Diff'rent Strokes

1978 - 1986

When millionaire Phillip Drummond's longtime housekeeper passes away, he adopts her two young sons, and they find themselves moving from Harlem to a swanky Park Avenue penthouse.

Stars: Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman, Dana Plato, Charlotte Rae
Created by: Jeff Harris, Bernie Kukoff
Tags: family, poc

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

Insomnia: Episode 6, "Goodbye Dolly" (1978). When Willis donates Arnold's stuffed bear, Homer, to a charity sale at Kimberly's school, Arnold can't sleep for three nights in a row, and he keeps everyone else in the house awake, so Mr. Drummond hires a private detective to find Homer.
Mock Trial: Episode 7, "The Trial" (1978). When Mr. Drummond finds Arnold's goldfish, Abraham, in his hot tub (unharmed), he accuses Arnold of putting him in there, but Willis, who has been reading about the law, demands that Arnold be given a fair trial, so the family holds a trial with Mrs. Garrett as the judge.
Clip Show: Episode 8, "Retrospective" (1978). Mr. Drummond reminisces about the day Willis and Arnold came to live with him with clips from the previous seven episodes in the earliest clip show in sitcom history.
Mi Casa Es Su Casa: Episode 19, "The Trip: Part 1" (1979). The Drummonds fly to Oregon to meet Mr. Drummond's old army buddy Larry, and Larry insists that all five of them stay in his small house with him and his two daughters instead of the lush hotel that Mr. Drummond could certainly afford.
Backdoor Pilot: Episode 22, "The Girls School" (1979). Mrs. Garrett visits Kimberly's all-girls school in a sneaky backdoor pilot for The Facts of Life.

Season 2

Let's Pretend We're Married: Episode 5, "Birds and Bees" (1979). Willis is assigned a pretend wife for a class, and the two of them spend most of their time arguing on the phone about their pretend marriage.
Make-a-wish: Episode 6, "Arnold's Hero" (1979). Arnold told all his friends at school that he was going to meet Muhammad Ali, but Mr. Drummond's connection fell through, and now the school bully is coming after Arnold, so Willis and Kimberly go to Mr. Ali's hotel room and tell him that Arnold is dying from a "tropical disease" that they can't pronounce, and Arnold gets to meet his hero after all.
Backdoor Pilot: Episodes 7-8, "The Adoption" (1979). What was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a vehicle to bring Redd Foxx back to TV was re-cast at the last minute with Whitman Mayo when Foxx declined.
Rabid Dog: Episode 13, "The Dog Story" (1979). Arnold rescues a dog from being hit by a car, but in the process, the dog bites him, so the family has to find the dog to confirm that it's been vaccinated within 24 hours or Arnold will have to get 20 injections in the stomach.
Election: Episode 14, "The Election" (1980). An old friend talks Mr. Drummond into running for city council and suggests he appear with his children to make him look good to the public, but Mr. Drummond refuses to exploit them for votes.
Electric Dreams: Episode 15, "Friendly Mate" (1980). Mr. Drummond has been down lately because he's lonely, so Willis and Arnold sign him up for a computer dating service and get him a date on the same night that a friend from work fixes him up with a blind date.
Business Goes Bust: Episode 17, "Big Business" (1980). Mr. Drummond refuses to give Willis and Arnold raises in their allowances, so they decide to start a business selling Adelaide's fudge brownies. They hire Adelaide as their cook and Kimberly as a salesperson, but when the orders start rolling in, Adelaide rolls out, so the boys try to cook the brownies themselves (with predictable results).
Cooking Catastrophe: Episode 17, "Big Business" (1980). Willis and Arnold attempt to bake fudge brownies, and both they and the kitchen end up covered in flour.
Top Fist: Episode 18, "Return of The Gooch" (1980). Arnold's bully, The Gooch, is bothering him again, and he's afraid he's going to get his ass kicked, so Mr. Drummond signs him up for a karate class. Arnold tries out his karate skills on Willis, and Willis pretends Arnold's kick is so powerful that it knocked him out. His confidence boosted, Arnold challenges The Gooch to a fight, and soon all the kids at school are talking about Arnold's "killer kick."
Clip Show: Episode 19, "Valentine's Day Retrospective" (1980). On Valentine's Day, Mr. Drummond proclaims that he's the "luckiest dad in the world to have such wonderful kids," and the kids correct him through clips from previous episodes where they "weren't so wonderful."
The Old Snakes in a Can Gag: Episode 21, "Teacher's Pet" (1980). When Mr. Drummond starts dating Arnold's teacher, the other kids in Arnold's class tease him and call him "teacher's pet." To prove he's not the teacher's pet, Arnold plays pranks on the teacher, including giving her a can of "peanut brittle" that's actually phony snakes.
Replacement Pet: Episode 23, "Arnold Faces Fatality" (1980). When Arnold's goldfish, Abraham, dies, Willis and Kimberly buy another fish that looks like him in an attempt to convince Arnold that Abraham is still alive.
Dead Wrong: Episode 23, "Arnold Faces Fatality" (1980). Mr. Drummond starts trying to tell Arnold that his goldfish died, but he gets distracted and leaves Arnold at his desk, where he was amending his will. When Arnold reads the will, he thinks Mr. Drummond is dying.
Who Brings a Dog to a Leg Funeral?: Episode 23, "Arnold Faces Fatality" (1980). Arnold's goldfish, Abraham, dies, and the family holds a funeral for him.

Season 3

Hostage Situation: Episode 1, "The Bank Job" (1980). The Drummonds are on their way to an amusement park, and Arnold is bringing Tootie as his date, so he wants to stop at the bank and take and take out some money. While he and Willis are in the bank, two men hold everyone hostage while they rob it. Mr. Drummond grows concerned when Willis and Arnold don't come out after the bank closes, so he goes into the bank to look for them and is held hostage too.
See Your in Court: Episode 2, "Small Claims" (1980). Arnold walks dogs to save up money to buy a new engine for his train set, but the engine he buys doesn't run, and the store owner won't take it back, so Mr. Drummond helps Arnold sue the store owner in small claims court.
Amnesia: Episode 4, "The Accident" (1980). While on his way home to celebrate his 50th birthday, Mr. Drummond's car is hit by a drunk driver. He suffers a concussion that gives him amnesia, and he doesn't remember his family.
Coach from Hell: Episode 6, "Football Father" (1980). The coach of Arnold's pee-wee football team is a total jerk who won't let Arnold play because he's more concerned about winning than about the kids having fun.
Bad Bet: Episode 9, "The Loan" (1981). Arnold lends Manny, the doorman, $100 to bet on a horse with the promise that he'll pay Arnold back $200 the next day, but Arnold gets nervous when the horse gets off to a bad start. Surprisingly, the horse ends up winning, and Arnold is excited to get his $200 payoff until Manny tells him he never placed the bet because he felt badly about taking Arnold's money, and he worried he might lose it.
Role Reversal: Episode 10, "Roots" (1981). When Willis's friends tell him he lost touch with his black roots, he and Arnold try to get back in touch by re-decorating their room with African art, taking Swahili names, and wearing dashikis, among other things, and Mr. Drummond starts to think they're "overdoing it," so he consults a psychologist, who has the whole family try role reversal.

Character Tropes

Fish Out of Water: Willis & Arnold Jackson - Played by Todd Bridges & Gary Coleman.
Mommie Dearest: Mrs. Drummond - Played by Irene Tewdrow in season 1, episode 3, "Mother's Last Visit" (1978).