Shark Bytes

Smartboy: The necklace was used again in the episode when Dwane dreamed about what his future would be if he didn't finish school. Shirley was a rich, fancy lady, so she was wearing it.

I really have to say that my favorite character from this show was Fred Berry! What a great, great, great genius that man was! And I found myself strangely attracted to him while growing up watching WH!! He really was quite the looker, and I would have loved to visit him at his home just to find out what his boudoir looked like! That's one place I could have spent a lot of time!

I think the last poster has raised some very good points! I remember in the third season in which Little Earl steals the necklace from the store. I really enjoyed when the office manager of the store uses the anology of Billy the Kid in his dealings with Dee! However, one thing that I do not remember is seeing that same necklace before or since. Maybe, the last poster would like to see if he or she can refresh my memory!

Like most posters, I think it jumped when Momma left which never would have happened. Also, Roger and Dee still had their father who married Lee. Wouldn't he have stepped in? It's a credit to the talents of Ernest Thomas, Shirley Hemphill, and Fred Berry that even with the sucky third season, there were still a lot of laughs. The one where they thought Rob's fiancee' was swindling him was hilarious.

I love this show because Raj, ReRun and Dwane weren't stereotypes. They were good, decent kids hanging out and having good times even though they were poor. Despite the crappy production this show was one of the best comedies of the seventies. I remember how they used the same extras as different people in the next scene or using the same necklace that Little Earl stole over and over. Remember that instrumental that they always used whether they played a record, turned on the jukebox or were at the disco? The worst was when Chip Fields(Tootie's real life mom) played Shirley's sister Norma and Re-Run's sister too. Still, it was a great show.

When that cassette deck fell out of Run Again's coat, I was aghast.

to doug, even though its been a year, I read your post, and its funny as hell.

What's Happening?!? was a TV sitcom made by aliens who had been studying our television signals for years and regurgitated every cliche they saw. It would've been a perfect plan, but they overshot the mark by, in every case, TRIPLING the silly cliches found in every sitcom of the period:

-Not one, not two, but THREE morbidly obese characters, insuring fat jokes galore!

-Not one, not two, but THREE Sassy Trademark Lines for the laugh track to bust a gut over:

"Hey HEY hey!"
"Ooooo...I'm gonna tell MAMMA!"
"Uh-huh...uh-huh...UH-UH!"

If only aliens had some sense of subtlety, their nefarious plan to take over the world via reruns of What's Happening?!? just might have worked...

Dee growing up and becoming less obnoxious took alot away from the show.Big Earl and little Earl seemed out of place on the show so WH jumped the shark.

When Mamma left and Shirley acted as Dee's guardian was when the show jumped for me. As overprotective as Mamma was in the early shows, I find it hard to believe she would just leave under age Dee in the care of a sassy, smart-mouth waitress. (I think Raj had moved out by then) Also, Dee lost her edge as she went through puberty, Big Earl/Little Earl were annoying and the jokes were just starting to fall flat.

when rerun got busted at a doobie brothers concert tryin to bootleg it with a 5 buck 8 track tapedeck..

This show jumped when Dee toned down her sassiness - she was a real pistol on this show, and she was the making of it. I liked it when she said Jackass Meat on TV; only 11 years old and did it. That's what happens when cute kids go through puberty; the show isn't as good as it used to be.

when raj and rerun got there own place thats when the show jumped shark for real.. my favorite was when rerun was on the gong show.. that was a classic

Sure wish TV Land'd get the rights to show 'WH!!', again. Every episode was great, especially the 2-part Doobie Brothers one. Hey, HEY, Hey. Peace.

Mama not being on the show was the problem. She was a balance tho their schemes and the shoulder to cry on. A shame they let her go. She wanted her character to go to night school to improve herself and the producers vetoed the idea. Too bad.

When Fred Berry farted on stage, and blew up the set.