By Joe Puccio

In show business, it’s difficult enough for motion pictures to attain suitable box office success to justify the perpetually exorbitant costs of creating them. Furthermore, adapting profitable television versions of fruitful films are often even tougher tasks. While M*A*S*H (Film: $3 million budget and $81.6 million gross; Series: 11 seasons), The Karate Kid/Cobra Kai (Film: $8 million budget and $130.8 million gross; Series: six seasons), and Parenthood (Film: $20 million budget and $126 million gross; Series: six seasons) are prime examples of getting the formula right, there are certainly many more instances of one of the two mediums being a failure (The Flintstones, Stir Crazy, Leave It to Beaver, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Dirty Dancing, etc.)

Cooley High, an independent, coming-of-age comedy-drama, debuted in theaters during the summer of 1975 and immediately found an audience with its flawless combination of humor and tragedy, its ideal casting of Glynn Turman (A Different World, The Wire), Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (Welcome Back Kotter, Roots), and Garrett Morris (Saturday Night Live, 2 Broke Girls), and its Motown saturated soundtrack, featuring songs like “Baby Love,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and “My Girl.” But as prosperous as it was, even the most adept Hollywood prognosticator couldn’t have predicted the good fortune of its tonally different TV counterpart.

“I guest starred on The Jeffersons and Isabelle Sanford’s agent, Mary White, told me that there was a new series based on Cooley High coming out and that she thought I’d be perfect for the lead,” Ernest Thomas shared, during a recent conversation with Generation X Wire. “There were a bunch of auditions, screen tests, and over 200 actors were in the running. They wanted to find an unknown and were looking everywhere from Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit. I knew it was my destiny because when I saw Cooley High for the first time, I remember being upset with myself for not auditioning for Glynn’s role. I couldn’t shake the feeling.”

Thomas, in fact, went on to nab the starring role as Roger “Raj” Thomas on What’s Happening!!, the renamed and retooled incarnation of the black cinema classic movie. He played the show’s protagonist, a teenager living in the Watts section of Los Angeles with his working-class, divorced mother and his bratty, younger sister.   

“Even though I had done Broadway (Love for Love and The Member of the Wedding, both with Glenn Close), my mother and grandmother didn’t understand that. My grandmother loved television, and This Is Tom Jones – I think she had a little thirst for him,” he laughed. “They would always ask when I’d be on TV. So, I really wanted to be on a sitcom, and I decided to take a leap of faith, sleeping on couches and floors, to get it.”

The initial manifestation of the series, however, didn’t strike a chord with either ABC or test audiences, noting the feeling that the pilot wasn’t quite funny enough to be greenlit into production. A few modifications in the behind-the-scenes setup, switching from one camera to three, hiring a fresh set of writers, and changing its name, led to the beloved sitcom that ran for 65 episodes from 1976 through 1979 with a 1980s spinoff that also received three seasons, titled What’s Happening Now!!

Of course, it takes more than one talented actor to form the nucleus of a hit show. Along with the late Fred Berry, who famously brought the character of Frederick “Rerun” Stubbs to comic life, it was the personable Haywood Nelson, who portrayed the sometimes slow witted but always affable Dwayne Clemens Nelson, the youngest of the impish trio.  

“I did As the World Turns, followed by a movie called Mixed Company with Barbara Harris and Tom Bosley and the director, Mel Shavelson, recommended me for a Broadway play named Thieves with Richard Mulligan and Valerie Harper, which I did for a couple of years,” Nelson recounted. “That got me seen by Norman Lear, who had me read for Good Times as Michael.” Although the part notably wound up going to Ralph Carter, it proved to be a blessing in disguise for the New York-born performer. “Bud Yorkin from All in the Family then had me read for the Sanford and Son spinoff, Grady, which I got and did for ten weeks before it got cancelled,” he explained. “It was actually Whitman Mayo, who played Grady, who told me about the What’s Happening!! part. Next thing I know, I met the cast, who became my family from the very first day.”

The role of Deadra “Dee” Thomas, Raj’s aforementioned sarcastic little sibling, was approached in a decidedly different way. While both Thomas and Nelson were already semi-established from previous projects, ten-year-old Danielle Spencer was an acting ingenue, having no prior experience in the business.

“My stepfather, Tim Pelt, was an actor, and he’d go on auditions all the time,” Spencer offered. “That got me interested so my mother got me an agent and I went out for a few commercials. I think only my third audition was for What’s Happening!! and I ended up getting it.”

The camaraderie of the core cast, which also included accomplished veteran thespian Mabel King (Mabel “Mama” Thomas) and hilarious stand-up comedian Shirley Hemphill (Shirley Wilson), is evident through the sheer chemistry that the troupe shared with each other.  

“Mabel took us all under her wing and really looked out for us,” Spencer insisted. “And if you didn’t know, you’d think Ernest, Haywood, and Fred were best friends in real life. They did everything together. And, of course, I was always needling them,” she chuckled.

“Shirley was all love,” Nelson described. “The opposite of the way her character treated us on the screen. Same wit, same fast mouth and tongue, but with all love. Mabel was a very sophisticated, classy lady. What great casting. The writers we had really found ways to pull the most out of all of us and our characters,” he continued. “But our relationship as a family is what made the biggest difference. That type of affinity and love for one another came through on the television screen.”

Thomas, who nearly landed the coveted role of Kunta Kinte in Roots before it went to LeVar Burton, concurred with his colleagues’ sentiments. “The first day we all met was like an out of body experience for me,” he gushed. “Chemistry cannot be bought, and we really had it.”

Perhaps the most popular episode in the entire What’s Happening!! catalogue was a two-parter in its sophomore season. Titled “Doobie or Not Doobie,” the plot centered around a Doobie Brothers concert at the guys’ high school, portrayed as the band’s alma mater, and the trouble the three get in for recording the performance. Unsurprisingly, both Thomas and Nelson name the installment as their favorite.

“We were like brothers when they came on the show. They were just a great group of guys,” Thomas emphasized. “Michael McDonald had us over his house. We had the best time filming it,” Nelson agreed. “They let us play with them. Next year is the 50^th anniversary of What’s Happening!! They’re back on tour now so we’re going to reach out to them and try to get them involved in some way.”

It’s not inconceivable for one aspect of that involvement to include joint public appearances. Although the Golden Anniversary is still a year away, Thomas and Nelson will be featured guests at the Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany, New Jersey on April 25, 26, and 27. The bi annual gathering, one of the most respected and celebrated fan conventions in the country, will be held at the beautiful Hilton Parsippany and in addition to having the opportunity to take photos, get autographs, and simply converse with the duo, Spencer will be there via video to chat with admirers as well.

“I think this one will be my fourth or fifth,” Spencer commented. “I don’t do them that often but when I do, it’s always such a great time. I still get so much fan mail too.”

Nelson believes that Chiller, in particular, brings out more passionate supporters than typical conventions. “I love it. We get some wild, crazy fans at Chiller,” he assured. “Years ago, Ace Frehley left his table to come over and see us. And then someone else led this entire section of people that were on line to chant ‘No Roger, No Rerun, No Rent!,’ which was a famous line from one of the episodes. It caused a blockage in our area, and it literally stopped Chiller for a while because people couldn’t get by.”

Despite its moniker, Chiller stretches far beyond horror fare. Yet coincidentally, both Nelson and Thomas share a connection to “genre films.” In the years between What’s Happening!! and What’s Happening Now!!, Nelson appeared in a “video nasty,” or movie banned in the United Kingdom, named Evilspeak, alongside Clint Howard, a friend to this day. Thomas’ link to fright films came in the form of 2012’s The Lords of Salem, the well-received supernatural flick written, produced, and directed by Rob Zombie. Although the part was cut due to time constraints, the two maintain a strong friendship.

“Rob is the coolest guy you could ever meet,” Thomas stated. “So unassuming and no big star aura at all. When I wrote my autobiography (From Raj to Riches: Overcoming Life Through Faith), I asked him to write a quote and it was ‘When Ernie’s in a scene with anybody, all you see is Ernest Thomas.’ I have an idea for a story about a witch that I’d like to present to him. I’d love to work with him again.”

Spencer opened her own veterinary practice in the years following her time in the spotlight. Now retired, the former actress actually managed to merge her two professions in 1997 when she played a veterinarian in the Oscar nominated As Good as It Gets with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. “A friend called me and told me about the part,” she revealed. “It was fairly small but a lot of fun.” And like Thomas, Spencer has a poignant memoir of her own (Through the Fire… Journal of a Child Star), tackling everything from the tragic car accident that took the life of her stepfather when she was just 12 to her time living in Ivory Coast, West Africa with her mother. “It was therapeutic. I made sure to capture the most important parts of my life.”

Nelson’s post public life included working behind the camera, as the intelligent entertainer studied Architectural Design and Electronics Engineering. “Before I rejoined the cast in What’s Happening Now!!, I was a private pilot, and I planned on going into the Air Force from there. I had these visions of being like Elvis Presley, who went to the Army before getting back to performing,” he joked. “I’m glad I reprised my role. I didn’t want anyone else to do it.” A return to acting, however, seems to be in the cards. “I have a film project that I’m producing as well as starring in and a couple of stage productions are possible,” he acknowledged. “As things come up, I’m open to them. As long as I can put something out that’s different than what I’ve done previously, I’m onboard.”

The Chiller Theatre convention takes place on April 25, 26, and 27, 2025 at the Hilton Parsippany in Parsippany, NJ. Get your tickets here.

Ernest Thomas on Instagram
Order From Raj to Riches: Overcoming Life Through Faith

Haywood Nelson on Instagram

Danielle Spencer website
Order Through the Fire…Journal of a Child Star