‘Bewitched’ vs. ‘I Dream of Jeannie’: Which Magical Sitcom Reigns Supreme?

Who had a better way of channeling her magic?

On Bewitched, Samantha had two ways of making magic. She would either raise her arms and speak an incantation (which always rhymed like a Dr. Seuss story), or, more often, she would twitch her nose and make things happen without a word. This no doubt caused many convulsions amongst viewers who tried to do the same with their faces! On I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie would have to fold her arms over each other and blink.

Winner: Bewitched. Samantha could lose her arms in a horrible accident and still make her nose twitch to make some magic. If Jeannie lost her arms or was wearing a really tight blindfold, she couldn't do nuthin'. Sure the odds are slim of that happening, but it could.

Who had the cooler job, Darrin or Tony?

Alright, this is pretty much a no-brainer. Samantha's husband Darrin works in advertising and as such is an influencer. That is certainly an admirable job, and the guy seems like a pretty straight-shooter. And we really respect the heck out of him as he brings integrity to any campaigns that he develops. But Jeannie's master Tony Nelson is a friggin' astronaut. So, need we say more?

Winner: I Dream of Jeannie. To quote some famous words, Tony Nelson's a friggin' astronaut.

Who had the better relationship?

One of the big common elements of sitcoms, in general, is whether or not the leading couple will end up together, and in the vast number of situations, once they do, the audience grows bored and ratings begin to drop. Bewitched nipped that particular creative challenge in the butt by filling us in on how Samantha and Darrin met, her revelation to him that she's a witch and his expression of continued love, with an emphasis on them living a normal life. Hah!

Over on the other side of the face-off, Tony was engaged, as we discovered in the first episode, but his finding Jeannie's bottle on that beach and bringing it (and her) home pretty much put an end to that. In the early seasons, Tony more or less tolerated Jeannie, while she was hopelessly devoted to him (cue the Olivia Newton-John song). Along the way, she continually complicated his life with the use of her magic, despite intentions to make things easier for him. However, by the last year (and presumably to help boost sagging ratings), he recognizes how much he loves her and the two of them get married. As a result, the set-up becomes that he is no longer afraid people will see Jeannie, it's that they'll witness her using her magic powers.

Winner: Bewitched. Looking back from today, maybe I Dream of Jeannie should have been called Fifty Shades of Jeannie, considering how much time the character spends calling Tony Nelson "master". Definitely not an element of the show that has aged well. Also, Tony was kind of a jerk with the way he treated her, especially early on. On the other hand, the relationship between Darrin and Samantha had a more natural ring to it, and there was no question that he was madly in love with her from the beginning.

Who had the scarier woman out to expose them?

Both series had an element of danger about them in that despite the best-laid plans of husband and…uh, master, there were outside forces threatening to expose what was going on in each household. For Bewitched, it was Mrs. Gladys Kravitz (Alice Pearce, followed by Sandra Gould), the next-door neighbor. Despite her husband Abner's protests, she spent long periods of time peeking through the blinds of her windows, trying to catch evidence of strange going ons in the Stephens household. With Jeannie, it was Amanda Bellows (Emmaline Henry), who was hellbent on discovering the secrets of Tony Nelson. While her husband, NASA psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke) was trying to do the same thing, his efforts were played with much more buffoonery.

Winner: I Dream of Jeannie. Look, Mrs. Kravitz could be dismissed as a harmless kook, and, worse case scenario, Samantha could have turned her into a chipmunk or something. But with Amanda Bellows, there was a certain madness there in her obsession, and you got the sense that if she ever found out about Jeannie, she could be a real problem.

Who had to deal with the most meddling boss?

While Tony Nelson had a number of superiors that he needed to answer to at NASA, probably the biggest "foe" he faced was resident psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Bellows (Hayden Rorke). Bellows knew there was something off about Tony, but every time one of his seemingly outlandish theories was disproved, he went back to business as usual until the next time (and there was always a next time). Meanwhile, on Bewitched, Darrin's boss at the advertising agency was Larry Tate (David White), and while Larry was pretty clueless about Darrin's magical private life, we did get a taste of what would happen if he found out. In some sort of time-shift storyline, he witnesses Samantha's use of magic and his first response to Darrin is, "With that kind of power, we could take over the world….I've wanted to take over the world since I was a little kid." Uh, nice to have goals, Larry.

Winner: I Dream of Jeannie takes the prize, mostly because we only got to see Larry's dark impulses that one time. Plus, Alfred is married to Amanda, and that woman is like a bloodhound.

Who had the more iconic evil twin?

Anybody who still believes that there wasn't a healthy dose of "influence" coming from Bewitched to I Dream of Jeannie needs to look no further than the creation of the "evil" twins for both shows. In 1966, Elizabeth Montgomery donned a dark wig and became Samantha's cousin, Serena. In 1967, Barbara Eden donned a dark wig and became Jeannie's sister, also named Jeannie (apparently that's the name given to all female genies). What's interesting is the differences between the two. Serena comes across more like a spoiled teenager, quick to create chaos, happy to dance in go-go boots and the psychedelic clothes of the era. It's an opportunity for Elizabeth Montgomery to just have a little fun. But, on I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie 2 (for lack of a better name) is everything that our Jeannie isn't: conniving, filled with a dark streak, and intent on getting her hands on Tony Nelson to show him who is really the "master". Interesting stuff.

Winner: I Dream of Jeannie. Damn! What is it about those dark, twisted women that make them so appealing….Oh, wait, did we write that out loud?

Who had the more beloved addition to their family, a magic baby or a magic dog?

Undoubtedly we're going to hear about it for comparing a baby to a dog, but with these shows we have no choice. Part of Bewitched's journey was showing the evolution of a marriage, though admittedly in a comic setting. Nonetheless, we saw the early married days of Darrin and Samantha, struggles with the in-laws and relatives (please say you remember Paul Lynde's Uncle Arthur), and so on. Having a baby was the next natural step, and they worked that in nicely to the show, resulting in Tabitha, following a couple of seasons later by Adam. Needless to say, she's a witch and he's a warlock.

No kiddies for Jeannie and Tony, but her old dog, Djin Djin, did show up, and lots of chaos ensued due to the fact that he's a magical dog who can make himself invisible. This actually comes in handy when Mrs. Bellows (her again!) shows up in one episode to pick things up for a charity auction and thinks that the dog is a stray, so she adopts it. Deciding to bring it to NASA (for some reason), Djin Djin becomes invisible and starts attacking anyone in uniform. Turns out the mutt was terrorized by guards 2,000 years earlier and now hates all uniforms.

Winner: Bewitched. Dogs are fun, but because of Djin Djin's temperament we'll go with the kid. Eventually the character of Tabitha got her own spin-off series in 1976, with Lisa Hartman in the title role.

Which show had the cuter cartoon opening?

Although early on I Dream of Jeannie opened up with a bit of narration and clips highlighting events from the first couple of episodes, it wasn't long before it switched over to an animated opening — which had been a part of Bewitched from the very beginning. Thankfully, both are cute.

Winner: It's a tie! Take an animated bow, people.

Which leading man had the better attitude about their new magical lives?

Darrin just wanted to live a normal life, despite the fact his wife, her mother, her warlock father, and everyone else in her family was of the supernatural sort. He wanted them to live as mortals, struggling through as other people did and making things work, or having them not work, on their own. For his part, Tony protested almost every time Jeannie did any magic, whether it was incredible feats or having him float mid-air horizontally where she tried to get all snuggly with him.

Winner: Neither one of them. They're both dopes! So it's a tie.

Who had the most monster of all mothers-in-law?

We admit that this last one isn't really that fair, since Samantha's mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead), was a part of the show from the beginning and Tony's mom, referred to as Mother (Spring Byington), only appears in one episode. Yet in that 30 minutes she does an awful lot to make sure that Tony is getting married…just not to Jeannie. And on the witchy side of the street, Endora spent a lot of her time trying to convince Samantha to leave "Dum-Dum," as she called Darrin. What a nickname.

Winner: Endora on Bewitched. Let's face it, that witch was a real….witch.

The Results: Well, our judges have tallied all of the responses (yes, every single one of them) and what we've discovered is that with a pair of ties, and four points for each show, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie both work, and both are worthy of being deemed TV Classics.

Of course, we could have told you that at the beginning, but why spoil the fun?