"What's Happening!!" (1976) TV series 1976-1979

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Creator:

Eric Monte

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

5 August 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

What's Happening is loosely based on the 1975 movie Cooley High written by Eric Monte. Monte created What's Happening and was also a co-creator and writer for the TV series Good Times.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Mother | Sister | Waitress | Sitcom

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Haywood Nelson	...	Dwayne Nelson (65 episodes, 1976-1979)
Ernest Thomas	...	Roger 'Raj' Thomas (64 episodes, 1976-1979)
Danielle Spencer	...	Dee Thomas (63 episodes, 1976-1979)
Fred Berry	...	Freddie 'Rerun' Stubbs (62 episodes, 1976-1979)
Shirley Hemphill	...	Shirley Wilson (56 episodes, 1976-1979)
Mabel King	...	Mabel 'Mama' Thomas (37 episodes, 1976-1978)

Runtime:

30 min (79 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Glendale Studios - 1239 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California, USA

Company:

Turteltaub-Orenstein-Yorkin Productions (TOY)

Trivia:

Mabel King wanted the Thomas family to have a mother and a father (on the air Roger and Dee's parents were divorced, and their father remarried in 1977 and was not seen again). The producers' refusal contributed to her decision to quit her role in 1978.

Quotes:

Fred 'Rerun' Stubbs: Ralph represents all that which is good, and pure - Ralph is a head... of lettuce.
Roger Thomas: You worship a HEAD OF LETTUCE?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bullet (1996)

One of the best sitcoms.

One of the best sitcoms made. It is a shame TV Land or Nick at Nite does not have "What's Happening!!" on their network. This show deserves to be played again, there are so many people who have not seen it. "What's Happening!!" was not meant to be a permanent show on ABC. It went for a trial run on ABC,but viewers like it so much it returned in the fall. One thing I like about "What's Happening!!" is it deals with a single parent in the house hold. When the father comes around the children sometimes have bad experiences with him. We do not see this anymore in sitcoms that much. If you look at family sitcoms today most of them have the two parents. But "What's Happening!!" was not affraid to be different, not afraid to show how a child's parent (the father) could not be a good person. But then again "What's Happening!!" also showed the good times Roger, Rerun & Dwayne could have (getting into unsuspected trouble). This is a great show and I hope to see it repeated on television.