC from 1964 to 1972 and was a ratings juggernaut.
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Given the overlap in premise and the shows’ direct competition, it was natural for the media to take the idea of a rivalry and run with it. But Barbara Eden has spent years putting those rumors to rest, stating that the supposed feud was largely the invention of producers and the press rather than any real animosity.
Now, as I Dream of Jeannie marks its 60th anniversary, Eden told Fox News that the alleged “feud” with Elizabeth Montgomery was never real, once again dispelling any notion of ill will toward her magical rival, “Samantha.”
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“I enjoyed being with her,” said Eden. “We did not have a lot of time to talk or be girlfriends. Remember, we would be in the makeup department in the morning, getting ready for our scenes. We had to get to work. But she was always pleasant.”
This was far from the first time Eden shut down rumors about their apparent “issues.” In the Bewitched 60th: Anniversary Special documentary by Daniel Henares, Eden debunked the gossip again by maintaining that she was friendly with Montgomery. “I’d see her every morning. We were both pregnant together, we both had our babies around the same time,” Eden said.
“If there was any perceived rivalry, it was the producers’ invention.”
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