What's Happening!!
| What's Happening!! | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Eric Monte |
| Based on | Cooley High |
| Starring |
Ernest Lee Thomas Haywood Nelson Fred Berry Danielle Spencer Mabel King (Season 1-2) Shirley Hemphill |
| Opening theme | "What's Happening!!" |
| Composer(s) | Henry Mancini |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 65 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Bernie Orenstein Saul Turteltaub Bud Yorkin |
| Running time | 22–25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Bud Yorkin Productions TOY Productions |
| Distributor |
Columbia Pictures Television (1979-1996) Columbia TriStar Television (1996-2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002-present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | August 5, 1976 – April 28, 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | What's Happening Now!! |
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 regular show 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.
What's Happening!! was Bud Yorkin's second series after he ended his partnership with Norman Lear in Tandem Productions. The show was produced by TOY Productions, which was formed by Yorkin, Saul Turtletaub, and Bernie Orenstein after the split.
What's Happening!! follows the lives of three working-class African-American teens living in the South Los Angeles section of Los Angeles. The show stars Ernest Thomas as Roger "Raj" Thomas, Haywood Nelson as Dwayne Nelson, and Fred Berry as Freddy "Rerun" Stubbs. Co-starring are Danielle Spencer as Roger's younger sister Dee; Mabel King as Roger and Dee's mother Mabel; and Shirley Hemphill as Shirley Wilson, a waitress at Rob's Place, the neighborhood restaurant where the boys are regular patrons. Recurring characters include Rob (Earl Billings), owner of Rob's Place; and Miss Collins (Fritzi Burr), a sarcastic history teacher and the sponsor of the school newspaper.
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