Inner-city L.A. pals Raj (Ernest Thomas), Rerun (Fred Berry), Dwayne (Haywood Nelson), Dee (Danielle Spencer), and Shirley (Shirley Hemphill) are back in this third and final season of the 1976-79 popular series. Although all the main characters would return in the 1985-88 spin-off What's Happening Now!!, this season marks the departure of Mabel King as the family matriarch, and moves Raj and Rerun into their own apartment, complete with new neighbors—and two utterly genius cast additions: quirky detective Big Earl (John Welsh) and son Little Earl (David Hollander), who carries a Statue of Liberty-sized torch for Raj's sassy sister Dee. Full of humor and heart, the gang's antics are ably displayed in Hemphill-star vehicles such as “Shirley's Boyfriend” (they fix her up with a jerky married guy), “Shirley's Cookies,” “Shirley's Fired,” and “The Eviction” (Shirley organizes a protest of Raj and Rerun's slumlord); skirt-chasing episodes “The Landlady,” “Raj Moves Out,” and “Making Out” (Raj and Rerun swap women, with wacky results); and knee-slapping gems “No Clothes Make the Man” (which finds normally modest Raj posing as a nude model) and “Positive Identification,” a holiday episode that follows the havoc created after Rerun and Raj unknowingly help a burglar make off with their gifts. Funny, feisty, and genuine, this 22-episode 1978-79 final season (presented in an extra-less three-disc boxed set) rarely misses a beat. Highly recommended. (J. Williams-Wood)
What's Happening!!: The Complete Third Season
Sony, 3 discs, 542 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95 April 3, 2006
What's Happening!!: The Complete Third Season
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