Black Sitcom Shorts
Description: What's Happening!! follows the lives of three working-class African-American teens living in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. The show stars Ernest Thomas as Roger "Raj" Thomas, Haywood Nelson as Dwayne Nelson, and Fred Berry as Freddy "Rerun" Stubbs. Additional co-stars include Danielle Spencer as Roger's younger sister Dee, Mabel King as Roger and Dee's mother Mabel. Shirley Hemphill stars as Shirley Wilson, a waitress at Rob's Place, the neighborhood soda shop where the boys are regular patrons. Recurring characters include Rob (Earl Billings), owner of Rob's Place, and Mrs. Collins (Fritzi Burr), a sardonic but caring history teacher and the sponsor of the school newspaper.
Description: Good Times is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Good Times was a spin-off of Maude, which itself was a spin-off of All in the Family, arguably making Good Times the first television spin-off from another spin-off. Good Times also was television's first African American two-parent family sitcom. The teenage son of the family, J.J., routinely delivered his signature catchphrase when something was to his liking, which was dynamite, pronounced like dyn-o-mite. The catchphrase became synonymous with the character and the actor that portrayed him, all while becoming a pop culture phenomenon of its own.
Description: Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is a German-born American actor and comedian who got his start in comedy shows, including The Improv. He starred in the hit show Martin until Tisha Campbell abruptly left the show in its fifth season, alleging sexual harassment, battery, abuse, and threats.
