I Dream of Genie
"I Dream of Genie" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. This episode is a comedy about a man who finds a genie and struggles to decide what to wish for, pondering the question through a series of hypothetical dream sequences.
| "I Dream of Genie" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | Robert Gist |
| Written by | John Furia Jr. |
| Featured music | Fred Steiner |
| Production code | 4860 |
| Original air date | March 21, 1963 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Howard Morris: George P. Hanley | |
Plot
George P. Hanley, a shy office worker, shops for a birthday gift for the beautiful Miss Ann Lawson, the secretary in the office where he works. The gift store has just received a heavily soiled oil lamp as part of a random assortment from a distributor; believing it to be worthless, the owner smooth-talks George into buying it for $20. He takes it back to work but is beaten to the punch when his brash co-worker Roger gives Ann a skimpy nightgown. Ann thanks Roger with a kiss. Despondent, George takes the gift-boxed lamp and heads home, where he is greeted by his dog Attila. When George rubs the lamp while cleaning it, a genie emerges. The genie is something of a disappointment; not only is he dressed in modern garb - except for his shoes - but also he offers George only one wish, rather than the traditional three. The genie suggests that George consider very carefully what he should wish for.
Throughout the evening and the whole next day, as he considers his various choices, he daydreams various wish scenarios. Attila accompanies him through these dream sequences, but with his breed modified to match George's own changed profession.
He first thinks about wishing for love, and dreams of being married to Ann, who is a successful movie star who will not be torn away from her career. George discovers she is having an affair with Roger, who is also a movie star. He concludes that in any circumstance, he would ultimately lose a woman like Ann.
The next day at work, as Roger is in the boss's office discussing a promotion to head bookkeeper - a position George is supposedly up for as well - George contemplates having money. He is a wealthy tycoon with Roger as his chauffeur and Ann as his financial assistant. He is made to realize that being able to immediately buy anything he wants, without having to wait or struggle for it, and having the capacity to give away vast amounts, is not satisfying. Indeed, it takes the flavor out of life. He awakes from this fantasy to the news that Roger has won the promotion.
As George and Attila later take a walk, George settles on power as his third prospective wish. He imagines being President of the United States. Though initially successful, he is paralyzed by indecision when faced with a global UFO crisis. George realizes the problem with all three wishes is that while his circumstances change, he himself remains a loser, and that he can only improve his life by changing himself. This inspires him to finally decide on a wish.
In the final scene, a homeless man finds the lamp in a garbage can and polishes it. The genie who emerges is George, still accompanied by Attila. Unlike the genie who served him, George and Attila both wear the stereotypical turbaned genie garb, and grant three wishes to the finder on the condition that the lamp be returned to the alley afterwards for another needy person to find.
Closing narration
Mr. George P. Hanley, former vocation; jerk. Present vocation; genie. George P. Hanley, a most ordinary man whom life treated without deference, honor, or success, but a man wise enough to decide on a most extraordinary wish, it makes him the contended permanent master of his own altruistic Twilight Zone.
Cast
- George P. Hanley was played by Howard Morris
- Ann was played by Patricia Barry
- Watson was played by Loring Smith
- Starlet was played by Joyce Jameson
- Genie was played by Jack Albertson
- Roger was played by Mark Miller [1]