What's Happening?

Back in the day, I loved to watch after school television. One of my favorites was called “What’s Happening?” I don’t know why I loved it so much but if I missed it, I’d be very upset.

The show was about three African American friends by the name of Raj, Dwayne and Rerun. The plot of the show mostly dealt with their meeting up in diner everyday and talking about their problems and each of them making fun of each other. The diner had a waitress named Shirley who had attitude and pretty much disliked everyone. But boy could she come up with great comebacks and one-liners! She was my hero.

Raj was a total nerd and he had a younger sister, Dee who often made an appearance on the show. She and Raj didn’t get along too well. They showcased the typical sibling rivalry especially that of the older, protective brother over a precocious little sister. Occasionally, we’d see their mom and she was always the voice of reason. She also had the most calming voice I had ever heard.

Rerun had high hopes. He wanted to be a star but he lacked something. He lacked a small frame. Rerun was heavy set and often a lot of the laughs on the show came from his being big-boned. He had a good heart, as they all did but he was just misguided.

Dwayne was the ‘dumb’ one in the group. The picnic basket was definitely missing some sandwiches with him. But he was cute and lovable and had a nice smile. He always got the girl, including this one. I had a little crush on him, I admit it.

The reason I bring this up is that I was talking to a friend about how good tv shows were back in the day. Perspective is an important thing. While I loved Shirley when I was young, I’m pretty darn sure she’d annoy the heck out of me in real life. Her negativity would aggravate the crud out of me of me now-a-days. I guess I should try to track down that show and see if it is as great now as I thought it was back when I was a kid.