We are on the cusp of an historic weekend in television history--the TV Land "What's Happening" marathon weekend.
Starting Saturday morning and running through Sunday, the marathon heralds the addition of "What's Happening" to TV Land's schedule. This is exciting news. Very exciting news.
Now we will once again have the opportunity to visit with Raj, Rerun, Dwayne, Mama, Dee, Shirley, and everybody else, just like I used to do every weekday at 5:30, when Channel 5 aired the show in NYC. For many years of my childhood, "The Brady Bunch" and "What's Happening" were the main reasons for existence. That might be hyperbole, or it might just be true.
Anyway, if you can't devote your whole weekend to TV Land, may I suggest that you need to at least see the Doobie Brothers two-parter. It's a TV classic, right up there with the creepy bike shop owner molestation two-parter on "Diff'rent Strokes" and the episode of "The Jeffersons" where George gives CPR to the very ungrateful white supremacist guy.
The TV Land website says the Doobie episodes air at midnight and 12:30 Sat. night/Sunday morning and again at 7 and 7:30 Sunday night. Dig it.
4 comments:
Doobie brother episode? Ok, but my favorites, The Gong show episode with the Givens Kids, the Disco Contest show where Rerun dances with his real life wife and loses, and the Baba Ram Baba Cult show where Rerun becomes Abu and worships Mother Nature and Ralph, a head of lettuce. Good times for sure.
I saw both the Disco Dance Contest and Givens Kids Gong Show this weekend, but it bugs me that Chuck Barris isn't on the Gong Show episode. It's kinda like a half-ass Gong Show. Which reminds me that GSN should bring the Gong Show back and have a marathon so I can spend a Saturday night watching it.
The cult episode is also a classic, number two for me behind the Doobies. It was on early Sunday morning, but I didn't wake up in time. Maybe it's on again tonight.
The Doobie episode earns its classic status mainly because (A) it contains the classic question: "This be Raj. Which Doobie you be?" and (b) I think WH is the only series brave enough to expose the seedy underworld of bootlegging concerts.
I tivo'd the Baba Ram Baba episode. Do you want a copy?
And Chuck Barris was probably off doing his secret spy thingy. Or just too big a star to be on What's Happening!!
My VCR is not a big fan of playing tapes at the moment, but thanks. I'll just keep my eyes on the 11 p.m. slot on TV Land.
I'm sure there's some story behind the low-rent Gong Show on What's Happening!! But, I mean, the least they could've done was get Gene Gene the Dancing Machine to appear. Just imagine a Rerun-Gene Gene danceoff. Oh, the possibilities...
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