According to Barbara Eden, network executives and censors were unconcerned about her navel being seen on “I Dream of Jeannie” until someone casually mentioned during the third season that it was occasionally visible when the waistband of her costume shifted. After that her navel was required to be covered. There were other rules the show had to follow, too. The chiffon bottom of her costume had to have an extra layer added so her legs couldn’t be seen through it. Also if Tony and Jeannie were ever in the bedroom alone, the scene had to show one or both of them leaving the room and Jeannie wasn’t allowed to just “blink out”, they had to show her smoke leaving. Also Jeannie’s bottle was NEVER allowed to be in Tony’s room. These additional rules were to make sure that nothing improper was ever implied, even subtly.
The fancy antique bottle which Jeannie called home was actually a decorative Jim Beam liquor decanter, which originally contained “Beam’s Choice” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The bottle had been decorated and painted with gold leaf by one of the show’s art department employees.
Eden personally selected the pink/maroon color combination of Jeannie’s harem outfit. Pink symbolizes the playful, girlish aspects of her personality, while maroon symbolizes the fiery, headstrong aspects of her personality. Eden also selected the purple trim of her bottle. In a few early color episodes, Jeannie wears a green harem outfit instead of her customary pink. In another episode she changes her hair color to black in an attempt to convince Tony to keep her. The green harem outfit and black hair color would later be trademarks of Jeannie’s almost identical sister, who had a completely different personality.
Jeannie II, a brunette with a green harem dress, was created by a former “Bewitched” writer, James S. Henerson. He was fired from “Bewitched” when it was discovered he was writing for both shows at the same time.
Eden plays Jeannie and her evil sister Jeannie II in 8 episodes. She said that when filming those episodes, they would film her as Jeannie (against a double) one day and as Jeannie II (against the double) the next day. The costume, hair and makeup for each character was so different and took so much time to do that it was impossible to have enough time to film as both characters on the same day. (IMDb)
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