Genie the Genie
- An outrageous, curly-haired 2,000 year-old genie featured on the comedy YOU
WISH (GENIE)/ABC/1997-98. Genie once lived in ancient Persia until he made the
mistake of falling love with his last female "master". For his crime, Genie was
imprisoned inside a rug and left to languish through the centuries. Then one day
in the 20th century, a single, divorced mom named Gillian Apple decides she
wants a new rug for her bathroom and so she visits a Los Angeles curio shop
owned by Madman Mustapha.
Checking over his inventory, Gillian unfurls an old-looking purple rug only to
find a genie named Genie inside. Thankful for his release, Genie pleads with
Gillian to be his new master. If she did, he would grant her every wish.
After some trepidation, the normally self-sufficient, Gillian (with some urging
from her kids) relents and accepts the services of Genie who becomes a member of
the Apple family - which includes Gillian's daughter Mickey (14), and her son
Travis (11).
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Mickey Apple |
Genie &
Gillian Apple |
Travis Apple |
Although Gillian allows Genie to live in her house, she is still reluctant to
cash in her "wish" chips. But, the best laid plans, as they say, soon go asunder
when a very busy Gillian wishes that there were more than one of her to manage
her hectic daily schedule of raising kids and going to work. The wish made,
Genie creates a clone of Gillian who ultimately competes with the real Gillian
as the Head of their home.
Another time, Gillian wishes she could read minds, to determine whether her son,
Mickey was lying or her or not. Genie, of course, grants her wish.
Holidays were a popular time for Genie to weave his magic. On Halloween, Genie
turns Mickey into a real witch to impress her date and newcomer to their house,
Grandpa Max brings Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy decorations to life to
roam the neighborhood. And when Genie can't decide what he wants to be on his
"first" Halloween, Gillian wishes that he can become human for a day.
On Thanksgiving, Genie shrinks Gillian but can't return her to full-size. In
steps Grandpa Max, who takes her to a magical festival called "Klunderbuk" for a
cure.
And on Christmas Genie gives each of the Apple kids a wish as a present. Mickey
wishes for snow in LA but a greedier Travis wishes it was Christmas all year
long. This imbalance in the universe is soon rectified after Santa Claus himself
arrives to find out who made such a stupid wish.
Other visitor's to the Apple home included Estelle, Genie's caustic mother who
didn't like the fact that her son was living with a "non-wisher"; Salem the
black cat owned by Sabrina the Teenage Witch who pops in for a visit and
accidentally transforms the Apple's into 1950s sitcom family type with Genie
acting like a poetry reading beatnik; Victoria, a beautiful genie in training
from Genie Academy whom Genie had to teach all the tricks of the genie trade
within a week; and Malevola, Genie's jealous fiancée whom he left standing at
the altar 2000 years earlier; and, of course, Genie's Grandpa Max, a 50,000
years old genie recently decommissioned who moves into the Apple home.
Add to the mix, Genie's ability to see the future (where Mickey is married to a
computer nerd); Genie's time portal, which an upset Mickey used to run away from
home to be a pirate); and Genie's conjuring up a romantic suitor for Gillian -
namely the real Don Juan and, at its core, the Apple home is a lot more fun
since Genie arrived on the scene.
YOU WISH
(GENIE)/ABC/1997-98
|
Cast Credits |
|
John Ales |
as |
Genie
|
|
Harley Jane
Kozak |
as |
Gillian Apple
|
|
Jerry Van Dyke |
as |
Grandpa Max |
|
Alex McKenna |
as |
Mickey Apple
|
|
Nathan
Lawrence |
as |
Travis Apple
|
|
John
Rhys-Davies |
as |
Madman
Mustapha |
|
Karen Lynn
Scott |
as |
Malevola,
Genie's fiancée |
|
Jessica Walter |
as |
Estelle,
Genie's mother |
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