Customer Reviews

What's Happening Now!! - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What's Happening Now!! is one of my favorite TV shows, with most of its original cast from the What's Happening!! show back in 1976-1979. What's Happining Now!! ran from September 7th, 1985 until September 3rd, 1988 for a total of Three seasons and 66 episodes (22 episodes for each season).

In this season Raj was newly married and trying to make it as a writer. Raj and Nadine, who were living in the house he had grown up in, took in a foster child named Caroline for a time. Rerun & Dwayne, now a used car salesman and a computer programmer, respectively, were sharing an apartment. Shirley and Raj were also partners running Rob's, and Dee (who only showed up occasionally) was in college.

The cast for this show were:
-Reina King..........Carolyn(1985-1986)
-Shirley Hemphill....Shirley Wilson
-Martin Lawrence.....Maurice Warfield(1987-1988)
-Ernest Thomas.......Roger"Raj"Thomas
-Anne-Marie Johnson..Nadine Hudson Thomas
-Ken Sagoes..........Darryl(1987-1988)
-Fred Berry..........Freddie"Rerun"Stubbs(1985-1986)
-Danielle Spencer....Dee Thomas

The first season consisted of 22 episodes and they are as follows:
01- Raj Returns
02- A Horse is Not a Home
03- Dwayne's Crush
04- The Houseguest
05- One Enchanted Evening
06- Aunt Shirley
07- The New Kid
08- The Bully
09- That Old Gang of Mine
10- Dueling Menus
11- Dee's Dilemma
12- Raj on the Run
13- The Challenge
14- Married or Not
15- The Improbable Dream
16- Rags to Riches
17- Goodbye, Mr. Ripps
18- Dee and Dwayne
19- Mr. First Nighter
20- Shirley's Pen Pal
21- Nadine's Boss
22- The Wedding

I hope that the following two seasons will be released shortly after this season.

Thanks for reading my review and have a nice day :)

I was afraid at first that that this show might have gone downhill after What's Happening but I think with the exception of a few scenes that it is even better than before. It's so funny and it's wonderful seeing them again.Rogers wife is a great addition. Can't wait for the second and third season.

So happy that they decided to release "what's happening now!" I loved the original, but I loved the continuation as well! I too hope they release all three seasons of this series.

"What's Happening" is easily one of the best sitcoms to ever be shown on television. The episodes were funny and innovative, the cast had natural chemistry and once you saw it, you'd never forget it. "What's Happening Now" just doesn't compare. Many of the original cast members are not present and Raj, Dwayne and Rerun have grown up and that took many cool points away from the show. Sassy Dee shows up just a handful of times and even she forced me into extreme boredom. Mrs. Thomas doesn't show her face one time in "What's Happening Now"'s first season; what a pity.

Raj is now married to a counselor named Nadine. There is a degree of chemistry between them, but it truly looks scripted and even a bit forced. Shirley is still around; she and Raj have taken over Rob's Place. More than anyone, she is the exact same character that she was on "What's Happening", and she should be recognized for that. Rerun is a car salesman and has the odd alias, Swame. Dwayne is a computer programmer. The two men reside together and, naturally, they have their share of arguments and go running to Raj so that he can mediate. I mean come on, that is beyond predictable. Also, Raj and Nadine fall out a few times, then make up. It's the same old, recycled sitcom plots, honestly. A nice touch was the fact that a foster child was added. Raj is a father! He's a great father, too. But even that doesn't help this spin-off go up against its predecessor.

After reviewing all episodes of "What's Happening Now"'s first season, I'm disappointed. It's a decent way to pass the time, but it is very trite.

The original What's Happening! is definitely one of the funniest shows of all time but the new What's Happening Now! doesn't even come close to matching the original. To compare the two is like comparing the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters. Yes, there really IS that much of a disparity among the two shows.

One of the funniest aspects of the original was watching Rerun and Shirley make fun of each other and the comedy and wittiness of the dialogue between Raj, Rerun, and Dwayne hanging out at Rob's Place. Now the chemistry is gone and the dialogue is boring and dry. Even Fred "Rerun" Berry left the show after the first season because he said the writing was terrible and he was right. The only redeeming quality of the new series was to see Raj, Shirley, Rerun, etc again.

Great to see the gang back together again but lousy writing ruins the experience. They should have quit while they were ahead.... <sigh>

I am so pleased with this DVD set. It has perfect quality picture and sound. I really love the original show from the 70's but this 80's version is also great. I like being able to see how the characters progressed in life. A majority of the plot lines are interesting and very entertaining. It would have been nice if the Dee character had a permanent spot on the show and if the mother had a few guest appearances too. I have a teenage sister that really dislikes most of what is shown on television these days so I got her to watch this show and she enjoys it greatly. She keeps telling me that wishes there were more episodes. This is a clean, funny sitcom that brings you back to the days of the 80s. This show is as wonderful as What's Happening and I really hope the other seasons are released soon because I would definitely buy them.

For all of you who liked "What's Happening", "What's Happening Now" is just as fun. I really loved this sitcom and enjoyed watching it all over again. It was fun to see these guys older and getting themselves into more situations. Shirley is as fun as ever and Dwayne is just as adorable.....

I barely remembered the show from when I was a kid, until I saw the original series somewhere one time and decided to buy it on dvd. I watched it, and all my childhood memories of coming home after school and watching this show with my sister came flooding back. Man those were the days. I didn't remember much of What's Happening Now!, but again I heard it was coming out on dvd, and decided to pick it up and show it to my girlfriend. She really got a kick out of the original series, but didn't know what to expect with this one. So we popped it in, and were laughing all the way to the bank.

My 2 favourite episodes have to be where Raj and the gang throw a retirement party for their old teacher who used to play pranks on them, and then yell GOTCHA!, well this time he fakes his death, and really pulls one over on the gang for one last gag, but the joke is on him!, and the other is where Rerun gets a horse, and asks Raj if he can keep it in his backyard until he can find a home for it, but the paper makes a typo in the ad which ends up saying HOUSE FOR SALE, instead of HORSE FOR SALE, and Raj answers the ad thinking the guy is coming to look at the horse, when he's really looking at the house, and the guy offers him 5 grand for the house. Really hilarious episode.

I really wish Sony would hurry up and release seasons 2 and 3. I really love this show, and would rush out in a heartbeat to buy seasons 2 and 3. I miss the hilarity of this show. Sure, fans of the classic What's Happening don't like this series as much as the original but I actually watched both as a kid and always liked this one way better. This one is just wall to wall hilarity at it's best. I really dig the 80's updated look they gave the show, and it really added to the characters I find.

So I hope one day Sony will release the rest of this awesome series so us fans can enjoy it in our dvd collections for years to come. I know I will.

I love this show! I wish they would release Season 2 soon. The show is incomplete without the rest of this series as well. Would love to see Shirley's series ("One in a Million") released on dvd too.

i love this show first heard about it in the 1990s never knew that they did a newer version well it worked for three years why wasnt mabel king in the new one i gonna buy this dvd .