I know that Larry Hagman once again was unavailable to reprise his role as Tony Nelson in I Still Dream of Jeannie but does anyone know if Wayne Rogers who had played Tony in 15 Years Later even asked to play him again for this film.
shareNOt alot of behind-the-scenes info has been made public about this telefilm. Barbara only briefly mentioned the 1985 film in an interview the Archive of American Television. This film wasn't even brought up.
I have a feeling that there was probably some fan backlash with Wayne Rogers playing the role of Tony Nelson in the first telefilm and the producers wanted to avoid that a second time around. The plot was written in such a way that he was spoken of but not seen.
I agree that using anyone to replace Hagman was a mistake (it always is when replacing mainstay actors) but leaving Tony out entirely from this story was just a bad idea. Then again, so was the entire plot of this film. I felt bad for Eden and Daily.
shareIt's kinda funny though that Ken Kercheval is in the movie, while the great Larry Hagman didn't find the time of day to be part of this movie and give the fans what they wanted.
shareHagman was still doing Dallas when this was made, so he was kinda busy. And a lot of actors, successful ones, anyway, leave their earlier roles behind when they move on. Ken Kercheval? lol
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