Diff'rent Strokes

Diff'rent Strokes is a show that I came to love later in life. The show heart and soul was little Gary Coleman. Although Todd Bridges and Dana Plato would have the occasional good one-liner this was Coleman's show. He was so the pimp sh*t on the show. I wonder where his charcter of Arnold would be now?

*******Seven Out Of Ten Stars*******

The true star of this show, Conrad Bain, died this past January in the year of 2013. In my humble opinion, Bain really held this show together through the years. He was the only cast member to appear in all 180 episodes. And Bain always offered what I thought were the best comedic one liners in the series; and clearly was the most polished actor of anyone that ever appeared on the show. Other highlights of the show included the seemingly unending supply of guest stars: Reggie Jackson, Dorothy Hamill, Nancy Regan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Captain Lou Albano, Muhammad Ali, Milton Berle, and of course, Mr. T. Pretty incredible stuff. Also worth mentioning, is much of the social commentary the writers often tried to weave into the scripts; it didn't always work, but when it was did, it was really touching. Some of the episodes dealt with some pretty adult serious issues: Robbery, sexual abuse, racism, sexism.... it was progressive writing for the time. "Different Strokes" has a special place in my mind and in my heart. So God rest Plato, Coleman, and Bain.

Since I wasn't around when the show originally aired, I have to catch it whenever I can on Nick at Nite or TV Land. And since TV Land just showed a 48 hour fandemonium marathon, I was able to catch a lot of episodes.

I absolutely love this show. The plot approach is different which works out great. The writing and quick comedy is terrific and the acting is one of a kind. The writing that was given to Gary Coleman was unbelievably hysterical, and being such a young kid at that time, he handled it so well. While I like the entire cast and think that they all did a nice job, I must say that I especially like Todd Bridges. I don't know, there's just something about him that you can't help but like.

This show like all shows has its moments where the plots could use some improvement but what show would it be if it didn't have its moments? Overall, the eight seasons are filled with the better episodes.

'Diff'rent Strokes' scared me a little during the seventh and eighth seasons when they hauled in Danny Cooksey and Dixie Carter/Mary Ann Mobley to join the Drummonds. I think that it would have been better off leaving the family as it was. Then again, the boys were getting older, they lost their afros, and Kimberly started to move on. So, it's kind of a tricky situation.

I would really like to see a reunion but it would be a little hard without the sadly missed Dana Plato. All in all, this show was an above average, very funny, good family get-together show. I know I'll keep watching whenever it's on!

(P.S. - The theme song is really addicting.)

Diff'rent Strokes was an outstanding sitcom that dealt with real life issues such as racism, bulimia and child molestation. But never in television history that all the child stars had tragic outcomes.

Gary Coleman had severe kidney health issues which stunted his height and couldn't be taken seriously and the writers wrote him like a child in the later seasons. Gary would never act again and was force to work as a security guard to help pay his medical bills.

Dana Plato had a troubled life who became pregnant in real life and was fired. She later robbed a dry cleaner store to support her drug habit. Dana late overdosed and died.

Todd Bridges the lone survivor of the cast got arrested and went to prison but later redeemed himself.

It's hard to believe, but 2003 marks 25 years since Gary Coleman asked Willis what he was talking about.

Norman Lear, who broke a lot of ground heretofore with All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, and Good Times, continued his magic touch with Diff'rent Strokes. A 25th anniversary marathon on any given television station would be a great way to remember this show, notwithstanding that Miss Dana Plato is no longer of this earth.

This show made Gary Coleman Gary Coleman, and he truly made the show what it was.