What's Happening!!: The Firing Squad

What's Happening!!: The Firing Squad
ABC
February 10, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Shirley's boss Rob (Earl Billings) finally shows up and, yes, fires Shirley.  I'd like to have had more acknowledgement that Shirley shouldn't be so rude to the customers, but the script by Rick Mittleman makes the point that her rudeness is part of her appeal.  I like the way Shirley's friends, including Roger's mother, rally around her, and it rounds out her character (not a fat joke, although it would be on the show) to know that she dropped out of high school at 16 when her dad died and she sends money to her mother to take care of her seven younger siblings.

Fred Pinkard, who was Mr. Stokey on The Brady Bunch, here plays Mr. Grayson.  Richard Couture makes his first of nine WH appearances, this time as a Patron at Rob's Place.  Bryan O'Dell returns as Marvin, here with a couple lines and what must've been one of the largest Afros on network TV.