Post by jasong on Mar 2, 2018 12:40:08 GMT
The world doesn't beat to just one drum. And boy were they right all along. (casually hums the tune..)
It became the most popular show in 1978, the show ended in 1986 (during Golden Girls second season.. thought I'd make a little golden girls joke as I write this.). What did this show teach me? As I have said I was 2 when Maude debuted, and I never really got the chance to watch Diff'rent Strokes in my household (not because of my age, but we didn't get the Australian channel it was on, but I am so glad the episodes are available online). but over the past couple of months I have caught up in watching a tone of episodes from Diff'rent Strokes.
What Makes This Show Different?
What made this show different, for shows that were on in that time, what shows were on during the run of Diff'rent strokes? Well we'd have to take a look. Shows such as The Loveboat, All in the Family, Mork and Mindy, M*A*S*H, Dallas, Happy Days, Soap, Golden Girls (Debuted in 1985), The Original Charlies Angels etc. Some of those shows were action/drama shows and that is what makes this show different, it was fresh in a decade of shows just breaking those "taboos" thrown around for the 70s.
The Cast-
The cast of the show was an amazing bunch of people. Conrad Bain came off the successful run of the show Maude (co-staring with Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy and Adrienne Barbeau), When Bain signed on to do Maude he also signed on to do another series after the show ended, (Coleman was in the original little rascals movie and when there was talk that he would do a TV show, nothing came of it and the show Diff'rent Strokes was made.) Coleman was cast after a successful run of commercials, Bridges was coming off several shows and Dana Plato also came off several shows as well. That's the main cast. (Quick note Bain was the only cast member who appeared in all 181 episodes.) The cast also went through several changes throughout its run, it introduced several housekeepers the last one Mary Jo Carlett, (who voices mrs Puff on spongebob) and Dixie carter as Drummonds 2nd wife (because being replaced so she could do Designing Women.), Charlotte Rae also started out on the show and she got her own series by season 2! She was cast in the spin-off Facts of Life. The cast always looked so good on camera, and I wanted to say that it was good seeing Conrad in a different role (as he was Arthur Harmon in Maude) and to see him not playing Arthur was very different for me, but Bain did the best job he could do in the series, and that's what made it a hit.
What The Series Entailed-
Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), a widowed Manhattan millionaire and president of the mega-firm Trans Allied Inc., adopts two African American orphans from Harlem, 8-year-old Arnold (Gary Coleman) and 12-year-old Willis (Todd Bridges). Phillip Drummond made a promise to their dying mother, his housekeeper, that he would care for the boys after she passes away; as their father had died years earlier. As the episode starts with Drummond talking to his housekeeper and he was clearly very emotional about adopting his ex-housekeepers sons.
The boys, whom Drummond always introduced as his two sons, went from rags to riches literally overnight. At first, Willis was rather sceptical of their newfound wealth and they tried to run away in the pilot only to be stopped by Drummond saying that he wasn't trying to buy their love, he was trying to show them how moving from a poor neighbourhood to the city would be a change that would have to get used to, and that he promised their mother he was going to look after them and that is what he was going to do, but eventually, both he and Arnold felt right at home in their newfound surroundings.
The series contained some episodes now known as "special episodes". in which Nancy Reagan appeared in one episode (clearly this was for her "just say no" campaign during her husbands time in office.), another episode became TV's most infamous episodes, this episode was known as "The Bicycle Man" which was two parts on what the dangers of child molestation were, and that the episode was slammed because it was "taboo" to even talk about it, but fans of the show have written about it and how it has become a camp classic in the 21st century, a couple of episodes also dealt with drugs, alcohol and accidents.
The last season was a 19 episode season due to low ratings on a new network. That the show never got its proper finale, the last episode dealt with Arnold going undercover to expose a steroid ring. Whilst it seems disappointing I think it ended on the right note.
What Happened After the Show-
What happened after the show could be the saddest thing, with Dana, Gary and Todd running into legal troubles, with Conrad Bain being the only one who didn't have controversy after the show ended. In fact he said he enjoyed his time on the show and that he would take Todd fishing and that he said it was hard on the young actors because they were always away from their families, (this is what made Todd turn his life around. After Conrad died he said it put a lot of pressure on him to be a good father to his kids. And that Bain became his acting mentor and friend.). Gary passed away tragically in 2010 after a long health battle and a lot of legal troubles. Dana Plato ran into so much trouble that her end was tragic. (After she was fired from Diff'rent Strokes she turned to drugs and a lot of other things happened). She died in 1999 wanting the only thing she craved after being fired from her hit show. Attention. Todd did something different after a low point in his life, he did the only thing he could, is that he turned his life around and started touring the country to discuss why drugs are bad. Its a sad situation on what happened after the show ended, and it was even named the "Diff'rent Strokes Curse".
What the show taught me-
The show taught me the importance of family, love, trust and how important it is to be there for those people you love and how much you can love your family. And the thing about it is that Mr Drummond spoke best in the series, giving the boys advice and being their father in the most tragic of circumstances. Drummond was like the father we never had and that is what made Conrad Bain so underrated during the series he was the father figure holding the cast together. The show taught me show much and its hard not to write about it because the show has a legacy no one can forget, when you know that what happened to the cast it can make you upset, but the thing to make you happy is that they enjoyed what they did and it showed on screen, and no one should forget that.
It became the most popular show in 1978, the show ended in 1986 (during Golden Girls second season.. thought I'd make a little golden girls joke as I write this.). What did this show teach me? As I have said I was 2 when Maude debuted, and I never really got the chance to watch Diff'rent Strokes in my household (not because of my age, but we didn't get the Australian channel it was on, but I am so glad the episodes are available online). but over the past couple of months I have caught up in watching a tone of episodes from Diff'rent Strokes.
What Makes This Show Different?
What made this show different, for shows that were on in that time, what shows were on during the run of Diff'rent strokes? Well we'd have to take a look. Shows such as The Loveboat, All in the Family, Mork and Mindy, M*A*S*H, Dallas, Happy Days, Soap, Golden Girls (Debuted in 1985), The Original Charlies Angels etc. Some of those shows were action/drama shows and that is what makes this show different, it was fresh in a decade of shows just breaking those "taboos" thrown around for the 70s.
The Cast-
The cast of the show was an amazing bunch of people. Conrad Bain came off the successful run of the show Maude (co-staring with Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy and Adrienne Barbeau), When Bain signed on to do Maude he also signed on to do another series after the show ended, (Coleman was in the original little rascals movie and when there was talk that he would do a TV show, nothing came of it and the show Diff'rent Strokes was made.) Coleman was cast after a successful run of commercials, Bridges was coming off several shows and Dana Plato also came off several shows as well. That's the main cast. (Quick note Bain was the only cast member who appeared in all 181 episodes.) The cast also went through several changes throughout its run, it introduced several housekeepers the last one Mary Jo Carlett, (who voices mrs Puff on spongebob) and Dixie carter as Drummonds 2nd wife (because being replaced so she could do Designing Women.), Charlotte Rae also started out on the show and she got her own series by season 2! She was cast in the spin-off Facts of Life. The cast always looked so good on camera, and I wanted to say that it was good seeing Conrad in a different role (as he was Arthur Harmon in Maude) and to see him not playing Arthur was very different for me, but Bain did the best job he could do in the series, and that's what made it a hit.
What The Series Entailed-
Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), a widowed Manhattan millionaire and president of the mega-firm Trans Allied Inc., adopts two African American orphans from Harlem, 8-year-old Arnold (Gary Coleman) and 12-year-old Willis (Todd Bridges). Phillip Drummond made a promise to their dying mother, his housekeeper, that he would care for the boys after she passes away; as their father had died years earlier. As the episode starts with Drummond talking to his housekeeper and he was clearly very emotional about adopting his ex-housekeepers sons.
The boys, whom Drummond always introduced as his two sons, went from rags to riches literally overnight. At first, Willis was rather sceptical of their newfound wealth and they tried to run away in the pilot only to be stopped by Drummond saying that he wasn't trying to buy their love, he was trying to show them how moving from a poor neighbourhood to the city would be a change that would have to get used to, and that he promised their mother he was going to look after them and that is what he was going to do, but eventually, both he and Arnold felt right at home in their newfound surroundings.
The series contained some episodes now known as "special episodes". in which Nancy Reagan appeared in one episode (clearly this was for her "just say no" campaign during her husbands time in office.), another episode became TV's most infamous episodes, this episode was known as "The Bicycle Man" which was two parts on what the dangers of child molestation were, and that the episode was slammed because it was "taboo" to even talk about it, but fans of the show have written about it and how it has become a camp classic in the 21st century, a couple of episodes also dealt with drugs, alcohol and accidents.
The last season was a 19 episode season due to low ratings on a new network. That the show never got its proper finale, the last episode dealt with Arnold going undercover to expose a steroid ring. Whilst it seems disappointing I think it ended on the right note.
What Happened After the Show-
What happened after the show could be the saddest thing, with Dana, Gary and Todd running into legal troubles, with Conrad Bain being the only one who didn't have controversy after the show ended. In fact he said he enjoyed his time on the show and that he would take Todd fishing and that he said it was hard on the young actors because they were always away from their families, (this is what made Todd turn his life around. After Conrad died he said it put a lot of pressure on him to be a good father to his kids. And that Bain became his acting mentor and friend.). Gary passed away tragically in 2010 after a long health battle and a lot of legal troubles. Dana Plato ran into so much trouble that her end was tragic. (After she was fired from Diff'rent Strokes she turned to drugs and a lot of other things happened). She died in 1999 wanting the only thing she craved after being fired from her hit show. Attention. Todd did something different after a low point in his life, he did the only thing he could, is that he turned his life around and started touring the country to discuss why drugs are bad. Its a sad situation on what happened after the show ended, and it was even named the "Diff'rent Strokes Curse".
What the show taught me-
The show taught me the importance of family, love, trust and how important it is to be there for those people you love and how much you can love your family. And the thing about it is that Mr Drummond spoke best in the series, giving the boys advice and being their father in the most tragic of circumstances. Drummond was like the father we never had and that is what made Conrad Bain so underrated during the series he was the father figure holding the cast together. The show taught me show much and its hard not to write about it because the show has a legacy no one can forget, when you know that what happened to the cast it can make you upset, but the thing to make you happy is that they enjoyed what they did and it showed on screen, and no one should forget that.
