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In 1978, the Doobie Brothers were at the height of their fame when they did something totally unexpected.
Already well known for the songs “China Grove,” “Listen to the Music,” and more, the California rockers were no strangers to appearances on music-related TV shows such as The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. But in 1978, the Doobies made a cameo like no other on the hit sitcomWhat’s Happening!!.
The two-parter, titled, “Doobie or Not Doobie,” originally aired in January 1978 on ABC.
The storyline featured main charcater Raj (Haywood Nelson) and his pals going to a Doobie Brothers concert, with Rerun (Fred Berry) getting caught illegally recording the show.
Doobie Brothers bandmates Michael McDonald, Patrick Simmons, and Tiran Porter had several lines in the episode and even got in a plug for their then-new album Livin’ on the Fault Line. The band also performed several songs, including "Black Water" and "Takin' It to the Streets.”
One of the most memorable lines from the episode came when Nelson’s character asked one of the band members, “Which Doobie you be?”
Nearly 50 years later, fans still remember the “Doobie or Not Doobie” episodes fondly and have made “Which Doobie you be?” into an enduring catchphrase.
With a greatest hits blockbuster already under their belt (1976’s Best of the Doobies), and their biggest-selling studio album, Minute by Minute, just around the corner, the big question became why would the already popular Doobie Brothers agree to a sitcom appearance?
In a 2018 interview with Go Jimmy Go, Simmons revealed that the sitcom cameo came at the suggestion of their publicist, David Gest.
"I was already familiar with What’s Happening!!, because I’d watched the show a few times,” Simmons shared. “I thought it was hilarious and really liked the character of Rerun. …Because it was a Black situation comedy, I thought it would be an adventurous thing for us to do because our music had always been laced with R&B and soul. Not only would our fans tune in, but it would also expose us to a new audience of people who watched the show regularly, and would begin to listen to our music.”
Simmons admitted he has “no idea” how the Doobie Brothers would fit into the show, but added, "[I] thought it was something fun and different to do. David had great ideas, and that was certainly one of them."
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Speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, Simmons gave Gest full credit for the Doobie Brothers/What’s Happening!! crossover.
"He was a great publicist,” Simmons said of Gest. “He was really good. He kind of made it up as we went along, but he had great ideas — how to stage events, interesting interviews for us, different things that we hadn’t really done before. That’s how we ended up on the show. That was his idea.”
Simmons also noted the What’s Happening!! episodes' cultural impact.
“I think our audience broadened and we connected more with the African American community, having those R&B and blues sounds in our music," the Doobie Brothers legend added. "I think people were aware of our social viewpoint, that we really value all of a larger, multicultural social audience. So, doing that show for me was a joy in that regard — to be building what I thought was a bridge, at a time in television where those situation comedies were bridges between cultures."
