What's Happening!!

What's Happening!!
S3 title screen
Created byEric Monte
Based onCooley High
StarringErnest Lee Thomas
Haywood Nelson
Fred Berry
Danielle Spencer
Mabel King (S1–2)
Shirley Hemphill
Opening theme"What's Happening!!"
ComposerHenry Mancini[1]
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes65 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersBernie Orenstein
Saul Turteltaub
Bud Yorkin
Running time22–25 minutes
Production companiesBud Yorkin Productions
(1976–1978)
(seasons 1–2)
TOY Productions
(1976–1979)
(seasons 1–3)
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseAugust 5, 1976 (1976-08-05) –
April 28, 1979 (1979-04-28)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)
Seated, L–R: Fred Berry, Ernest Lee Thomas, and Haywood Nelson (back to camera). Standing: Shirley Hemphill
Spencer portrayed Raj's younger sister, Dee Thomas.

What's Happening!! is an American sitcom television series that first aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, premiering as a summer series. It returned as a weekly series from November 1976 until its April 1979 conclusion. What's Happening!! was loosely based on the Eric Monte-penned film Cooley High.[2] From 1985 until 1988, a sequel series titled 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 and Tandem Productions. The show was produced by TOY Productions, which was formed by Yorkin, Saul Turteltaub, and Bernie Orenstein after their split.

  1. ^ "Full cast and crew for What's Happening!!". IMDB. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  2. ^ "What's Happening!!: ABC's popular teen-age sitcom succeeds in spite of itself". Ebony. 33 (8). Johnson Publishing Company: 76. June 1978. ISSN 0012-9011.