Elliott Smith, a singer with a song on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, died yesterday at 34 :/

Didn't one of the episodes of "What's Happening" involve Rerun, and/or his friends on a mock episode of "The Gong Show"? If so, can someone fill us in on the details?

Indeed. Fred Berry's classic dance moves (I believe he was part of a troupe known as "The Lockers"--for the style of dance they did) were incorporated into a show where Rerun competes on GONG (none of the GONG principals participated--the reasons are probably obvious) against a group of singers who were managed by Raj.

Of course, when I think of WH?, I think of the classic episode with the Doobie Brothers and Rerun's classic line, "Which Doobie you be?" He will be missed.

Doug

My guess (and it's only a guess) is that NBC would've frowned on having their talent or space utilized to do the WH? spoof. Of course, that's not to say it wasn't done before (ABC's WELCOME BACK KOTTER, for example, taped at NBC's Burbank facility for its first season [except for the pilot] then went to ABC TV Center for its last three seasons). It's a lot more commonplace now.

I must admit it's been a long time since I've seen the Burnett spoof, so I don't recall all of the details.

Or maybe it came down to money??!!

Doug

I can think of three spoofs of The Gong Show.
One, the What's Happening!!! one, which had actual celebrities (Wolfman Jack, Barbara Rhoades, Kene Holliday - the last one from ABC's Carter Country, although I think Richard Paul would be the most recognized name around here from that show) but not the actual set. (In fact, Holiday acted as both a judge and the host.)
Two, a Sanford and Son spoof, with Chuck Barris and the actual set, but no-name actors as fictional celebrities.
Three, the The Carol Burnett Show spoof, with the original set and Ludden, Jamie Farr, and Jaye P. Morgan; are you sure Barris wasn't in this one?

-- Don

Remember the day well. Fred was on with MacKenzie Phillips, Cindy Willliams, Erin Moran, Joan Van Ark, Eric Estrada, Nell Carter and Jill Whelan. Honestly he was not among the couple of celebs that I was most looking forward to meeting that day. But he came into the green room with a big smile and a gracious "hello", and was an engaging conversationalist who didn't take himself too seriously. I enjoyed talking with him, mostly about a dance school he was involved with, his newly found spirituality, and assorted showbiz stuff.

I ended up enjoying the entire pre-show break time with him. Never got the chance to talk much with Cindy Williams or the still sexy MacKenzie who has the history of the Mamas and Papas and the wild 60s and 70s that she and her father John lived through.

RIP

I do remember watching this in the original run and am about 80 percent sure Chuck was included. (I also believe Carol returned the favor and did a Chuck intro in a Gong Show ep.

But that was over 25 years ago. Memories fade (but purple corduroy is forever).

I believe that recollection is correct. When the PEANUTS "Rerun" was born in the early 1970s (I think 1972, a few years before WHAT'S HAPPENING? debuted), older sister Lucy was lamenting about how she wanted a sister, but instead she wound up with another brother--a RERUN. In a storke of genius, Linus exclaims, "That's it! We'll call him 'Rerun'!" And the name stuck.

And Curt A. is also correct, Burnett did indeed do an intro for Chuckie on GONG (GSN aired this episode [as opposed to the over 200 they didn't air] and it originally aired sometime in the fall of 1976).

Doug

You're right, Curt.

It was one of the "Family" sketches (or what would become "Mama's Family"). Eunice was boasting about getting on "The Gong Show" and that she would become a big star. Ed and Mama, as usual, had other opinions.

Dissolve to actual "Gong Show" set (and actual Mother MacKenzie). Barris introduces Eunice and she comes out to deliver "Feelings." She gets gonged--and as the panel hits the gong, there's a freeze-fame of her face in deep shock as we hear nothing but the gong sound reverberating. As the sound dies out, we fade to black--no applause, no playoff music. Moral: Sometimes, you don't believe what your family says about you until someone else says it.

Another moral -- don't sing "Feelings" on The Gong Show; I recall a Gong Show episode where all the contestants sung "Feelings", and all were gonged, with Chuckie declaring himself the winner that day.

Hmmmmm... I recall seeing an episode where all the contestants sang "The Way We Were." ("Mem-ories...") Who's right; Rugrats? Me? Both?

(Chuckie Baby) "...and the winner is... no one; everybody got Gonged... I SAVED THE MONEY!!!!" (usual confetti dousing, etc.) (/CB)

Esoteric Eric; a well-endowed female non-contestant appeared, singing her version of the same song... "Mamm-aries..."; CB cut her off after that... ((8=) ))

I do recall the "Feelings" episode, but I do believe somebody did get through unscathed and wound up winning (shame that episode never got cleared for GSN to show--I would've loved to have gotten it on tape). But I could be mistaken. I don't recall a similar stunt pulled for "The Way We Were," though.

And the "mam-mories" girl was none other than "the little elf of a singer"--Trixie (who made recurring appearances doing everything in the worst possible way, not to mention being cast as the resident "hussy" in the repetory company).

Doug

They did do that with "The Way We Were"--and Trixie was there.

Guess which two songs were the most frequently sung by "Gong Show" auditioners?