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Chachi Pays Tribute
to Fred "Rerun" Berry .
Porn, xxx movies and Britney Spears? Not!
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I am here once again to talk about the loss
of another great pop icon that has left us way too soon. It was bad enough
that we have just lost John Ritter and Robert Palmer, now we have lost Fred
“Rerun” Berry. He was only 52.
Fred Berry was the star of the 70’s TV show "What's Happening!!" which ran
from 1976 – 1979. This was a hilarious show even though every white kid in
America got the character of this show and “Good Times” mixed up. I had the
same problem with mixing up Diff’rent Strokes and Cops. Oh wait, that
entire cast was on Cops.
The show “What’s Happening” featured three buddies, Raj, Rerun and Dwayne,
growing up in Los Angeles. These friends always found themselves getting
into some sort of trouble. Half of the time, however, the boys got into
trouble because of Roger's smart ass, cock blocking sister, Dee. One time,
Rerun even got into trouble by bootlegging a Doobie Brothers concert. I’m
still not sure why the writers had a black kid in the late 70’s at a Doobie
Brothers concert, much less bootlegging it. Rerun must have really liked
that “Listen to the Music” song to risk going to jail.
All of the characters of the show had their own trademarks. Dwayne had the
catchphrase "Hey, Hey, Hey" which he used to show his acting genius by
somehow working it into every episode. Raj was the smartest of the friends
but was mainly known for his nerdy glasses. Rerun, however, stole the show
with his trademarks.
Dressed in his red beret and red suspenders, the plump Rerun became a TV
icon. But not only was Rerun a snazzy dresser, the man could dance. He
created a dance that is now simply known as “The Rerun”. “The Rerun” is
actually a style of break dancing known as “Poppin’ and Lockin’” that Fred
Berry made famous way before breakin’ was even popular.
Even Fred’s nickname was cool. He went by “Rerun” on the show because in
the summer he always had to rerun all of the classes that he failed during
the school year. I once too went by the nickname Rerun during my 7th grade
year but that was because I was constantly jackin’ the beanstalk.
“What’s Happening” was a ground breaking show which sadly never made it
into the 80’s. However, its bastard child, “What’s Happening Now!” did and
ran from 1985 – 1988. “What’s Happening Now!” failed to really catch on
since by this point the show had already beaten the dead horse so many
times with the same jokes that the only thing left was glue.
Fred Berry, however, continued on after the show went off the air reprising
his “Rerun” character for guest appearances on other TV shows. That was the
great thing about Fred Berry. Some other former child stars will get pissed
if you ask them to say their catchphrase or do something from their old TV
series. If you try asking Gary Coleman to say “Wha choo talkin’ bout,
Willis?” he will probably stop taking your order, crawl under the KFC
counter and stab you in the shin with a spork. Fred Berry, however, always
looked happy when he was wearing the red beret and suspenders while dancing
“The Rerun”. He even did his dance on a Snoop Dog video in the mid 90’s.
Even within the last year, Fred was making a comeback on TV and movies. He
starred in an episode on “Scrubs” during a dream sequence where he and the
whole cast were dressed in his trademark clothes while doing “The Rerun”.
Fred Berry was even a host on VH1’s I Love the 70’s where Fred talked about
“What’s Happening” while showing how to perform the dance.
His last appearance was probably at the end of the Dickie Roberts: Former
Child Star movie. During the closing credits, Fred and about 20 other
former child stars sang a “We are the World” type song that poked fun at
the trials and tribulations of being a former child star. That is how we
should all remember Fred Berry. As a former young star that continued to
make us laugh into his older years while never really taking himself too
seriously.
Good bye Fred Berry, you will always live on in our hearts and, ironically
enough, in reruns.
Email King Chachi |
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