What's Happening!! - Show Changes

Show Changes

The third season marked drastic changes for the show. Roger and Rerun moved into their own apartment. Mabel King left the show, but the character of Mabel Thomas was not written out. Instead it was said that Mama was working or not around. To take the place of an adult presence in the house for Dee, Shirley would move into the Thomas household as a boarder. Several new recurring characters were introduced. The first was a basketball player whom Roger tutored nicknamed "The Snake" (played by Leland Smith). The other characters were Caucasian detective "Big Earl" Barnett (played by John Welsh) and his son "Little Earl" Barnett (played by David Hollander), who were neighbors in the apartment building where Roger and Rerun lived. These changes/adjustments would ultimately cause the show to "Jump the Shark", as the ratings began to drop.

Fred Berry started causing problems for the producers during the second season. Using the show's limited success as leverage, Berry began to demand a higher salary and better studio accommodations for the actors. The accommodations issue eventually led to a full-fledged walkout by Berry and cast mate Ernest Thomas during the second season episode "If I'm Elected" (leaving Haywood Nelson alone to carry the entire episode). During the final season (1978-79), Fred Berry caused additional problems on the show, and threatened to strike. This time, both Thomas and Nelson joined Berry in the strike, leading to the executive producers to cancel the series. They were at their wits' end dealing with the three co-stars demands for more money and constantly walking out during rehearsals.

What's Happening!! aired its last episode on April 28, 1979. A year later, Hemphill starred in her own sitcom, One In A Million, which premiered in January 1980, and ended on July 23, 1980, after being on ABC for a few months.