<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The series was created and produced by Sidney Sheldon in response to the great success of rival network ABC's Bewitched series, which had debuted in 1964 as the second-most watched program in the United States . Sheldon, inspired by the movie The Brass Bottle, which had starred Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, and Burl Ives as the jinn Fakrash, conceived of the idea for a beautiful female genie . Both I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched were Screen Gems productions . The show debuted at 8 pm, Saturday, September 18, 1965, on NBC . </P> <P> When casting was opened for the role of Jeannie, producer Sidney Sheldon could not find an actress who could play the role the way that he had written it . He did have one specific rule: He did not want a blonde genie, because the similarity with the blonde witch on Bewitched would be too much . However, after many unsuccessful auditions, he called Barbara Eden's agent . When NBC began telecasting most of its prime - time television programs in color in fall 1965, Jeannie was one of two regular programs on NBC that remained in black and white, in this case because of the special photographic effects employed to achieve Jeannie's magic . By the second season, however, further work had been done on techniques to create the visual effects in color, necessary because by 1966 all prime - time series in the United States were being made in color . </P>

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