The Reason ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ Was in Black and White for the First Season

Back in the 1960s, I Dream of Jeannie was among the first TV shows to birth colorized TV, but mystery has long surrounded the fact that the sitcom’s initial season was in black and white. The question has finally been answered. 

“I was pregnant,” I Dream of Jeannie star Barbara Eden revealed to PEOPLE. “I was going to have a baby, and so they started fast, and I think they thought I was going to die or something. They didn’t want to invest the money in the color.”

It has long been assumed that digital effects were not up to snuff when the show premiered in 1965, hence the black and white visuals, but the truth is, showrunners wanted to take a route they felt was safer. 

Eden, 94, gave birth to a son, Matthew Ansara, on Aug. 29, 1965.

The first color episode aired on Dec. 18, 1965, three months after I Dream of Jeannie premiered. Eden was the lead character of the NBC sitcom from 1965 to 1970.

In a 2001 interview with PEOPLE, the Golden Globe-nominated actress said she and her first husband, actor Michael Ansara, tried for nearly seven years to conceive a child.

“The same day that I Dream of Jeannie sold, the doctor told me I was pregnant,” she revealed at the time. “I was thrilled. I was so happy, but I knew they’d have to replace me. Well, God love [I Dream of Jeannie creator] Sidney Sheldon. He got to work, and we did the first 13 shows with me pregnant with Matthew.”

“I don’t know if becoming a mom changed me, but it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me,” she continued. “It’s a miracle, having a baby, and having this little creation. I get goosebumps when I think about it. It’s the loveliest thing that happened in my life.”

Matthew died of an accidental heroin overdose in 2001.