Let's talk about that classic TV Show WHAT'S HAPPENING!

I loved it!! Haven't seen it in years but ReRun was my fav, especially when he was dancing. OP you failed your own thread. And I loved this show. It was my first introduction to Janet Jackson and she was amazing as the waitress.

I loved it!! Haven't seen it in years but ReRun was my fav, especially when he was dancing.

by Anonymousreply 56August 24, 2018 7:28 PM

OP you failed your own thread.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 1August 23, 2018 9:22 PM

And I loved this show. It was my first introduction to Janet Jackson and she was amazing as the waitress.

by Anonymousreply 3August 23, 2018 9:23 PM

Especially when he dropped the boom box at the Doobie Brothers concert.

This show is so weird - it was on only 3 seasons and yet it was such a rerun staple (no pun intended) that you would have thought it had been on for 10.

by Anonymousreply 4August 23, 2018 9:28 PM

There was just something so likable about the characters.

by Anonymousreply 5August 23, 2018 9:35 PM

I wont lie,I had a pair of those rainbow striped suspenders !

by Anonymousreply 6August 23, 2018 9:36 PM

I loved Dwayne's hot bubble butt in tight jeans.

by Anonymousreply 7August 23, 2018 9:37 PM

It really is crazy that it lasted only 3 years. They certainly did a lot of living.

by Anonymousreply 8August 23, 2018 9:39 PM

Yeah, Dwayne gave me "the feels." I was so in love with him.

by Anonymousreply 9August 23, 2018 9:42 PM

Great theme music. The adults thought we were idiots for liking it, but they never gave it a chance.

by Anonymousreply 10August 23, 2018 9:52 PM

Along with the Doobie Bros episode... I loved the one where Dee thinks Roger is dying and he manipulates the hell out of her.

Fun fact: Dee is now a Vet. A friend of mine takes her pets to her.

Fun fact 2: Dwayne and his ass is the only character to appear in every single episode.

by Anonymousreply 11August 23, 2018 9:54 PM

ALL of the FAT people from What's Happening! have long since died: Mable King, Shirley Hemphill and of course rerun-Fred Berry.

by Anonymousreply 12August 23, 2018 10:01 PM

The show only lasted 3 seasons because Rerun and Raj wanted more money.

During the third season (1978-79), Berry again threatened to strike, not appearing in the third-season episode "Dee, the Cheerleader." Thomas again joined Berry and threatened to strike, leading to a contentious meeting with the executive producers, who opted to cancel the series, rather than give a pay raise to the stars.

by Anonymousreply 13August 23, 2018 10:02 PM

Raj was really likable, with his thick black framed glasses he looked like someone from 1966 not 1976.

by Anonymousreply 14August 23, 2018 10:02 PM

That's what happened to the Brady Bunch too. The manager of their recording act gave them a big head, and they forgot BB was actually a very low rated show.

by Anonymousreply 15August 23, 2018 10:05 PM

The Brady Bunch didn't become popular until years after it went off the air.

by Anonymousreply 16August 23, 2018 10:07 PM

Little Earl had jungle fever and then got shot down on Airplane by a girl who had jungle fever.

by Anonymousreply 17August 23, 2018 10:10 PM

But Happening was revived, for at least 2 seasons, wasn't it?

by Anonymousreply 18August 23, 2018 10:13 PM

Wow, Shirley Hemphill died only a month after Mabel King.

by Anonymousreply 19August 23, 2018 10:14 PM

Dwayne Nelson is cousin to Prince Rogers Nelson.

by Anonymousreply 20August 23, 2018 10:15 PM

R18-Yes. What's Happening Now! 1985-1987.

by Anonymousreply 21August 23, 2018 10:15 PM

Who didn't love Shirley? I wish her starring role series had survived, One In A Million. It couldn't have been that bad, especially if it had the same people behind it. Every episode Shirley would stick it to the corporate stuffed shirts.

by Anonymousreply 22August 23, 2018 10:18 PM

I watched for peeks at Rogers huge dong Dewayne's hiding his butt An their friend Marvin (he worked on the school newspaper)...Marvin looks like he is constantly erect in alot of scenes.Guess he didn't wear drawers.I was sad what they did to Mabel King (just dismissed her...without good reason. Disappointed at the attempts to make Shirley not a lesbian. An love/hated Rerun....

by Anonymousreply 23August 23, 2018 10:22 PM

I'm sorry-I know that it's considered a dance style and everything, but I always thought Reruns dancing was a joke (and not because of his weight). to me it was just spastic flailing that looked the same every time he did it. There, I said it.

by Anonymousreply 24August 23, 2018 10:25 PM

He did it the best! He was on Johnny Carson well before the sitcom ever existed. And had a great personality too.

by Anonymousreply 25August 23, 2018 10:29 PM

Fred Berry was part of the Lockers, a dance troupe originated by Toni Basil. All those weird isolations were very much ahead of their time.

by Anonymousreply 26August 23, 2018 10:36 PM

Fred Berry seemed gay to me. Shirley Hemphill seemed like a lesbian.

by Anonymousreply 27August 23, 2018 10:41 PM

It was a mid-season replacement, wasn’t it? Based on Cooley High.

by Anonymousreply 28August 23, 2018 10:42 PM

[quote]Dwayne Nelson is cousin to Prince Rogers Nelson.

His name is HAYWOOD, not Dwayne.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 29August 23, 2018 10:48 PM

R28, roughly based on Cooley High but they went off in their own direction. I think it was a summer series and got picked up. It didn't do well at first but then they moved it behind Welcome Back Kotter and it became a hit. Interesting to see how casual they were about Mama beating the shit out of her kids.

I think Ernest Thomas was great, as good a young comic actor as ABC had but both Berry and Nelson were inferior. Believe it or not, Thomas was almost cast as Kunta Kinte in "Roots". They needed a stronger actress than Danielle Spencer but both Hemphill and Mabel King were outstanding.

by Anonymousreply 30August 23, 2018 10:49 PM

Speaking of Shirley Hemphill ....

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 31August 23, 2018 10:50 PM

Toni Basil's one-hit-wonder was written by europop legend, Mike Chapman. That's why it sounds so good and has held up.

by Anonymousreply 32August 23, 2018 10:50 PM

Mmmmmmmmmmm GIMME SOME DEE!!!!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 33August 23, 2018 10:54 PM

She was considered the breakout star.

by Anonymousreply 35August 23, 2018 11:00 PM

I only remember the Doobie Brothers episode where Rerun is dancing at the concert and the portable cassette recorder he was using to bootleg the concert falls out of his coat and onto the floor

by Anonymousreply 36August 23, 2018 11:09 PM

I loved the theme song by Henry Mancini

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 37August 23, 2018 11:12 PM

R37 did Bud Yorkin produce every fucking show of the 70s? I thought it was just the Norman Lear shows.

by Anonymousreply 38August 23, 2018 11:22 PM

I had a bad crush on Haywood Nelson, with his big booty in his tight pants.

by Anonymousreply 39August 23, 2018 11:27 PM

Me too. As a little kid, I was mesmerized by his butt and his hair. I didn’t understand why at the time, but I wanted to touch both.

by Anonymousreply 40August 23, 2018 11:37 PM

I was a fan of Shirley Hemphill until she made a homophobic joke about "her ass was only an exit not an entrance" in her stand up.

I can't recall the year but it seemed like it was around 1990 on one of those comedy specials.

Yeah Shirley, the audience wants the image of you taking it up the ass & putting down others who do. Fuck her corpse with a dildo.

As for Fred "repeat" Berry, he was a BIG (pun intended) fan of Pat Robertson & the 700 Club. He would show up on there at the drop of a hat (usually his).

Bigot Berry showed up for fundraising telethons & for shows on how Pat's Regent University grads would restore Hollywood to a wholesome 1950's Christian mentality. LOL!!!

R134 Maybe the execs knew he would just hand over the raise to the Moral Majority types & said to Hell with him. No big loss there.

I don't think anyone from the cast is particularly gay friendly with the possible exception of Anne-Marie Johnson.

by Anonymousreply 41August 23, 2018 11:40 PM

But Shirley was friends with Rosie O'Donnell and is speculated to have been gay herself. Too bad to hear about Fred.

by Anonymousreply 42August 23, 2018 11:44 PM

Fred sounds like a self-loathing closet-case, maybe he and Shirley both were.

by Anonymousreply 43August 23, 2018 11:49 PM

LOL, Fred and Shirley were as gay as they come. Mabel King was a hard core Republican.

by Anonymousreply 44August 23, 2018 11:56 PM

Remember when Dee was auditioning for a burger commercial and who is her competition but Cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch. His mom is doing his hair when the kids enter and Dee asks "why didn't you comb her hair before you came"?

by Anonymousreply 45August 23, 2018 11:59 PM

I remember there was another thread about this show and something had come up about some tragedy Spencer had while filming the show?

by Anonymousreply 46August 24, 2018 12:15 AM

Oh here it is:

On September 7, 1977, during the second season of the show, Spencer and Tim Pelt were in a severe car accident that left Spencer in a coma for three weeks and killed her stepfather. Tim Pelt's injuries were caused by trying to protect Spencer during the crash. Spencer has no memories of the accident and spent six months recuperating in arm and leg casts.

by Anonymousreply 47August 24, 2018 12:16 AM

R47, Spencer became a veterinarian but she had problems because of the accident and was partially paralyzed. Read her bio on wiki. She sounds like a super cool and wonderful lady.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 48August 24, 2018 2:08 AM

They just aired an Alice where Fred Berry teaches Linda Lavin how to breakdance in the diner.

by Anonymousreply 49August 24, 2018 2:11 AM

R47 if she was in casts how was she on that whole season? How would they have been able to hide it?

R49 that must have been a late “80s” episode.

by Anonymousreply 50August 24, 2018 8:00 AM

No Roger, no Rerun, no rent! No Roger, no Rerun, no rent!

by Anonymousreply 51August 24, 2018 10:28 AM

No one's mentioned the sequel, "What's Happening Now!," which actually ran for more episodes than the original. And featured Martin Lawrence playing a teenager.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 52August 24, 2018 4:57 PM

Wasn’t Rerun a big ole Queen?

by Anonymousreply 53August 24, 2018 5:05 PM

Dee's deadpan delivery was the best part of that execrable show.

by Anonymousreply 54August 24, 2018 5:05 PM

R52 I liked Anne-Marie Johnson in the sequel

by Anonymousreply 55August 24, 2018 5:05 PM

It was mentioned in R21, R52.

by Anonymousreply 56August 24, 2018 7:28 PM

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5FqcGppYW6DbrjErWSsZaSWuax5wJumrqxdqbWiwIyco5qro56wbsDVZqqhp6dixKmt02aqZqCRpb2musinnlo%3D

 Share!