Cult-TV Theme Watch: Djinn

A djinni -- or genie -- is a tricky or mischievous spirit creature from Arabic and Islamic folk-lore.  

The word “djinn” means (approximately…) “hidden from sight,” and that derivation explains the djinni’s modus operandi. He or she can disappear or appear at will (or go into a bottle, perhaps…), and also grant a master's wishes.

 But beware, for the djinn is known as a tricky creature, one bound and determined to turn your wishes of “world peace” into a slow-motion disaster-in-the-making.

The most famous djinni or genie in cult-television history appears in the Sidney Sheldon sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965 – 1970).  

In this series, an Air Force captain, Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) crashes on a South Pacific island and opens up an old bottle he has found there.  From the bottle emerges Jeannie (Barbara Eden) of Basenji, a djinn who has been trapped inside for 2,000 years.  

For the next five years, Jeannie alternately helps and hinders her hapless master, while the two also fall in love.  The series is, essentially, a knock-off of the similar Bewitched, but remains an incredibly entertaining program nonetheless.

Djinn made two appearances on Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (1959 – 1964) in the 1960s.  

In the episode, from writer Rod Serling, “Man in The Bottle,” a diabolical genie (Joseph Ruskin) makes his master be careful what he wishes for.  The man wishes to be wealthy…and is visited by the IRS soon after. Then, he wishes for power, and is transformed into Hitler during this final days at the end of World War II. With no choice left, the man uses his final wish to return to his old life.

In “I Dream of Jeannie” by John Furia, a nice guy, George (Howard Morris) comes across a genie, but instead of making three wishes, makes only one wish, and for the good of the homeless to boot.

One of the most underrated episodes of The X-Files (1993 -1999) -- “Je Souhaite” -- by Vince Gilligan also involves a djinn. 

 In this case, a djinni (Paula Sorge) is discovered by two redneck idiots -- played to perfection by Will Sasso and Kevin Weisman -- and forced to make their ridiculous wishes, like invisibility, come true.  

In the last half of the episode, Mulder (David Duchovny) gets three wishes, and attempts to out-smart the djinn, without any luck.  The episode’s final message is that perhaps human beings simply aren’t meant to possess such world-changing power, and that they should concentrate instead on the kindnesses they can grant people in every day life.

Anya (Emma Caulfield) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003) is also, technically, a genie, since she grants wishes to wronged women, though -- in the vernacular of the series - she is referred to more commonly as a “vengeance demon.”