What's Happening!!: First Class Coach

What's Happening!!: First Class Coach
ABC
April 7, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This Moore & Stevens story has Dwayne as substitute coach for Little Earl's basketball team while Big Earl is busy with policework.  This is one of the episodes that supports my theory that Big Earl is a single dad, either divorced or widowed.

Justin Dana, who plays Bobby, would turn up over a decade later on Roseanne as Matthew.  And as always, it's nice to see Sparky Marcus, 11 at this point and playing Danny.  For some reason, Shirley is missing, and it seems like Rob got her lines at the soda shop.

What's Happening!!: Food Poisoning

What's Happening!!: Food Poisoning
ABC
March 2, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
B-

While the plot of Rerun seeming to get food poisoning at Rob's and then being tempted to sue is predictable, the regular cast and the guest cast do nice work with it.  Nathaniel Taylor and Chip Fields return as Rerun's brother-in-law Ike and sister Donna, the nurse.  Richard Stahl plays the doctor, while Alan Oppenheimer, whom I've decided to finally tag, plays the shifty lawyer, Mr. Sloan.  And Richard Couture makes probably his most unusual appearance, as the heavily bandaged Mr. Flynn.

This is the only writing Bruce Kalish & Philip John Taylor did for this show, but they'd co-write three Mork & Mindy episodes, while this is the middle of three WH scripts for Tom Moore & Jeremy Stevens.

What's Happening!!: Shirley's Fired

What's Happening!!: Shirley's Fired
ABC
February 23, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This episode feels a bit de ja vu, but at least everyone is giving it their all.  Rob hires a klutzy waitress, Liz (Judy Pace, who'd previously played Nurse Jennings), and when Shirley tries to quit, Rob fires her.  Then it looks like Liz is stealing from the till, but it's of course a misunderstanding.  Note that if it's embarrassing to watch twelve-year-old-but-passing-for-eleven Susan Olsen sing "On the Good Ship Lollipop," it's really embarrassing to watch thirteen-year-old-but-passing-for-fourteen Danielle Spencer sing it, although at least they didn't make her wear the Shirley Temple costume.

Customer Freeman King was a Police Officer before.

What's Happening!!: Shirley's Cookies

Hmm....

What's Happening!!: Shirley's Cookies
ABC
November 9, 1978
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Everyone loves the title sweet, so a fast-talking con artist tells Shirley she could be another Well-Known Jones, i.e. Famous Amos.  It's up to the gang to get her out of the contract.  The Earls aren't too annoying in this one, and Big Earl does some impressive tongue-twisters.

Leland Smith returns as The Snake.  Larry Gilman, who plays Sylvester, was a GI on M*A*S*H.  This is the only WH script Ken Hecht wrote, although he would do one for Three's Company.

What's Happening!!: Disco Dollar Disaster

What's Happening!!: Disco Dollar Disaster
ABC
September 21, 1978
Sitcom
DVD
B

Rerun enters a dance contest and gets into a Producers-like predicament when he "sells more of himself" than he can afford to investors.  He's up against a tough competitor, Danny Domino (Ralph Wilcox, who had previously played Allan), but he still risks winning.  It's fun to see the dancing, although this has to be one of the most wholesome, uncrowded discos ever presented, even on television.  Note that twelve-year-old Dee is let in without any fuss, and she asks Dwayne to dance.  (It makes sense that on What's Happening Now! [yes, only one exclamation point] eight years later, she reveals that she had a crush on Dwayne.)  And Rob and Shirley dance together, too, which in '78 was a more plausible ship of course.

Henry Robinson, who's Leon here, was a Customer before.  Ticket Master Sarina C. Grant would play a Nurse on Soap.  And Franchesska Berry, who was about to marry Fred for the second time, plays his dance partner Charlene.

What's Happening!!: Rerun Sees the Light

I'm guessing this was during a dress rehearsal,
since Rerun still has his "dynamite 'fro."

What's Happening!!: Rerun Sees the Light
ABC
February 11, 1978
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Just like Arnold Horshack before him and Billy Tate after him, Rerun falls for a pretty girl and joins a religious cult.  And, yes, he dresses in brightly colored robes, this time peach with a lavender wrap.  The story by Thad Mumford (his first of two for WH) isn't as funny as I remembered, with too much time spent on "bald jokes."  But Mabel's portrayal of Mother Nature is still fun.

Interestingly, Rob (Earl Billings) appears in this episode and Shirley doesn't.  He recognizes Love-Is-Life as the con artist Wanda Jordan, which seems more likely for him as a middle-aged small-business-owner, so the substitution works.

What's Happening!!: Nothing Personal

What's Happening!!: Nothing Personal
ABC
October 20, 1977
Sitcom
DVD
B

Shirley applies for a job as secretary and gets hired as a token.  She tries to prove herself but ends up quitting.  Hemphill does a nice job with this Eisenstock & Mintz story, as forthright as always, but more understanding of others' viewpoints than in the past.

Earl Billings returns as Rob.  Ellen Travolta plays Lily, a very different role from Arnold Horshack's mother.  Barbara Mallory, who plays Helen, would be Cindy Smith in Rescue from Gilligan's Island.  Charles Siebert, who's Mr. Ramsey, is best known for Trapper John, M.D. but would show up on a couple of my Match Game episodes.  Mabel King is absent.

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.