What's Happening!! (1976) - Video Detective

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What's Happening!! is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly series. It remained a weekly series until 1979; ratings were modest. What's Happening!! was loosely based on the Eric Monte-penned film Cooley High. From 1985 to 1988, a sequel series called What's Happening Now!! aired in first-run syndication, with most of the major cast members reprising their roles.

Original Release

08/05/1976 on ABC

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Cast

Name	Character

Haywood Nelson	Dwayne Nelson
Ernest Thomas	Roger 'Raj' Thomas
Fred Berry	Freddie 'Rerun' Stubbs
Danielle Spencer
Shirley Hemphill	Shirley Wilson
Mabel King	Mabel 'Mama' Thomas
Mabel King
David Hollander	Earl 'Little Earl' Barnett Jr.
John Welsh	Earl 'Big Earl' Barnett
Earl Billings	Rob

(see additional cast & crew)

#	Title	Air Date
1	Disco Dollar Disaster	Thursday, 21 September 1978
2	Shirley's Boyfriend	Thursday, 28 September 1978
3	Basketball Brain	Thursday, 12 October 1978
4	The Creep Detective	Thursday, 02 November 1978
5	Shirley's Cookies	Thursday, 09 November 1978
6	The Landlady	Thursday, 16 November 1978
7	Charge	Thursday, 23 November 1978
8	Raj Moves Out	Thursday, 30 November 1978
9	No Clothes Make the Man	Thursday, 14 December 1978
10	Positive Identification	Thursday, 21 December 1978
11	Making Out	Thursday, 11 January 1979
12	Dee, the Cheerleader	Thursday, 25 January 1979
13	A Present for Dee	Friday, 09 February 1979
14	Dwayne's Dream	Friday, 16 February 1979
15	Shirley's Fired	Friday, 23 February 1979
16	Food Poisoning	Friday, 02 March 1979
17	The Eviction	Friday, 09 March 1979
18	The Thomas Treasure	Friday, 16 March 1979
19	The Last Page	Saturday, 31 March 1979
20	First Class Coach	Saturday, 07 April 1979
21	Dwayne's Debate	Saturday, 21 April 1979
22	The Benefit Show	Saturday, 28 April 1979

Directors

Mark Warren, Lee Bernhardi, Dick Harwood, Hal Alexander, Mary Hardwick, Russ Petrano, Tony Csiki, Ron Richards, Joseph L. Scanlan, Bill Foster, Alan Rafkin, Danny Simon, Jack Shea, Dennis Steinmetz, Bud Yorkin

Writers

Eric Monte, Larry Mintz, Sally Wade, Alan Eisenstock, Saul Turteltaub, Bernie Orenstein, Rick Mittleman, Joanne Pagliaro, Ted Bergman, Jeremy Stevens, Tom Moore, Bill Richmond, James R. Stein, Thad Mumford, Carol Gary, Bob Illes, Gene Perret, Bill Box, Dick Westerschulte, Nicholas DeMarco, Joseph Neustein, Barbara Berkowitz, Barry Meadow, David Tyree, Deborah Pastoria, Cheryl Pelt, Winston Moss, Levi Taylor, Marty Brill, Eric Lee Bowers, Dawn Aldredge, Marion C. Freeman, Mort Scharfman, Ken Hecht, Philip John Taylor, Dee Caruso, Gerald Gardner, Gene Farmer, Fred S. Fox, Jim Mulligan, Bruce Howard, David Pollock, Seaman Jacobs, Bruce Kalish, William Bickley, Michael Warren, Marty Farrell, Richard Baer, Jerry Ross

Cast

Name	Character

Haywood Nelson	Dwayne Nelson
Ernest Thomas	Roger 'Raj' Thomas
Fred Berry	Freddie 'Rerun' Stubbs
Danielle Spencer
Shirley Hemphill	Shirley Wilson
Mabel King	Mabel 'Mama' Thomas
Mabel King
David Hollander	Earl 'Little Earl' Barnett Jr.
John Welsh	Earl 'Big Earl' Barnett
Earl Billings	Rob
Thalmus Rasulala	Bill Thomas
Fritzi Burr	Miss Collins
Bryan O'Dell	Marvin
Richard Couture	Patron at Rob's Place
Leland Smith	The Snake
Shirley Hemphill
Debbi Morgan	Diane
Danielle Spencer	Dee Thomas
Shirley Hemphill	Shirley Wilson (credit only)
Mabel King	Mabel 'Mama' Thomas (credit only)

Producers

Name	Role

Bud Yorkin	Executive Producer
Bernie Orenstein	Executive Producer
Saul Turteltaub	Executive Producer
Bud Yorkin	Producer
Bernie Orenstein	Producer
Saul Turteltaub	Producer
Sue Nevens	Producer
Norman C. Hopps	Producer
Michael Warren	Producer
William Bickley	Producer
Gerald Gardner	Producer
Dee Caruso	Producer
Si Rose	Producer
Ted Bergman	Producer
Michael Warren	Producer
Ken Hecht	Producer
Sidney Miller	Producer
Lloyd J. Schwartz	Producer