''What's Happening Now!!'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the original

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

1976–79 sitcom ''

What's Happening!! ''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, until April 28, 1979, premiering as a summer series. Due to other shows being cancelled across the network, and good ratings and reviews from ...

'' focusing on its main characters as adults. It aired in first-run broadcast syndication from September 7, 1985 until March 26, 1988.

Overview

In the series, Roger "Raj" Thomas (played by Ernest Thomas) has become a fledgling writer. He bought half of the restaurant Rob's Place (renamed Rob's) and was running the business with Shirley (

Shirley Hemphill Shirley Ann Hemphill (July 1, 1947 – December 10, 1999) was an American stand-up comedian and actress. A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Hemphill moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. After work ...

), making money for himself and his new wife Nadine (

Anne-Marie Johnson Anne-Marie Johnson (born July 18, 1960) is an American actress and impressionist. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Nadine Hudson–Thomas in ''What's Happening Now!!'' (1985–1988), and Althea Tibbs in '' In the Heat of the Night'' (19 ...

), who was a social worker. Dwayne (

Haywood Nelson Haywood Knowles Nelson Jr. (born March 25, 1960) is an American actor. He is best known for having portrayed Dwayne Nelson in the television series ''What's Happening!!'', which aired from 1976 to 1979, as well as in its spin-off series ''What' ...

) has become a computer programmer, and Rerun (

Fred Berry Fred Allen Berry (March 19, 1951 – October 21, 2003) was an American actor and street dancer. He was best known for his role as Freddie "Rerun" Stubbs on the 1970s television show ''What's Happening!!'' Career Berry was born on March 19, 1951 ...

) a used-car salesman. Raj and Nadine live in Raj's childhood home while Rerun and Dwayne share an apartment.

Episodes

Cast

* Ernest Thomas as Roger "Raj" Thomas *

as Nadine Hudson-Thomas *

as Dwayne Nelson *

as Fred "Rerun" Stubbs (season 1) *

as Shirley Wilson *

Reina King Reina (the Spanish word for queen) or La Reina may refer to: Geography * Reina, Badajoz, a municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain * Reina, Estonia, a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, Estonia * La Reina, a commune ...

as Carolyn Williams (season 1) *

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...

as Maurice Warfield (season 3) *

Ken Sagoes Ken Sagoes is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Roland Kincaid in the fantasy horror film '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) and the sequel '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'' (1988). Sagoes p ...

as Darryl (season 3) * Danielle Spencer as Dee Thomas (recurring) After the first season, the producers fired Fred Berry from the series and no further mention was made of Rerun from that point forward. Berry was said to have been causing problems from the beginning of taping, believing that he should have been paid a significantly higher salary than any of his co-stars because of Rerun’s popularity as a character.

Broadcast

A partial list of stations the show was syndicated to:

Home media

On June 12, 2007,

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

released the first season of ''What's Happening Now!!'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in Region 1.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:What's Happening Now 1985 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms 1980s American black sitcoms English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States American sequel television series Television series about marriage Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Los Angeles