Diff'rent Strokes: Show information
First Telecast: November
3, 1978
Last Telecast: August
30, 1986
Total number of episodes:
189
Broadcast History:
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Show Summary:
Pint-sized
Gary Coleman was one of the comedy discoveries of the late 1970s.
Pudgy cheeks, twinkling eyes, and flawless timing made him seem like an
old pro packed into the body of a small child--and he helped turn this
improbable comedy into one of the hits of the 1978-1979 season. Eight-year-old
Arnold and his 12-year-old brother Willis were two black kids from Harlem
who found themselves quite suddenly in the lap of luxury. Their dying
mother, a housekeeper for wealthy Philip Drummond, had extracted from her
employer the promise that he would look after her boys. Unlike some
of TV's other accidental parents (for example, Family Affair), Drummond
didn't mind at all, and welcomed the two into his Park Avenue apartment
as his own. No matter that there were endless double takes when
the rich, white Drummond, president of the huge conglomerate Trans-Allied,
Inc. (though he never seemed to work much), introduced the two spunky black
kids as his "sons." They didn't care. There was always plenty
of love around--though Willis seemed a bit reserved--and everybody learned
little lessons in Living Right in each episode. There were also episodes
on such serious subjects as child abuse and the dangers of hitchhiking.
Former first lady Nancy Reagan appeared in a 1983 episode dealing with
drug abuse. Rounding out the household was widower Drummond's 13-year-old
daughter, Kimberly, and the new housekeeper, the scatterbrained Mrs. Garrett. As years passed,
new characters were introduced. Mrs. Garrett left to become a housemother
at the prestigious Eastland School for Girls, which Kimberly was attending,
in a spin-off series called The Facts of Life.
She was replaced as housekeeper first by the somewhat grumpy Adelaide,
and then by cheerful Pearl. Dudley arrived on the scene in 1981 as
Arnold's best buddy, while Charlene was Willis' girlfriend for a time.
Perhaps the most notable addition to all their lives came in 1984.
After years of fruitless matchmaking by his sister Sophia and by the kids,
Drummond finally fell in love--with a feisty TV-exercise-show hostess named
Maggie. They were married in February 1984, adding her young son
Sam to the Drummond household. In the fall of 1984 Kimberly graduated
from high school and went away to study in Paris. When
Diff'rent Strokes premiered NBC had few comedies on its schedule,
and it used its new hit to help out some of the others. First Facts of Life began with a crossover episode.
Then Drummond just happened to buy the Portland, Oregon, radio station
where Larry Adler (principal character on Hello, Larry) was a talk-show host, leading to some
visits there; Larry and Philip, it seemed, were old army buddies. Coleman was
10 when this series began. He was born with a congenital kidney problem
and received a kidney transplant at the age of five, which resulted in
his being smaller than normal for his age (a condition that would continue
throughout his life). An uncommonly bright and articulate youngster,
he seemed quite happy to be alive, and became a frequent and popular guest
on talk shows and other series. NBC aired
reruns of Diff'rent Strokes on weekdays from April 1982 to December
1983 and from July to September 1984.
More facts about the show and cast members can be found in the Did you know? section.
Series summary from The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present
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