Also first appearing in the second season was Arnold's best friend Dudley Johnson (Shavar Ross), first seen in the episode Teacher's Pet. 25 min 3/11/1978 AU$2.99. 33:59. 10 Jan. 1986 Arnold's Initiation. Diff'rent Strokes. 8-2 : 27 Sep 85: Sam's Missing - Part 2: 173. Arnold isn't thrilled about the assignment at first, but after reading the assigned book (, Arnold and his friends find out that a white-supremacist group will be speaking on campus, so they decide to interrupt their assembly by throwing rotten food at them. There were three maids during the sitcom's run: Edna Garrett (Rae), Adelaide Brubaker (Volz) and Pearl Gallagher (Catlett). Mr. Drummond grounds Arnold for a bad grade on his history test. Diff'rent Strokes was also known for its many "very special episodes", most notably an anti-drug episode ("The Reporter") that featured First Lady Nancy Reagan, who promoted her "Just Say No" campaign and "The Bicycle Man", a two-part episode that guest starred Gordon Jump as a pedophile who lures Arnold and Dudley into his bicycle shop and attempts to molest them. Rate. The fifth season also introduced a new recurring character in Arnold's class at school, that of Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey). Arnold and Sam befriend Karen, a street performer, much to Mr. Drummond's dismay. During the series' sixth season, Plato became pregnant and her character was written out of the series (though she would go on to make guest appearances for the final two seasons). 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. [35] Season 4 was released on November 20, 2012. Charles Stewart, Jr. and Charles Stewart, Sr. Arnold and Willis find a lost watch in the building, but soon become suspects when it's discovered the watch was taken from a burglarized apartment. Arnold Jackson missed five episodes, two from the fourth season in 1981–82 (“First Day Blues" and "The Team") and three from the seventh season in 1984–85 ("The Gymnasts", "Sam Adopts a Grandparent" and "Baseball Blues"). Kimberly goes on a ski trip with her friend, but doesn't let the family know that there will be boys there. Although he was awarded over $1,000,000 in the decision, he filed for bankruptcy in 1999. Arnold and Sam go into business selling roach spray, but Arnold's greed causes Sam to go his own way. 8-1 : 27 Sep 85: Sam's Missing - Part 1: 172. 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. Arnold is forced to deal with a bully at school; Mr. Drummond doesn't want him to fight, but Willis thinks fighting is the only option. After Willis is hospitalized for trying to stop the bullies, Arnold is asked to participate in a. Willis lets his potential membership in an exclusive club go to his head, but falls hard when he alienates the club members. Some markets, such as U.K. satellite channel Sky One in the early 1990s, have aired the episodes in production order. In the end, both lose out to a third candidate. A computer error leads to Arnold getting mail to sign up with the, Kimberly finds out she'll be getting a trust fund on her 18th birthday and has plans to travel to. Several past characters attended the wedding ceremony, including Dudley, Aunt Sophia, Adelaide and Mrs. Garrett. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar returns and has Arnold take over teaching the class for one day. Different Strokes. In 2001, Coleman (still working as a security guard) was videotaped trying to stop a vehicle from entering the mall. Beginning with the third-season episode Count Your Blessings and also touched upon in several other episodes is the fact that Arnold will never grow much taller, reflecting Gary Coleman's real-life medical condition. A guide listing the titles AND air dates for episodes of the TV series Diff'rent Strokes. As Arnold, Coleman popularized the catchphrase "What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" The penultimate season of the sitcom is expected at the end of February, Diff'rent Strokes – Shout! Directed by Herbert Kenwith. Watch Movin' In. Diff'rent Strokes Ep 123 - Willis' Birthday. Unrelated plug: I recently walked across America and a documentary is being made about it. During the first season, the unseen character of "The Gooch" is first mentioned as a supposedly mean, hulking bully at Arnold's school. 8. In 1998, Coleman was charged with assault after he punched a woman while working as a security guard at a shopping mall. Arnold, Kimberly and Willis get jobs at Mr. Drummond's company, but when Willis finds out that minority kids don't have the same opportunities at employment, he goes undercover to see for himself and goes too far. When the dispute was ultimately settled, Coleman returned to the series, missing only two more episodes (season 7's The Gymnasts and Baseball Blues). Now, his main role is in the courtroom, in a pathetic fight against his own parents", "Diff'rent Strokes Episode Guide - Diff'rent Strokes Season Episodes - TV.com", http://www.tv.com/shows/diffrent-strokes/the-model-27173/trivia/, "MeTV - Diff'rent Strokes was the king of the 'very special episode, "The Durant Daily Democrat – Google News Archive Search", "Ron Jeremy: Gary Coleman Hated Saying "Whatchu Talkin' Bout" Line", "Vanilla Ice – I'm Going to Gary Coleman's Memorial", "The Five Lowest Moments of Gary Coleman's Career", "Former Child Star Gary Coleman Cited for Disorderly Conduct in Parking Lot Spat", "Gary Coleman critically hurt after falling and hitting his head", "Dana Plato, 34, Star of 'Diff'rent Strokes, "The 'Diff'rent Strokes' curse isn't a joke", "Child star Dana Plato's life ends with overdose", "Jury Acquits Todd Bridges Of Charges Of Attempted Murder, Manslaughter", "Todd Bridges arrested, charged after tiff involving vehicle", "Todd Bridges on TV Dad Conrad Bain: 'He Treated Me Better Than My Own Father, "Troubled lives for 'Diff'rent Strokes' stars", "Long Island News from the Long Island Press", "Diff'rent Strokes – Front/Rear Box Art, Episode List for Sony's 'Diff'rent: Fan Favorites' DVD", "Diff'rent Strokes – 'Season 3' DVDs! While not a spin-off, Hello, Larry (1979–1980) had a connection to Strokes as it was established in a crossover episode that Philip Drummond and Larry Alder (McLean Stevenson) were old Army buddies and Mr. Drummond had bought the company that owned the radio station where Larry worked as a talk show host. Phillip proposed to Maggie and they married, in the episode The Wedding, first broadcast February 25, 1984. Diff'rent Strokes Episode 0509 A Case Of Overexposure (A.K.A.) Note: Dana Plato does not appear in this episode. Willis has a hard time adjusting to college, so he decides to drop out. With Arnold's help, Willis gets everyone out of the house so he and his girlfriend Charlene can make love for the first time. Mr. Drummond and Maggie are too busy to spend time together, which has Sam worried that their marriage may be in trouble, so he and Arnold put together a romantic evening for the two of them. 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]. Mr. Drummond tries to make a business deal with exercise instructor Maggie McKinney (Dixie Carter) and falls in love with her. The episode Bulimia, Plato's final appearance in the series, dealt with the revelation of Kimberly's eating disorder, and won praise both for Plato's performance and the sensitivity of the writing. Mr. Drummond, Willis and Arnold all have different interpretations of what happened, but Pearl, who was in the kitchen and saw everything, tells Kimberly what really took place. 6. A classmate of Arnold's (Joey Lawrence) is given a lot of attention by the rest of the Drummond family, leaving Arnold to feel unwanted. Willis has a special birthday request: a party back in his Harlem neighborhood with his old buddies. Lisa's mother takes over teaching Arnold's class and Lisa forces him and his friends to be nice to her or she'll rat them out to her mom. 3. When it looks like Willis and Arnold will legally have to live with Jethro, the truth about him is revealed and the boys are able to officially become members of Mr. Drummond's family. Arnold lies to his friends about having sex with a girl, which leads to her deciding to have sex for real... which Arnold isn't ready for. Diff'rent Strokes. Arnold and Kimberly hitchhike to get home for Mr. Drummond's birthday party and are picked up by a man who takes them to his apartment and tries to have his way with Kimberly. It ran for 8 seasons and had 189 episodes. When Charlene feels Willis is taking her for granted, she dumps him. All three experienced various legal problems while Bridges and Plato also struggled with drug addictions, all of which were documented in the press. An oft-mentioned character, spanning the entire show's run, was "The Gooch", a notorious bully at Arnold's school. Phillip's slightly dotty sister Sophia (Dody Goodman) was regularly seen in the fourth season, playing matchmaker for her brother in hopes of getting him to remarry. [40], 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. : 'The Complete 5th Season' on DVD", Mr. T! Willis gets the sister of one of his old girlfriends (Robin Givens) to go out with Arnold by giving her concert tickets. Mrs. Garrett is present for the first 13 episodes of the second season of Diff'rent Strokes, the character last seen in the episode The Rivals, after which she leaves, offscreen, to take a permanent position at Eastland, due to The Facts of Life having by then been picked up for a full series. Following Rae's departure midway through the second season, Nedra Volz took over as the housekeeper, the older and crankier Adelaide Brubaker, introduced in the episode The Election. As the series progressed, although sticking to more lighthearted sitcom themes in many episodes, at times it focused on more serious topics including drug abuse, alcoholism, hitchhiking, child abuse and crime, among other issues. Additionally, Arnold appeared on the Silver Spoons episode "The Great Computer Caper" and the Amazing Stories episode "Remote Control Man. Biden, Harris take office in historic inauguration. Due to a dispute regarding pay,[6][7] 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? Directed by Gerren Keith. This list includes synopses and airdates. The Facts of Life (1979–1988) is a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes featuring Drummond's former housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett, who had accepted a job as the housemother for a dormitory at Eastland, an all-girls private school that Kimberly was attending. Overexposure. 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. With this move, the show's recognizable opening credits theme song was rerecorded, updating it into a then-more modern pop style. With all those girls on the cusp of adulthood at the Eastland Academy on ... From the creepy bicycle man on Diff'rent Strokes … Arnold struggles to find a subject for the school's journalism contest. Keystone Pipeline. Midway through the sixth season, Plato became pregnant and approached the producers of the show to include her pregnancy. Arnold takes a toy store owner to small claims court over a faulty train engine. 10. [41] They subsequently re-released the first and second seasons on DVD on July 15, 2014. (Scenes from The Fight are actually seen in the prior episode, the hour-long clip show Retrospective, which was brought forward in airing order due to its Christmas setting). Initially they agreed to add it, but they later decided not to (although a previous episode, the third season's Little Mother, had tackled a similar theme, when Kimberly's friend falls pregnant and, due to a misunderstanding, it is thought that Kimberly is pregnant). 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. (Kimberly did not become a regular character in that series, although the two shows had a number of crossovers). TV-PG; 24 MINS; 1979; Stereo; Willis has a special birthday request: a party back in his Harlem neighborhood with his old...More. "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To". Mr. Drummond makes a last minute bid to run for a local political office. Arnold witnesses a robbery and goes to the police, although a threatening phone call forces Mr. Drummond to prevent Arnold's involvement. Sam gets into a fight at Hamburger Hangar with Kurt, a kid (Carl Steven) who constantly picks on him. Joe Biden. Mr. Drummond's mother (Irene Tedrow) visits and is surprised when she sees that his new sons are black, so he tries to make her get over her racial prejudices. When Arnold finds out, he is angry at what Willis did, but it turns out the girl likes Arnold for real. Charlotte Rae appeared as Edna Garrett in every first-season episode; the final broadcast episode of the first season, The Girl's School, also known as Garrett's Girls, sees her agreeing to act as the temporary housemother of Kimberly's private school, the fictional Eastland; in actuality, this episode acted as the backdoor pilot for spin-off series The Facts of Life (Garrett's Girls being an early working title for the series). Janel. David Hasselhoff! A new landlord tries to have the Drummonds thrown out of their penthouse apartment because he doesn't like children. In the third season, Janet Jackson played Willis's girlfriend, Charlene DuPrey. The stars of DIFF'RENT STROKES and Hello, Larry get together in a special, hilarious hour in which Phillip Drummond realizes that the purchase of a Portland radio station could mean the loss of a job for his old friend Larry Alder. The Drummond family recall past events on their first Christmas with Willis and Arnold. Mr. Drummond takes Sam and Arnold camping, but is unable to compete with Sam's more-experienced dad. Arnold gets his first date with a girl he likes, but things turn sour when Dudley butts in on them. Sam's scout troop is asked to work with a bunch of senior citizens on projects, but Sam's assigned senior citizen (John McIntire) calls Sam a brat and refuses to help, so Sam has to put together a model airplane by himself. Diff'rent Strokes is set in New York City. The ratings did not improve, sinking further over the course of the season. The story of two African-American kids from Harlem who move to … Diff'rent Strokes Episode 0514 Parents Have Rights, Too. After Willis disobeys and is caught, he decides to move in with Jerry (, Mr. Drummond sneaks around behind the kids' backs while dating his tax attorney (, Kimberly stops working at Mr. Drummond's company and takes a job at a burger place, but is. This leads to a reunion with the woman and the truth about who the father really is. 33:59. When Kimberly submits a candid picture of Arnold with his butt exposed to a photo contest, he is infuriated and demands that Kimberly withdraw it, but the picture remains in the contest by mistake and almost ruins Arnold's chances of winning the class election. decides to have a replica made instead, but Arnold knows the difference. [5] The sitcom starred Coleman as Arnold Jackson and Bridges as his older brother, Willis. Dudley Johnson (Shavar Ross) was Arnold's new best friend, who, like Arnold, was adopted, and with whom he shared many memorable childhood scrapes. The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, appearing first as a recurring character before eventually becoming a main cast member. Arnold gets reassurance from Kathy when he plays Abraham Lincoln in a school play, but when he tries to get her to use her crutches instead of sitting in a wheelchair, she is furious and blows his confidence before showtime. 33:59. Volz appeared as Adelaide on a semi-regular basis, not being added to the opening credits, instead always being credited with the guest cast on the closing credits. Season 1 guide for Diff'rent Strokes TV series - see the episodes list with schedule and episode summary. Overexposure. [27] After years of battling his drug addiction, Bridges became sober in the early 1990s. ", "Diff'rent Strokes – 'The Complete 4th Season' is Scheduled by Shout! The series was originally devised jointly to serve as a vehicle for Bain (after Maude had abruptly finished production in 1978) and Coleman, a child actor who had caught producers' attention after appearing in a number of commercials. Summary: Arnold and Sam's new friendship with a street performer gets mired in fear and confusion when they discover she has epilepsy. Arnold is made to give up junk food, which is difficult, since his school has junk food vending machines and having them removed may hurt his chances at winning a school election. A girl feigns interest in Arnold so she can get close to Willis. However, Kimberly is overwhelmed by the hard work it takes to become a professional skater and devises a way out. Although in her first appearance, in the episode Cyrano De Jackson, she is sweet on Arnold, in subsequent appearances, the pair were enemies, often squabbling and trading insults, a recurring theme until the end of the series (although Lisa's final appearance, in the penultimate episode of the show's run, The Photo Club, sees the pair addressing their differences and striking a truce of sorts). Willis is forbidden to go to a party when Mr. Drummond finds out there will be drinking there. 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, troublesome brute, forever looking for trouble but not very smart. Season: OR . The first season dealt with regular topics including various growing up and adjusting issues experienced by Arnold and Willis, and frequent mild culture clashes. Diff'rent Strokes Episode 0604 The Lie . In the seventh season, Carter and Cooksey were added to the opening credits (with Carter getting special "and" billing, last in the order) and many new areas and ideas were explored, as viewers now got to see Philip as a happily married man. 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. (Although Hasselhoff, in his costume as Michael Knight appears, the voice of K.I.T.T. 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. Diff'rent Strokes Episode 0514 Parents Have Rights, Too. 4:57 [John Cedar & Leon Askin] Diff'rent Strokes S07E18 - The Russian Embassy. The character never appeared onscreen. Wealthy Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) prepares to take in two boys from Harlem, Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis Jackson (Todd Bridges), who were the sons of his late housekeeper. [34], On April 6, 2012, it was announced that Shout! became the show's trademark. Follow STARZ. At first, the two are scared by the incident, but later on they start to make jokes about her condition. Year: 1986. David Mendenhall portrays the juvenile drug-pusher. With Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Mary Jo Catlett. Diff'rent Strokes Episode 0702 Blue Collar Drummond. Sam develops a bedwetting problem and the family begins showing him a lot more attention, which rubs Arnold the wrong way. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds first press briefing of Biden presidency. In the first, season 5's "A Growing Problem", Willis moves out of the penthouse to live with Jerry (Lawrence Monoson) who abuses alcohol. 4:52 . "The Bicycle Man" is a two-part very special episode of the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, starring Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, and Dana Plato. Diff'rent Strokes launched the career of four of its stars Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, and Conrad Bain. [citation needed]. Plots that saw Mr. Drummond searching for love, and stories that mildly addressed racism, also sometimes featured. [24] Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999 at age 34. for DVD", "Diff'rent Strokes – And Together We'll Be Fine! Mr. Drummond recommends a woman for a position at his company, but runs into opposition from his coworkers because of her sex and his children, because they think she's using him to get the job.