 In several interviews Sidney Sheldon (qv) has said that he used  _Brass Bottle, The (1964)_ (qv) (a film about a man,  Tony Randall (I) (qv), who unleashes a genie, Burl Ives (qv),  who causes more problems for his master than he solves) as a working  model for the show. In the movie Randalls girlfriend was played by  Barbara Eden (I) (qv).