 Diff'rent Strokes
1 9 7 8 - 1 9 8 6 (USA)
 Pint-sized
Gary Coleman was one of the comedy discoveries of the 1970's. With
pudgy cheeks, twinkling eyes and flawless timing ("Whatchyou
talkin' bout Willis?") he helped make this improbable comedy
one of the top hits of the 1978-1979 season.
8-year-old Arnold and his 12-year-old brother Willis were two
black kids from Harlem who found themselves suddenly in the lap of
luxury.
Their dying mother, a former housekeeper for wealthy, widower
Philip Drummond, had asked her employer to promise he would look
after her boys when she passed away.
Philip welcomed the two into his Park Avenue apartment as his
own. It didn't matter that there were endless double takes when
the rich, white president of the huge corporation Trans Allied
Inc. introduced the two spunky black kids as his sons.
Willis always seemed a little bit reserved but everybody
learned little lessons about what was right and wrong in each
episode. The show also tackled serious issues such as child abuse
and the dangers of hitch-hiking.
First Lady Nancy Reagan appeared in a 1983 episode dealing with
drug abuse. Rounding out the Drummond household was Kimberly, his
13-year-old daughter and the new, scatterbrained housekeeper, Mrs.
Garrett.
Several cast changes took place over the years. 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 by somewhat grumpy
Adelaide and then by cheerful Pearl.
 Dudley
arrived in 1981 as Arnold's best friend, while Charlene (played by
Janet Jackson) was Willis' girlfriend for a time.
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
high school and went to Paris to further her studies.
When Diff'rent Strokes premiered, NBC had only a few comedies
on its schedule, and it used its new hit to help out some of the
others. First The Facts of Life began with a crossover
episode,
Then Philip just happened to buy the Portland, Oregon radio
station where Larry Adler (the main character on the show Hello,
Larry) was a talk-show host. Larry and Philip were old army
buddies.
Coleman was 10 when the series began. He was born with a
congenital kidney problem and received a kidney transplant at the
age of 5, which resulted in his being smaller than normal for his
age.
An uncommonly bright and articulate youngster, he seemed quite
happy to be alive and became a frequent and popular guest on many
talk shows and other series.
|
