What's Happening!! is a sitcom that aired in the 1970's. It centered on a young African-American High School student named Roger "Raj" Thomas. It'svery loosely based on the movieCooley High. The series is available on DVD.
Crowning Moment of Funny: the episode where Rerun tries out for the dance group and makes it becausethe other dancers want him for comic relief because of his weight. Dwayne finds out and tells Rerun and Raj, who sabotages the show by pretending he's Rerun. MUCHHilarity Ensues
Karma Houdini: Dee regularly blackmails her brother AND his friends yet is NEVER caught and called to account.
Even though this is true, she was caught and punished severely for taking anIt's Not What You Think moment (in this case, her friend Robin wanted to run away from home, but asked Dee to talk to the guidance counselor, who thought that it was Dee who wanted to run away) and turning it to her advantage to get Raj and Mrs. Thomas to be nicer to her and buy her things.
Local Hangout: Rob's Place.in theSpin-Off, it's changed to Rob's Diner and Shirley and Raj own it.
Put on a Bus: Much like Esther Rolle onGood Times, Mabel King did not like the direction in which the show was going and left after the second season.
Sassy Black Woman: Shirley and Dee (in a younger version of the trope) Mrs. Thomas when necessary.
Spin-Off:What'sHappeningNow: Raj is a successful author and married, Rerun is a used car salesman, Dwayne is a computer programmer, and Dee is in college. Ran for 3 seasons in the late 1980's.