Arnold witnesses a robbery and goes to the police, although a threatening phone call forces Mr. Drummond to prevent Arnold's involvement. ", "Diff'rent Strokes 'The Complete 4th Season' is Scheduled by Shout! Web. Oranda Goldfish have a double tail like the fantail goldfish, but also they are known for their wen on top of their heads. [31] Since Charlotte Rae's death in 2018 at the age of 92, Bridges is the only living member of the original cast. The main plot of the series is a rich family who lives in Manhattan that adopts the children of their late maid. Arnold: Be careful with my goldfish. With Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Mary Jo Catlett. Arnold hopes to become a photojournalist and ends up getting a job at a newspaper, but he becomes disillusioned when he's asked to run errands instead of taking pictures. Better not let Willis hear you say the word "shine". Arnold takes a toy store owner to small claims court over a faulty train engine. Arnold and Dudley befriend a bicycle shop owner named Mr. Horton (Gordon Jump), who is later revealed to be a pedophile trying to scope the two unwary boys out. NBC showed immediate interest and felt the format had potential; at their request the pitch was developed, with Coleman's character, Arnold, gaining an older brother, producers feeling Coleman would benefit from the addition of a second, slightly older child to interact with, and who could add a further dynamic to storylines. : In the final season (when the sitcom moved from NBC to ABC), the one-hour season opener ("Sam's Missing") revolved around Sam being kidnapped by Donald Brown (Royce D. Applegate), a bereaved father hoping to replace his own dead son, Tommy. At the end of the episode, Bain (in an out-of-character PSA) spoke about what to do if real life situations as the one portrayed on the show were to occur. Eventually he sleeps anyway. Two notable episodes dealt with the consequences of alcoholism. When Mr. Drummond has to undergo surgery himself, he and Sam try to face their fears together. The Simpsons (1989) - S04E19 Comedy 1.9s His name is Abraham Simpson. Mr. Drummond takes Sam and Arnold camping, but is unable to compete with Sam's more-experienced dad. Other classmates and friends of Arnold seen over time included Robbie Jason (Steven Mond) and snobby Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey), who initially was sweet on Arnold, but later came to despise him, leading to hatred between the pair and many squabbles. The pilots did not sell although they were later edited into a television film for some markets. The fifth season also introduced a new recurring character in Arnold's class at school, that of Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey). GoodDay 19:51, 2 May 2006 (UTC) Janet . At the outset of the series, the role of housemaid is filled by Rae as Mrs. Garrett; when Rae departed for spin-off series The Facts of Life during the second season, she was replaced by Adelaide Brubaker (Volz), who in turn, was replaced by Pearl Gallagher (Catlett) from the fifth season until the end of the run. With this move, the show's recognizable opening credits theme song was rerecorded, updating it into a then-more modern pop style. The final two episodes produced for the third season ("Growing Up" and "The Model") had originally been postponed due to a writer's strike,[citation needed] and the interspersing of these two episodes with the ones without Coleman taped at the start of the fourth season allowed the span of his absence to be broken down onscreen. Diff'rent Strokes is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985 and ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986. 2chins/Getty Images. Arnold and his classmates protest dress code changes at school, but when the principal (, Arnold is forced to choose between his friend Robbie and a girl he likes when she accuses Robbie of being a nerd and Arnold has to judge the matter in. Well, well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty. Drummond's building project is discovered to be on the site of an Indian burial ground, which leads to a conflict with a member of the Indian tribe. With Arnold's help, Willis gets everyone out of the house so he and his girlfriend Charlene can make love for the first time. Willis finds out he has very high stress levels, so Mr. Drummond wants him to lay off on his extracurricular activities, much to Willis' chagrin. : I'm studying. [7] Producers were keen to cast Charlotte Rae as housekeeper Edna Garrett, feeling that her more "traditional sitcom" talents would work well for the unusual line-up and that as an older character she would have good chemistry with Bain. . Diff'rent Strokes - Awards - IMDb Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986) Awards Showing all 2 wins and 32 nominations Humanitas Prize 1983 Nominee Humanitas Prize 30 Minute Network or Syndicated Television Blake Hunter For Diff'rent Strokes: The Bicycle Man: Part 2 (1983). Arnold may have been bitten by a rabid dog and he tries to do whatever he can to prevent getting, Willis and Arnold set Mr. Drummond up on a, Mr. Drummond's failure to obtain a business loan causes the family to think they're on the verge of financial ruin, so Arnold and Willis try to put their dad on. Arnold is heartbroken when he finds out he will not do much growing when he gets older, so Mr. Drummond arranges for a business associate's handicapped daughter (Melanie Watson, in her first of four appearances as Kathy) to show him how fortunate he really is. Christopher. Willis is upset when he doesn't make the basketball team because a white student (Todd Lookinland) takes his place, so he plans to take legal action. Dudley Johnson (Shavar Ross) was Arnold's best friend, who, like Arnold, was adopted, and with whom he shared many memorable childhood scrapes. In the fall of 1985, when the series moved to ABC for the seventh season, Arnold, Dudley and Lisa entered high school, where they gained a new friend in Charlie (Jason Hervey). The boys then feel uncomfortable around her and when they begin making jokes about her seizures, they find out that housekeeper Pearl herself has epilepsy but, unlike Karen, controls her seizures with medication. John Astin, best known as Gomez in 1964 . Arnold and Willis invite their old friends from Harlem to their new Park Avenue home and let their wealth go to their heads. Gary Coleman, who plays the main character, is Arnold Jackson the young 8 year old boy. They arrest Donald, and Sam returns home. , The producers were also impressed by Bridges stint on the sitcom Fish, which had also been cancelled earlier in 1978. Arnold lets slip details about his experiences with the seemingly congenial Mr. Horton and Mr. Drummond calls the authorities. In this final season Jason Hervey joined the semi-regular cast as Charlie, another of Arnold's school friends. For some swim strokes, kicking is more powerful than others. Todd Bridges was his older brother Willis and Conrad Bain was the proper white man, Phillip Drummond. (Although Hasselhoff, in his costume as Michael Knight appears, the voice of K.I.T.T. Philip Drummond: I've never seen a black goldfish before. I owe you an insult! David Mendenhall portrays the juvenile drug-pusher. They lived in the penthouse suite at 697 Park Avenue in New York City. [19] By 1990, Plato was living in Las Vegas. Bridges, Plato and Catlett were all absent from the episode, and several cast members later voiced their disappointment that they had not realized it would be the final episode, and would have liked to have been present to mark the end of the series onscreen more adequately. Watchoo talkin' 'bout? Arnold's fortunes soon change and he tries to use the cricket to get out of trouble with the Gooch, but the cricket escapes and Arnold has to come up with a back-up plan. Awww Willis, please don't say anything to him. Bridges' more high-profile role was as Monk, a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran, conspiracy theorist, and nephew of Chris's boss Doc on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Her death was ruled a suicide. Arnold wants to impress Tootie with his "riches" when the Drummond family goes on a trip, so he and Willis go to the bank to make a withdrawal, but the two of them along with Mr. Drummond get trapped during a holdup by robbers (Michael Cavanaugh and Jesse D. Goins). Filming & Production Mr. Drummond trades rooms with Willis while he is busy studying for exams. Diff'rent Strokes began an eight-year run across two networks in 1978, making stars out of its young lead actors Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges and Dana Plato. Volz appeared on a semi-regular basis, but was not added to the opening credits, instead always credited with the guest cast on the closing credits. But the idea was dropped, both due to producers not wanting to water down the character's appeal in the main series, and deciding that the additional workload would be too much for Coleman. Arnold and Dudley (and often Robbie) shared many childhood escapades together, and were featured in many episodes, school-based and otherwise, throughout the show's run. A fast-talking baseball coach woos Willis for a high school team and uses expensive gifts and deception to attain his goal. with the ending varying depending on whom he was addressing. Complete this line: "It takes diff'rent strokes to ____" get ahead. Arnold is in charge of keeping donations for a fundraising drive at school, but loses the money when he puts it in an old pair of shoes that gets thrown out, so the rest of the family has to dig through the garbage to find them. You mean Sleeping Ugly. He never saw a rich white man before either. When the laugh track stopped, he had to scrounge for work. Bain had recently finished a six-year run co-starring as Dr. Arthur Harmon on the hugely successful Maude. [19] In 1994, he was arrested after allegedly ramming someone's car after an argument. : [24] In 1998, she appeared in a softcore pornographic film entitled Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jilland Jill, which was intended to capitalize on her Diff'rent Strokes fame. : A *spanking*? In order to get him to open up about the incident, Mr. Drummond arranges for a crime-prevention demonstration at his school, but the demonstration becomes too real for Arnold. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. She was arrested the following year for forging prescriptions for Valium. When Kelly (Christina Applegate) recognizes him, he denies any connection to Arnold Jackson, but utters his catchphrase to Al, "What'cha talkin' about, Bundy? Willis is hired and fired from a new job all in one day and tries to hide it from Mr. Drummond since he thinks he'll be disappointed in him. Willis' friends think that he and Arnold have lost touch with where they came from, so they adopt a more Afro-centric attitude and alienate the rest of the family. They can be red, orange, white, yellow, black and brown, or even calico. I'm too young for Wonderwoman. Back in Harlem, that's fightin' talk. Ted Ramsey (Le Tari) was Dudley's adoptive father, who turned up occasionally. : [41], On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library, including Diff'rent Strokes. Posted on February 6, 2022 by February 6, 2022 by This leads to a reunion with the woman (Nobu McCarthy) and the truth about who the father really is. First mentioned in the first-season episode "The Fight," which revolves around his bullying of Arnold, he is mentioned in numerous episodes (and his bullying of Arnold returned as the center of several plots), with Arnold's frequent descriptions of him as a burly and troublesome brute, forever looking for trouble but not very smart. This list includes synopses and air dates. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Arnold's teacher, Ms. Osborne (Mary Ann Mobley), begins favoring him after she dates Mr. Drummond. Willis decides to interfere and gets more than he bargained for. Arnold attends Kimberly's ballet recital and decides he wants to learn ballet, which makes Willis very uncomfortable and he tries to put a stop to it. When Arnold loses interest in attending church, he tries to find a religion more to his liking, so he decides to convert to. This leads to the two of them coming to an understanding about their adversarial relationship and they both end up liking each other, but it doesn't last. Mr. Drummond offers a $50,000 reward, which an extortionist attempts to claim. The Drummond family recall past events on their first Christmas with Willis and Arnold. : After reading a book on the American legal system, Willis demands a fair trial for Arnold after he is accused of putting his goldfish in the hot tub.After reading a book on the American legal system, Willis demands a fair trial for Arnold after he is accused of putting his goldfish in the hot tub.After reading a book on the American legal system, Willis demands a fair trial for Arnold after he is accused of putting his goldfish in the hot tub. Be careful with my goldfish. Name Type Author Work Notes Terrible Dogfish: Sea monster: Carlo Collodi: The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Crested Basketfish (Sagenapinna obriensis) Fish Species Diff'rent Strokes, 1st episode of 1984-1985 A Haunting We Will Go 1st aired episode of this show without Dana Plato as regular. Release Dates While there, Mrs. Garrett met Kimberly's classmates and was offered the job as "dorm mother." Official Sites Arrangements are being made for the wedding between Mr. Drummond and Maggie and Maggie becomes furious when she finds out that Mr. Drummond's lawyer suggested a pre-nuptial agreement. Arnold Jackson: That's okay. Due to the popularity of Coleman's character, a spin-off series was briefly considered, to be titled Arnold and focusing on the character's school life[citation needed]. Sam calls his family and gives them the Browns' phone number, which the police trace to Sam's location. With Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Dana Plato. Arnold Jackson [34] On September 29, 2009, a "Fan Favorites" DVD was released. "In The Swim" also saw the move of Kimberly from her private school, to the one attended by Willisa move brought about in part at Plato's suggestion, with it being felt it might open up potential new storylines. Yet the more Arnold practices, the worse he sounds; after a couple of rehearsals, his friends are ready to throw him out of his own band. Ten-year-old Coleman, meanwhile, had caught producers' attention after appearing in a number of commercials and TV guest roles, and the previous year had starred in three pilot episodes by Lear that attempted to revive the Little Rascals film series of the 1920-40s. Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. [37] Season 5 was released on April 4, 2017. The final episode which was "The Front Page", aired on March 7, 1986. Arnold enjoys going out with a classmate, but his friends think she isn't good enough for him and gets him to dump her for a pretty cheerleader. Note: This is Dixie Carter's final appearance as Maggie. As a result, from the later first season and on into the second season, Plato became a regular character. Diff'rent Strokes is a 1978 to 1986 television series that stared Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges and Conrad Bain. Mr. Drummond: I've never seen a black goldfish before. Arnold Jackson I'm barely outta toilet-training. Arnold escapes from the kidnapper and makes it home, but leaves Kimberly behind and can't remember where she is. Technical Specs, [Arnold refuses to fight the school bully], Television Images: My Favorite TV Characters of All-Time: (1970s edition). Arnold Jackson He never saw a rich white man before either. Once the story is submitted, the principal confronts Arnold, demanding that the boy reveal his sources. Kimberly goes on a ski trip with her friend, but doesn't let the family know that there will be boys there. Arnold Jackson Although he was awarded over $1 million in the decision, he filed for bankruptcy in 1999. This episode was originally produced for Season 3 but was postponed because of a writer's strike. The son of a woman Mr. Drummond knew during the Korean War (Keone Young) shows up claiming that Mr. Drummond is his father. Comedy Drama Family The misadventures of a wealthy Manhattan family who adopted the children of their late African American housekeeper from Harlem. Maggie unravels emotionally. Quotes.net. : In this take-off on Ghostbusters, Arnold and Sam explore a haunted house. In order to get Arnold off his back, he sets up a fake robbery at his job so Arnold can save him and even the score. She had been considered for Maggie when the role was created, but was not chosen in part due to age disparity between her and Bain.[13]. The wedding is about to take place, until Maggie and Mr. Drummond realize that neither of them called anybody to perform the ceremony. Due to financial difficulties and her growing addiction to drugs and alcohol, Plato relinquished custody of her son, Tyler, to Lambert. Arnold finds out that several athletes at school are using anabolic steroids, so he goes undercover to expose the full story. After the series ended Bridges developed an addiction to cocaine. The pitch meeting to NBC took place on Friday May 9, 1978,[7] with NBC immediately ordering an optional 26 episodes. Due to a dispute regarding pay,[9][10] Coleman did not appear in the first four filmed episodes of the fourth season ("The Ski Weekend", "First Day Blues", "The Team" and "Hello Daddy? : The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, first appearing as a recurring character, later becoming a main cast member. [8] The title for the series eventually became Diff'rent Strokes, inspired by the phrase "Different strokes for different folks", popularized by boxer Muhammad Ali in 1966 (Ali himself makes a guest appearance in the second season). The time comes for Mr. Drummond to officially adopt Arnold and Willis, but a junk dealer named Jethro Simpson (Whitman Mayo) pretends to be their cousin and tries to interfere with the adoption in order to obtain an inheritance coming to the boys. for DVD", "Diff'rent Strokes And Together We'll Be Fine! Willis has a hard time adjusting to college, so he decides to drop out. (Kimberly did not become a regular character in that series, although the two shows had a number of crossovers.). His name's Abraham. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two Black boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman and widower named Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato), for whom their deceased mother previously worked.