I want to remember Dee, just the way I remember her for me...Raj's little sister. She was bad at first though; it was good that they started to tone her character down and make her nicer. I didn't notice when I was younger but wow at the cruel fat "jokes" towards Rerun (Fred Berry). It's like with the cruelty towards Dorothy (Bea Arthur) on the Golden Girls. Who do these writers, producers, directors etc think they are?
Okay so, what I have to do to still my old shows, is just tune out the cruel jokes and just move on and focus on what I love about the shows.
So that's what I did last year when I was binge watching What's Happening, over and over and over, along with The Jefferson's, 227, Amen, That's My Mama and a bunch of game shows. I was on my healing journey (still am, but a million miracle times better). I was very fragile last year so I needed to watch safe shows where I already knew what was going to happen, because I had already seen them an abnormal amount of times as is. Lol.
I needed calmness, familiarity and to be reminded of more innocent times. Not just the innocent times of the shows, but the times I fell in love with the shows, it's all about nostalgia.
So, Dee was a little angel for me last year during my turmoil; I could transport back in time and pretend that I wasn't here in this type of world we're in. Chile, it's a mess! Not that the world has ever been good, but come on now! This is...a mess. So anyway...
They were a good, loving family; and Raj had a great relationship with his best friends Rerun and Dewayne (the one who would say "hey hey hey").
Just seeing people who look like me, not in a state of constant suffering, is automatically a stress-reliever. So, it was definitely a show geared towards teens of the 70's but even at my current age I could always find some parts of the show that were timeless. The actors were all simply amazing.
(I was too little to watch in the late 70's so then I started watching the reruns in the 1980's and then with my younger sister in the 1990's when BET used to bring it on.)
What's Happening Now
I did watch What's Happening Now as it aired. Dee was just so so pretty. She grew up to be a beautiful young lady. I loved her hair style and make-up; very lovely pretty girl and I loved the episodes she was on because I could relate to her character the most-with me being a pre-teen and all, and the other characters were in their 20's.
And on top of all this, she grew up to be a veterinarian. That has always made her more special to me. I remember watching some type of court show way back in the 1990s and the case involved animals, and she was called to testify as an expert. My mom and I were watching and we were like wowwwwwwwwwww!! I remember her testimony being short, I wanted to see more.
I know a simply AI search can pull up the name of the show and the video of her testimony etc, but you know, sometimes it's best to just leave memories sealed and put away just as they already exist in my mind. Let's leave it alone
Some years ago I was watching an Unsung (best documentary type show ever) and they pivoted from the usual musical artists and did some shows about actors. I watched the What's Happening Unsung episode and boy it was tense. I remember learning that Danielle was in a terrible car accident during the time of the show, one in which her father died protecting her from the impact of the accident. Just wow.
It really gave more insight into who Little Dee was as a person, on and off the screen.
I know she was heaven-sent for so many animals throughout her years as a Veterinarian and animal advocate. And as an avid animal-lover I do like to think that she's spending time with a bunch of precious animals now; no pain.
Note: Cause of death, cancer.
😀🦋🦋
