''Just Our Luck'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

for 13 episodes (two were unaired) from September 20 to December 27, 1983. Created by brothers Lawrence and Charles Gordon, it was considered a modernized version of the 1960s sitcom ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...

'' and starred

Richard Gilliland Richard Morris Gilliland (January 23, 1950 – March 18, 2021) was an American television and movie actor, best known as JD Shackleford in '' Designing Women'' (1986–1992). Life and career Gilliland was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to parents R ...

as a mild-mannered TV weatherman for KPOX-TV, and

T. K. Carter Thomas Kent Carter (born December 18, 1956) is an American actor known for his roles in ''The Thing (1982 film), The Thing'', ''Punky Brewster'', ''The Corner'', ''Southern Comfort (1981 film), Southern Comfort'', ''Doctor Detroit, Corvette Summe ...

as a hip, fun-loving 3,000-year-old

genie GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) was an online service provider, online service created by a General Electric business, GEIS (now GXS Inc., GXS), that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around ...

who is freed by Gilliland after being imprisoned in his bottle for nearly two centuries. The series was produced by

Lorimar Productions Lorimar Television, formerly Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969

, and initially promoted by ABC as one of its new ambitious comedies along with '' Webster''. ''Just Our Luck'' was created to compete against ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

but earned low ratings for much of its run. It was poorly received by critics, however, and was the subject of controversy when the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

charged the show with promoting negative stereotypes of African-Americans. The NAACP originally campaigned to have the show removed but later settled for a degree of

creative control Artistic control or creative control is a term commonly used in media production, such as movies, television, music production, or some other cultural product. A person, or the studio or production company, with artistic control has the authority ...

in the show's development. This included changes to Carter's dialogue, the hiring of black staff writers and the addition of Leonard Simon to the cast. The show was cancelled after three months.

Main plot

Keith Burrows (

) is a young TV weatherman working at KPOX-TV Channel 6 in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. One day while jogging on the

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

, he passes a

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

and bumps into one of the tables causing an old green bottle to fall off and crack. Burrows is forced to buy the bottle and brings it home with him. Later that night, his cat breaks the bottle and releases Shabu, a 3,000 year-old genie. The genie tells Burrows that he had been imprisoned in the bottle for 196 yearsClute, John and John Grant, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. (pg. 527) Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh. ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present''. New York: Random House, 2007. (pg. 723) and offers to serve Burrows for 2,000 years or until his death, in Shabu's words, "whichever comes first". 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 Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

and

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. 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. He did, however, sometimes help Burrows with social and work related problems. In one episode, he helps liven up a party thrown to impress the station manager so Burrows could keep his job. At times, Shabu's efforts would backfire. In the episode "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Burrows", for example, Shabu gives Burrows "a jolt of self confidence", causing him to become extremely egotistical, self-centered and obnoxious. The pair would frequently interact with Burrows' co-workers at KPOX-TV; program director Meagan Huxley (Ellen Maxted), her fiancée and station manager Nelson Marriott ( Rod McCary), weatherman Professor Bob (

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (born Robin S. Camp; 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a British-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He is known for his work as a folk singer during the 1960s ...

) and Burrows' neighbor Chuck ( Richard Schaal). Jim Dexter (Leonard Simon), a news anchorman, was introduced later in the season.

History

The series was initially conceived by brothers Lawrence and Charles Gordon as a modern-day

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of '' Aladdin and the Magic Lamp''. The two were both experienced television producers and, in association with

Lorimar Lorimar may refer to: * Lorimar Television, previously Lorimar Productions and later Lorimar Distribution, an American film and television production and marketing company from 1969 to 1986 * Lorimar-Telepictures, formed in 1986 after the merger of ...

, were supported by the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

hoping for a viable challenger to run against rival network

's ''

''. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, ABC had dominated Tuesday nights with shows such as ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'', ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'' and similar programming. When ''The A-Team'' debuted in the spring of 1983, however, the network was forced to regroup. ''Happy Days'', then in its final season, was moved back half an hour to 8:30 p.m. and a new series, ''Just Our Luck'', took its place. It was one of two shows starring an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

lead, the other being '' Webster'', to make its debut in the 1983 fall season. ''Just Our Luck'' was promoted by the network as one of its new ambitious comedy series and was the focus of memorable and humorous advertisements. In one of these, Shabu appeared with Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli of ''

'' and shrunk a

Mr. T Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A ...

look-alike A look-alike, or double, is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of Family resemblance (anthropology), family resemblance. Some look-alikes have been notable individua ...

to the size of a midget. ''Just Our Luck'' was

's first starring role in a television series. 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". He later objected to comparisons of ''

'' and responded to critics charges of racial stereotyping, His co-star

, who had appeared in a string of cancelled series from the final season of ''

McMillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan Places Australia * Division of McMillan, electoral district in Australian House of Representatives in Victoria ...

'' to the short-lived follow up to his appearance in the

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'', was optimistic about the show's chances. After the cancellation of ''Little Women'', he was reluctant to audition for the show at first but agreed to read for the part of Keith Burrows at the last minute.

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is widely known for his role as patriarch Gomez Addams in ''The Addams Famil ...

, a fellow cast member from ''

Operation Petticoat ''Operation Petticoat'' is a 1959 American World War II submarine comedy film in Eastmancolor from Universal-International, produced by Robert Arthur, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. The film tells in flash ...

'', directed the pilot episode. In regards to the relationship between the two characters, Gilliland commented ''"I think the two characters will have a dual dependency. In the future, Keith will become more magical and Shabu more mortal. Figuratively, Shabu is the master. I want to get rid of him but I can't. I'm stuck with him."''

Reception

''Just Our Luck'' premiered on September 20, 1983, as part of ABC's Tuesday night lineup, and featured

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s ...

in a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

. Almost immediately after its first episode, it was panned by many TV critics. The series would continue to receive generally poor reviews from many TV critics throughout the season. These were mostly complaints of the writing being uninteresting or clichéd as well as unfavorable comparisons to the 1960s series ''

''. Some noted Carter's character as being similar to the type of "streetwise"

character acting A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, ...

often played by African-Americans on television and the racial nature of the relationship between the two main characters. One reviewer, Kathryn Olney of ''

Mother Jones Magazine ''Mother Jones'' (abbreviated ''MoJo'') is a nonprofit American left-wing magazine that focuses on news, commentary, and investigative journalism on topics including politics, environment, human rights, health and culture. Clara Jeffery serves ...

'', compared it to a 1980s version of ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' was an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago then later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...

''.

Baird Searles William Baird Searles (1934–1993) was a science fiction author and critic. He was best known for his long-running review columns for the magazines ''Asimov's'' (reviewing books), '' Amazing'', and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (reviewing films, ...

decried the series as "cutesy drivel". A few, however, were more supportive, such as Stuart Bykofsky of '' The Day'', who reported "an occasional spark of wit that is very easy to take". Richard Corliss from

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

also wrote Just Our Luck "scores as hip, underplayed farce". Chuck Gordon, one of the show's four executive producers, said ''"When we wrote the script, there was no dialect. T.K. designed the role. He was allowed to play himself."'' The show's star, T.K. Carter, supported the producer's and commented on his character at an October 22 press conference. The

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 A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

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."'' In October 1983, the organization announced that ABC had conceded to their demands and allowed the NAACP partial

over the series. Among the changes they made included removing the term of "master" and "servant" in the show dialogue, restricting so-called "

jive talk Jive talk, also known as Harlem jive or simply Jive, the argot of jazz, jazz jargon, vernacular of the jazz world, slang of jazz, and parlance of hip is an African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem, where "jiv ...

" from Carter, the hiring of African-American writers and actor Leonard Simon to play anchorman Jim Dexter. ''Just Our Luck'' attempted to recover from the bad publicity and brought in

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, Dr.

Joyce Brothers Joyce Diane Bauer Brothers (October 20, 1927 – May 13, 2013) was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer. In 1955, she won the top prize on the American game show '' The $64,000 Question.'' Her fame from ...

and

Wink Martindale Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (December 4, 1933 – April 15, 2025) was an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host and television producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he was known for his outgoing and jovial demeanor and ...

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 ''

'' throughout its run. In spite of its efforts, ABC canceled the series after eleven episodes. The series was broadcast overseas in late 1984 and 1985 in countries as far away as

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The show was unable to escape its reputation, such as Philippa Hawker of ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' finding the main characters unappealing, referring to Shabu as "your standard irritating genie" and Burrows as "a rat". ''Just Our Luck'' was one of the series featured in ''TV Turkeys'' (1987) by Kevin Allman. The series also aired in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on ITV in 1984.

Theme song

Klymaxx Klymaxx is an American all-female pop/ R&B band from Los Angeles, California. The band's classic lineup consisted of Bernadette Cooper, Lorena Porter Shelby, Cheryl Cooley, Robbin Grider, Lynn Malsby, and Joyce "Fenderella" Irby. Klymaxx is bes ...

recorded

Barry De Vorzon Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He worked as a pop musician during the 1960s and co-founded Valiant Records, before being known as a composer of film and television scores ...

and Joseph Conlan's theme song for their 1984 album ''

Meeting in the Ladies Room ''Meeting in the Ladies Room'' is the third studio album by Klymaxx, released in 1984. In the US, it reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 9 on the R&B album chart. It is certified RIAA certification, Gold. Klymaxx ga ...

''.

Characters

* Shabu (

) - a 3,000-year-old genie * Keith Burrows (

) - a good-natured, earnest but somewhat dull television weatherman * Meagan Huxley (Ellen Maxted) - the station's program director * Nelson Marriott ( Rod McCary) - station manager * Chuck ( Richard Schaal) - Keith's neighbor * Professor Bob (

) - weatherman * Jim Dexter (Leonard Simon) - news anchor

US television ratings

Episodes

Production Codes were taken from the U.S. Copyright Office.

Notes

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title 1983 American television series debuts 1983 American television series endings 1980s American single-camera sitcoms Television series by Lorimar Television American English-language television shows American fantasy comedy television series Television shows about genies Television series about television Television shows set in California American Broadcasting Company sitcoms