Just gonna throw this one out there... ("What's Happening!!"-related)
waxjunky
1,850 Posts
I was looking on IMDB and noticed that Haywood Nelson (Dwayne) appeared in 65 episodes, while Ernest Thomas (Raj) only has 64 episodes. Does anyone know the general plotline of the episode that did NOT have an appearance by Raj? Is he even referenced? Was there a pilot that had a different actor? Totally trivial, but just wondering.
The episode guide at IMDB, though not entirely complete, is pretty good, especially if you enjoyed this program BITD:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074071/episodes
The episode guide at IMDB, though not entirely complete, is pretty good, especially if you enjoyed this program BITD:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074071/episodes
Comments
Not only did Raj and Rerun stay out of sight for this episode, but Raj's little sister Dee does too. I seem to remember Dwayne asking Raj's mom for advice - an interesting turn, since he usually looked to Raj for guidance.
If I remember correctly, Raj was not referenced once for this ep, nor was Rerun or Dee. When Dwayne goes to Raj's house, the mother is the only one we see. I don't think this was a pilot for another series; it played like a regular show but with three key characters written out of it. I hated it for that reason; their absence threw off the show's rhythm, and you knew something was missing.
BTW, TV.Com is much better for looking up individual episodes than IMDB.com.
IIRC Dwayne was becoming a Teenage Heartthrob.
In this Episode he was the man, w/ Mission Impossible's Morris as the Father.
I thought it was cool that they showed another one of the main three's life, still weaving it through Mama.
Dwayne got the girl and had the happy ending. No episode prior gave Dwayne the spotlight.
He was always the little dude in the early episodes, so I had no problem w/ him growing up.
Rerun was the Robin of the show w/ Roger as Batman. Dwayne was like Batmite for a long minute.
His sex appeal was apparent. Rerun was a fat homothug, and Roger was pre-Erkel/Carlton/Dwayne Wayne prototype. The writers had to build around Dwayne, for at least one ep.
...but not up to Erkel standards, at least Thorpe played b-ball.
The White Shadow geek was actually Abner Goldstein, a misplaced white kid who was on the team but basically got no respect from his teammates on the show.
Thorpe wore glasses on occasion, and you could tell that he had some serious book smarts, but he was in no way an Urkel.
Yeah Goldstein was a serious herb, but there was a good episode where the team found out he lived w/ his Jewish Grandparents and they all joined him for a big Kosher dinner breaking down the walls betwn he and the team. Goldstein was the backup Center behind the Big black dude(i forget him name).
Thorpe wasnt a geek at all. There was an interesting episode where he dated a White Gurl, and was catchin' heat from the team and the police or somethin'.
No way would Trouble Man's Son sign on to be a herb. I think he was the backup PG on that team as well as the team manager. Thorpe was actually sort of a leader despite not being one of the better players.
Back around 198-[somethin] between What's Happening and What's Happening Now, he came to my hood and spoke to "the kids". When dude entered the room, at probably around his late 20s(years after WH disappeared), all the little girls screamed and ran up front to hear him talk about his career and how "U can succeed". Someone from his family persuaded him to "tawk to the youth."
It wasn't that simple; the plot was a lot more larcenous than that. That was the ep where you really found out what dicks his teammates were...I think one of his grandparents was in the hospital, but neither one of them was in the house for the duration, leaving Goldstein alone. Knowing this, the other teammates used his crib for the sole purpose of fucking their girlfriends, night after night. And no one thought to bring a lady by for Goldstein.
The "kosher dinner" bit came after they realized the error of their ways.
Remember when Dwayne guested as a basketball player who died prematurely from some disease?
IIRC, the team gave him heat not so much because of the mixed-race union, but more because he was spending more time with her than with the b-ball team/singing group.
U know the deal.
My buddy thinks the Dwayne Super-Migraine Episode is hilarious..."AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
I have to check my DVD again to see if he got snapped on. There probably was a comment or two about Thorpe's booksmarts, but he doesnt serve the same role that
Lenard On That's My Mama ( who was made fun of regularly)
Steve Erkel
Carlton on Fresh Prince
William on Girlfriends
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackAndNerdy
however, i don't know if i would want a TV with current programming to help raise my child.
off-topic - a question for the strutter parents: do your kids respond to the programs you grew up with? do you bust out our DVD box sets for them?
i enjoyed shows that my parents grew up with: i love lucy, ozzie + harriet, dennis the menace, the honeymooners, leave it to beaver, andy griffith, etc.
Im watchin' the episode where Coach Reeves tries to recruit Micheal Warren (Black TV vet/UCLA guard who played w/ Lew Alcindor/Hill St. Blues fame) to play for Carver.
He says he lives in Compton, which is out of Carver High's district. Where would Carver be located?
And - where would there be a predominatly African-American scchool or a multi-culti school in that area in the mid to late 70's?
Bonus beat - Warren's daughter-in law is Jessica Alba
That's a pretty simple-minded way of thinking that doesn't prove much - I hope you're trying to be funny.
Yeah, anybody who sez that Thorpe carried on the "nerd" tradition hasn't seen White Shadow in a long, long time. Hell, he didn't even wear the glasses that often. He was a little too self-assured and in the center of the action to be classed as a proto-Erkel. I don't recall him getting flat-out clowned like Goldstein, the white nerd on the team. Specially since he was Coolidge's best friend.
About the only time I ever saw him lose his swagger was when he asked out Karen LeGrand, the white girl. Away from his teammates, that was the most emotionally vulnerable I'd ever seen that character. He did get the girl, but he was very unsure of himself in the pursuit. This was not the heavy-duty bragging we'd seen Thorpe do in the Carver High locker room.
I need to cop this. It seems kinda slow, but reminds me of Halls Of Anger w/ Biggie Smalls as the teacher that returns to the hood to teach. Or even in the same vein as the OG Cosby Show, which is more of a traditional big Cali TV high school.
Thorpe isnt gettin his lunch money taken. Starting PG on the Baskeball team aint the herb.
Now the manager cat that u see in the background during scrimmages is most likely that dude.
It was a drama, so the tone wasn't as humorous (not "funny") as the original Bill Cosby Show. And while it dealt with serious topics, it wasn't as dreary as White Shadow could be. I like this show. It used to be rerun often in the mid-late 70s, then sporadically on TV Land since then. At this late date it's probably not going to overtake Roseanne or Frasier on the rerun circuit, so this DVD is needed.
Although I get the drift that early on they didn't know whether to make this show a drama or a dramedy. Random episodes in the first season, IIRC, had a laugh track, an idea that was later dropped.
Yeah, that character's name was Phil. He had an episode that revolved around him, where some creep spiked his drink at a party and the next thing you know he's sitting in a tree wearing nothing but his draws.
It was definitely one of the early "socially conscious" 70s sitcoms, but it was primarily a sitcom. Think "All In The Family." Dramedy might work, but it was mainly popular (as I recall) because it was a funny show. (And Bernie's Afro, of course.)
Eric Laneuville started out on the show, too. It deserves a little more recognition, I think, though it may have dated in many ways.
The issues they dealt w/ are crazy for 78/79.
B/W
Coolidge and Thorpe and (Thalma from Good Times) all had Jimi Hendrix on their wall.
Im kinda amazed that Jimi was still "the man" for black teens in '79.
I understand Thalma being that it was the mid 75 so Jimi was still "fresh", but '79 during Disco/Funk?
I wonder if its Caucasoid writers/ set designers imposing their tastes.
Its not far fetched, but LA teens in the hood, i would think would have George Clinton on their wall.
B/W
Im wondering if The White Shadow could be done today?
Or could an African EX- NBA player go to a predominately White H.S. and get the same results?
I distinctly remember another episode where Arnold is dancing to "(Not Just) Knee Deep" in the living room.
I have to wonder if Jimi was EVER "the man" for black teens in the sixties and seventies.
They might have respected him from a distance, or he might have been popular with the occasional black teen who leaned towards rock (I was one, and knew others here and there). But I've never known him to wield that kind of power over black folks as a whole.
And as far as Caucasian staff members imposing their tastes on the show...I doubt if black kids in the hood in 1979 would be digging on the Coasters, the novelty doo-wop group of the 50's/60's. On the episode where Thorpe is dating the white girl, the Shower Power group was seen singing "Charlie Brown" at a school dance.