Throughout the years, numerous classic television shows have inspired a myriad of cash-grab
copycats that aim to bank on their source material's popularity as much as they can
before fading into obscurity.
Most of the time, these wannabe shows are quickly found out by the audience and through
low ratings are promptly shown the door.
These pretender shows normally are quickly forgotten, but sometimes, they bring just
enough originality to the table to make them successful offerings on their own.
This all-too-familiar scenario most famously played out with the equally popular and influential
sitcoms Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.
In this video, we’ll be attempting to set the record straight once and for all as to
which series was ultimately the superior of the two.
This knockdown, drag-out fight for victory has been fiercely debated by fans of both
series for decades now.
Likely, you already have your own opinion as to which series came out on top, but even
so, we have a few insights that we'd like to share with you that just might shift your
thinking a bit on the matter.
Join Facts Verse as we discuss Bewitched vs. I Dream of Jeannie.
Which sitcom wins?
Only you can be the judge.
Two Similar Premises – Two Distinct Offerings
Bewitched aired on ABC from 1964 through 1972.
The series starred Elizabeth Montgomery as the witch Samantha.
After falling in love with a mortal named Darrin Stephens, played first by Dick York
and later by Dick Sargent, the two wed and began their new lives together as husband
and wife.
It was during their honeymoon that Samantha revealed to Darrin what she truly was.
While he was first quite stunned by this revelation, he recognized that she was still the same
woman that he had fallen in love with.
For the remainder of the series, Darrin was forced to contend with the craziness of living
with a wife who has an extremely eccentric magical family.
He routinely insisted that he wanted to live like regular mortals, but unfortunately, this
wish proved to be just a pipe dream.
Over at ABC’s rival network, NBC, I Dream of Jeannie premiered in 1965, a year after
Bewitched’s debut, and ran until 1970.
It’s undeniable that Bewitched was a significant inspiration for the series, but the show was
also based upon a Tony Randall film called The Brass Bottle.
In I Dream of Jeannie, Larry Hagman, whom you might recall later played J.R.
Ewing on Dallas, played astronaut Tony Nelson.
After his space capsule landed on a deserted island, Nelson discovered a dusty bottle.
While attempting to clean it up a bit, the bottle unleashed a thick cloud of smoke that
congealed into the form of Barbara Eden's character, Jeannie.
After being freed from the bottle that she had just spent the previous 2 millennia stuck
in, Jeannie offered herself in servitude to Tony.
Being the gentleman that he always aspired to be, Nelson rejected this offer after Jeannie
magically arranged for their rescue.
Tony offered to set Jeannie free, but instead she slipped back into her bottle and stowed
away in his backpack as he made his way back home to Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Naturally, after the dust settled, Jeannie revealed herself and what followed was years
of whimsical comedic chaos.
No doubt you’ve noticed by now that the two shows had a lot in common.
Keep watching to learn about a few more of their similarities and differences.
But first, take a moment to show us a little support by giving this video a like and subscribing
to the Facts Verse channel.
Who Had The Better Means Of Channeling Their Magic?
Bewitched’s Samantha had two distinct ways of summoning her magic.
She would typically either raise both of her arms and speak an incantation, which normally
involved some kind of Dr. Seuss-like limerick, or more commonly she would simply twitch her
nose and make things happen without uttering a single word.
On I Dream of Jeannie, our lead protagonist, Jeannie, would fold her arms over each other
and blink to get things done.
In our opinion, Samantha had the superior magical powers since even if she were to,
god forbid, lose her arms in some sort of horrific accident, she could still do her
nose twitch trick to make magical happenings, well, happen.
On the flip side of the coin, if Jeannie were to lose her arms or even if she were to be
blindfolded, she wouldn't be able to do a thing.
Even though the odds of both Samantha and Jeannie getting maimed in this way are quite
slim, it's still a hypothetical situation that highlights who objectively had the superior
powers.
Who Had The Better Job, Tony Or Darrin?
Unfortunately, this one is pretty much a given.
Samantha's husband, Darrin, worked in advertising with a fairly typical desk job.
While that career path certainly is admirable, it doesn't hold a candle to the innate coolness
of Tony Nelson's job as an astronaut.
Sure, Darrin was a respectable guy.
Everything that he set out to do, he approached it with virtue.
He was a straight-shooter who got things done, and he brought integrity to every campaign
that he helped develop.
But once again, how can that compare to being an astronaut?
Back in the 60s, every kid in America wanted to grow up to be like Buzz Aldrin and Neal
Armstrong!
What kid wanted to grow up to work in advertising?
Who Had The Most Meddling Boss?
Tony Nelson had quite a few superiors that he had to answer to over at NASA, but the
biggest workplace foe that he had to contend with was the agency's resident psychiatrist
Dr. Alfred Bellows, played by the late Hayden Rorke.
Bellows always suspected that something was off about Tony, but every time that one of
his theories was disproven, he was forced to go back to the drawing board.
Over on Bewitched, Darrin's boss over at the advertising agency was a man named Larry Tate,
played by David White.
Larry was always oblivious to Darrin's magical personal life, but in one alternate reality
episode, we did get to see what would happen if he found out about Darrin and Samantha's
secret.
In the episode in question, Larry witnessed Samantha using her magic.
Instead of getting upset or running away, Larry revealed to Darrin that with that kind
of power, they could take over the world – something that he apparently had been dreaming of doing
ever since he was a little kid.
In this category, we have to say that I Dream of Jeannie takes the cake.
We only ever got to see Larry’s dark desires that one time but Dr. Alfred Bellow’s meddling
ways proved to be a thorn in Tony Nelson’s side throughout the entire show.
Which Couple Had The Better Relationship?
With most sitcoms, the audience ends up growing bored and losing interest after the two leads
end up as a couple, but with Bewitched, we got immediately filled in at the outset of
the series about how Samantha and Darrin met and ended up marrying each other.
There was no guessing whether or not they would ever end up getting together because
they already did.
The rest of the show's emphasis was on them trying to live a normal life together.
Good luck with that!
Over on the I Dream of Jeannie side of things, it was revealed that Tony was engaged to someone
else in the first episode, but after finding Jeannie in her bottle on the beach and inadvertently
bringing her home with him, that pretty much put an end to his engagement.
In the early seasons of the show, Tony pretty much just put up with Jeannie while she was
madly devoted to him.
Throughout their journey together, Jeannie continued to complicate Tony's life with her
magic.
She intended to make life easier for him, but rarely did her actions ever actually accomplish
this.
Through trials and tribulations over the course of the series, Tony realized how much he loved
her.
By the final season, the two ended up getting married.
This shifted the dynamic away from Tony being afraid of people seeing Jeannie to him instead
of trying to prevent them from witnessing her magical powers.
Comparing the two shows and the relationships depicted in each one, Bewitched comes out
on top as the clear winner in this category.
For one thing, I Dream of Jeannie losing a few points for just how many times Jeannie
referred to Tony as ‘master’.
This particular element of the series obviously hasn’t aged very well.
Also, Tony was always kind of a jerk to Jeannie.
He spent most of his time merely trying to put up with her while Darrin and Samantha
had a loving, albeit nontraditional and frequently challenging, relationship.
There was never a question about whether Darrin loved his wife.
Despite her flaws, he was head over heels for her, and it showed!
Which Show Had The Better Animated Intro?
In early episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, the show opened with a dash of narration and several
clips highlighting events from the previous episodes.
It didn't take long, however, for the show to feature a cartoon opening sequence.
Bewitched featured a very similar animated intro right out fo the gate.
Fortunately, both cartoon openings are equally charming!
So, that means we'll have to give a point to both I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched for
this one.
At the end of the day, which show is the superior one largely comes down to a matter of personal
preference.
If you were keeping score, Bewitched earned more points in our brief assessment, but even
so, it’s difficult for us to say which series we actually prefer.
Sure, they both have similar premises and clearly borrowed from each other, but they
still had great chemistry on their own.
From character development to writing, both I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched were equally
fantastic offerings!
Which series do you prefer?
And do you think that I Dream of Jeannie really was a knockoff of Bewitched or do you think
that it had enough going for it to set it apart?
Let us know in the comments section down below.
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