Just Our Luck

I just had the pleasure to watch some episodes of this "almost lost in time" show.

At the time it aired in my country I was around 10 and I loved the vibes of this show. It never appeared to me as anything near racist or anything with a serious power struggle. On rewatch this was confirmed. Shabu and Keith treat each other as room mates, with the exception that Shabu is a bit of the messy extroverted roommate that needs a bit of intervention from their more reserved serious roommate.

I still struggle to understand how Keith is hesitant to enjoy anything more than the bare minimum of magic that Shabu brings in. Shabu is a bit of a manic pixie dream genie for wanting to turn the apartment inside out with lavish magic fun. But it's an old show that is not meant to be deep. A bit like "I Dream of Jeannie", but without any subservient behavior from the genie. On the contrary!

It's all about the fun atmosphere and two characters who are opposites, clash a little but also are great friends that reach a good compromise at the end of each episode where they enjoy the situation they created.

Although I remember a few "racist" accusations because the gennie was black this show was so much fun. I loved this show when I was 7 and was upset by it's cancellation. All I remember is the friendship between the lead male and the genie. It taught me a bit about friendship. I miss this show and it always will be a great reminder of my childhood.

I remember the NAACP threatening to boycott the network if they continued to air this garbage. There was such a lack of diversity on TV at the time and the thought of a grown black man calling a white man "master" was just too much for many African Americans. I remember T K Carter responding to the cancellation of the show and the uproar by the NAACP over the shows controversy theme. He stated "nobody asked me how I felt". He seemed hurt that no one, especially a black organization, didn't bother to ask his opinion. But critics agreed the show was unfunny and juvenile at best. It could have possible worked on Saturday morning TV if the network had casted a white actor in the genie role. The earlier poster stated he was 7 at the time of the airing of this show. You would have had to have the mindset of a 7 year old to have like this show.

This was yet another great sitcom that was unforunately "lost" through the years and most likely doesn't even exist in anyone's tape collections anymore.

I remember one episode where the family wished Shabu to give them all a credit card that they can use to get anyhting at stores for free...they wound up getting so much free stuff that it filled the rooms in their house up, so they wound up wishing everything never happened.

I was so sad when this show was, unfairly, cancelled. I thought it was one of the most fun and feel-good shows out there. Shabu was really a cool, fun, and interesting character. I loved his friendship with Keith. They really worked well together and balanced each other out. Too bad this show seems all but forgotten. I just hope the actors know that I think they did a great job and that this show is still is a favorite of mine.