One day while jogging on the boardwalk, he passes a flea market and bumps into one of the tables causing an old green bottle to fall off and crack.

[6] Although the grateful Shabu decides to abide by the traditional role of a genie, he is somewhat disappointed by Burrows' modest lifestyle, having lived in royal palaces with historical figures such as Cleopatra, King Arthur and Napoleon Bonaparte.

[3] Much of the show's humor came from Shabu using his powers to play practical jokes on Burrows and generally causing him embarrassment in daily life.

[1][2] The series was initially conceived by brothers Lawrence and Charles Gordon as a modern-day television adaptation of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.

The two were both experienced television producers and, in association with Lorimar, were supported by the American Broadcasting Company hoping for a viable challenger to run against rival network NBC's The A-Team.

Carter was very enthusiastic about the series and at a later press conference told journalists that he wanted Shabu to be seen, in regards to younger viewers, as "the first black superhero".

"[7] Just Our Luck premiered on September 20, 1983, as part of ABC's Tuesday night lineup, and featured Tab Hunter in a cameo appearance.

[11]The NAACP objected to the series, claiming a black character being portrayed as a thankful servant to a white male was offensive, and called for a national boycott of ABC until it was taken off the air.

Willis Edwards, president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP, stated Shabu was "an embarrassing and degrading portrayal of a black male in the 80s.

[4] Among the changes they made included removing the term of "master" and "servant" in the show dialogue, restricting so-called "jive talk" from Carter, the hiring of African-American writers and actor Leonard Simon to play anchorman Jim Dexter.

[22] Just Our Luck attempted to recover from the bad publicity and brought in Roy Orbison, Dr. Joyce Brothers and Wink Martindale as guest stars.

Though it did find some appeal among children, particularly for its special effects, it failed to win the 18-49 demographic and was consistently beaten in head-to-head competition by The A-Team throughout its run.

[24] The show was unable to escape its reputation, such as Philippa Hawker of The Age finding the main characters unappealing, referring to Shabu as "your standard irritating genie" and Burrows as "a rat".

Klymaxx recorded Barry De Vorzon and Joseph Conlan's theme song for their 1984 album Meeting in the Ladies Room.