“I Dream of Jeannie” may live on in syndication, but one big plot point still bugs the show’s star.
83-year-old Barbara Eden, who played Jeannie on the 1960s sitcom, told NBC’s Today Thursday that she thought the character’s marriage to Major Tony Nelson, played by Larry Hagman, was a mistake.
"She wasn't human. ... She thought she was and he knew she wasn't. ... It just ruined the show. ... I think it broke credibility," she said.
She also revealed that network executives had a hand in her iconic outfit, decreeing that she couldn’t show her belly button.
"They became very strict about the navel ... very strict about the pantaloons. They had to be very shadowed so you couldn't see my legs," she said.
While the actress had a long career after the series ended in 1970, she doesn’t have a problem with being known as “Jeannie” forever, she told the Las Vegas Sun in June.
“It’s extremely rare that an actor will have a part that can define them for the public. Before I did 'Jeannie,' I did many movies with Paul Newman, Elvis Presley, you name it, but no one really knew who I was. I was just the girl who was sung to or rescued or cried a lot.”
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