What's Happening Now! (1985–1988)

"What's Happening Now!" is a sequel to "What's Happening!," a TV series about the adult main characters (Raj, Dwayne, Rerun, Shirley, and Dee) as teenagers/children.

Stars:

Ernest Thomas, Anne-Marie Johnson, Haywood Nelson

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ernest Thomas	...	Roger 'Raj' Thomas (66 episodes, 1985-1988)
Anne-Marie Johnson	...	Nadine Hudson Thomas (66 episodes, 1985-1988)
Haywood Nelson	...	Dwayne Nelson (66 episodes, 1985-1988)
Shirley Hemphill	...	Shirley Wilson (66 episodes, 1985-1988)

Storyline

This was an urban comedy following the lives of three black men. Raj is newly married and trying to write while his two buddies, Rerun and Dwayne are sharing a bachelor apartment. Rerun is working as a used car salesman while Dwayne is a computer programmer. This syndicated program was on the air between September 1985 and September 1988.

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Television, LBS Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Mabel King didn't return to reprise her role as Mrs. Thomas, her absence was explained by having the character remarry and move to Arizona.

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Quotes

[peeking through a window he just broke with his new boomerang]
Dwayne Nelson: [nervous laugh] G'day, mates?
[Shirley and Raj chase, Dwayne runs]

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Connections

Follows What's Happening!! (1976)

User Reviews

The spinoff is very good from the original

This was a very good series by the way,recapturing most of the characters from the original "What's Happening!" series that ran for four seasons on ABC-TV(1976-1980). This spinoff to its precessdor follows the gang years later and this time around the three main characters have all grown up and living successful lives. Raj is a writer who is married to his college sweetheart and trying to pursue his career as a writer while his two buddies Rerun and Dewayne are sharing a bachelor apartment. Rerun by the way is working as an used car salesman while Dewayne is a computer programmer for a huge technology firm. And as for Shirley,she now owns and operates Rob's Soda Shop where the gang used to go as kids,but now Shirley is also the manager of the establishment where Raj sometimes works as her assistant manager. And Raj's bratty sister Dee from the original series,she is all grown up and is going to school at the nearby university where Raj graduated from who comes home and helps out around the house.

This syndicated program was on the air from September of 1985 to September of 1988. It is still showed in some markets around the country and it is one of the many LOST shows from the decade that featured African-Americans in prominent roles.

The first two seasons of this show were very good bringing back the cast from the original series which consisted of actors Ernest Thomas,Fred Berry,Haywood Nelson,Shirley Hemphill,and Danielle Spencer,and in some episodes Thalmus Rasulala as Raj and Dee's biological father from the original series. Also added to the mix are Raj's wife Nadine,played by Anne-Marie Johnson,and their adopted daughter Carolyn played by Reina King(sister of actress Regina King). By the show's last two seasons,they killed off most of characters on the show leaving Ernest Thomas,Haywood Nelson,Danielle Spencer,and Shirley Hemphill,and Anne-Marie Johnson onward,but what they did to Fred Berry's character of Rerun was wrong----dead wrong--because What's Happening wouldn't be the same without Rerun cause Fred Berry was part of the show!!! The producers did this too.

What they did in the show's final two seasons was bring in new characters to the mix including a teenage looking Martin Lawrence,who was at the time starting out before he became a huge success. Also added to this was Ken Sagoes as part of the crew. However,the show was very good as a spinoff,but towards the end it had some problems along the way.but in all a great series.