To I Dream of Jeannie fans, Larry Hagman will always be Tony Nelson, but the role was actually played by another actor at one point.
When the I Dream of Jeannie … Fifteen Years Later movie aired on NBC on Oct. 20, 1985, Wayne Rogers — who was best known for his role as Trapper John on M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1975 — portrayed Tony alongside the sitcom’s returning stars Barbara Eden as Jeannie, Bill Daily as Roger Healy and Hayden Rorke as Dr. Alfred Bellows.
In a resurfaced interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Eden, now 94, explained why Hagman opted not to reprise his role as Tony in the reunion film.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get Larry because by then he was doing Dallas, and he was working very hard and didn’t want to do a movie plus his Dallas schedule,” the actress said.
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Despite Hagman’s absence, Eden praised Rogers for stepping in as Tony, even if the recast led to some noticeable changes.
“We were lucky to have Wayne Rogers as the master,” she continued. “The film was very good but not the same because he’s different. I mean, we’re all so unique and individual, so it was different. And Wayne brought a different texture and had a little more of an edge than Larry. For me, it was intimidating because it had been so long and I was older. But overall it was well received.”
Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Eden returned once again without Hagman — who was on hiatus after wrapping up his run on Dallas — for a second film, 1991’s I Still Dream of Jeannie. Instead of recasting Tony, the movie mentioned his character, but he never appeared onscreen.
Eden and Hagman starred as love interests Jeannie and her astronaut master, Tony, on the NBC sitcom I Dream of Jeannie for five seasons from September 1965 to May 1970. Hagman later enjoyed a TV resurgence in his iconic role as J. R. Ewing on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas, which aired for 14 seasons from April 1978 to May 1991.
Hagman died in November 2012 after complications from acute myeloid leukemia. He was 81.
Meanwhile, Eden celebrated her 94th birthday in August.
The following month, Eden reflected on her instant chemistry with Hagman.
“It was immediate, and I have no idea why, but it was,” she told People in September. “We just were on that same carpet, if you will. I believed him and he believed me when we were working.”
Eden also expressed her disappointment that she and Hagman were not able to share the screen in the I Dream of Jeannie reunion films.
“I think they stand on their own,” she said of the follow-up movies. “I’m really sorry Larry couldn’t do them, but he was very busy with Dallas.”
Despite the scheduling conflict, Eden and Hagman reunited during the final season of Dallas when she guest-starred as Lee Ann De La Vega — a wealthy woman seeking revenge against J. R. — in five episodes that aired in 1990 and 1991.
“It was wonderful,” she recalled. “We can be different people, and we were in that. It wasn’t Jeannie and Master at all, and I enjoyed it, and I think Larry did too.”
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