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. Over the years, the girls graduated school but remained on the show. Streaming on Roku. Despite having made $25,000 an episode while on the series, she was often broke and was working as a cashier at a dry cleaning store. She changed her last name to Austin and has issued five albums. Since leaving her Jo persona behind, McKeon has kept very busy with TV movies, guest-starring on shows like Touched by an Angel, and starring on a crime drama series called The Division. She said she felt as, South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season (Blu-ray), Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series (Blu-ray), Find More Posts by MrsGarrettRocksMySocks. Was she really even committed to the show? Mrs. Garrett opened Ednas Edibles. [19] By 1990, Plato was living in Las Vegas. As with Bridges, Rae was offered the role without audition, but was locked into a contract with CBS; however, Lear was determined to have Rae for the role and used his influence to convince CBS to release her from her contract, freeing her up to be available for the role. The series made stars of Coleman, Bridges, and Plato and became known for the "very special episodes", in which serious issues such as racism, illegal drug use, alcoholism, hitchhiking, kidnapping, and child sexual abuse were dramatically explored. Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) is a widower for whom their deceased mother previously worked; his daughter, Kimberly is played by Dana Plato. "Diff'rent Strokes" wasn't the only early '80s NBC sitcom about a little boy thrust into a world of wealth and luxury the network also broadcast "Silver Spoons," starring Ricky Schroeder as Ricky Stratton, a kid who meets and moves in with his immature, toy company heir father. View Today's Active Threads (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / View New Posts (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / Mark All Boards Read / Chit Chat Board, The Facts of Life Online / The Facts of Life links and theme songs at Sitcoms Online / The Facts of Life Photo Gallery / The Facts of Life - Fan Fiction Board / The Division Board. 'Live In Front Of A Studio Audience' Smoothly Revisits Norman Lear's She carried on the role until 1984, going between that show and The Facts of Life. But ABC picked up the series for an eighth season, airing it on Friday nights. Prior to the reunion movie being shot, Astin jokingly told TV Guide, I keep hearing about that [reunion movie] I hope its not happening, because nobodys called me! John Lithgow and Kevin Hart appear as Mr. Drummond and Arnold in ABC's 'Live in Front of a Studio Audience . Decades after it went off the air, "Diff'rent Strokes" was able to further its position among the pantheon of treasured TV favorites from decades past as it was scheduled to be revisited for network television with a whole new cast albeit, as a one-night only live event presentation. First Lady Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" campaign in 1986 (per History), formalizing the anti-drug abuse platform she'd worked on since early in the presidential administration of her husband, Ronald Reagan. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. With Willis dropped into the background slightly, this new brotherly duo took center stage for many storylines. In an attempt to boost her faltering career, Plato posed for Playboy in June 1989, but her appearance in the magazine did not help her land acting jobs. Charlotte Rae, the actress who became known to millions of TV viewers as the tough but admirable Mrs. Garrett on Diffrent Strokes and The Facts of Life, has died. Well guess what happens next. According to USA Today, Plato was dismissed from "Diff'rent Strokes" because of her salacious personal life, which ran counter to the show's wholesome image and her portrayal of a squeaky-clean teen. Leachman played Garretts sister, Beverly Anne Stickle. Do black gold sights come with sight tape? Diffrent Strokes (TV Series 19781986) Denise Nicholas as Sondra Williams IMDb. That spin-off became The Facts of Life, a sitcom about a girls boarding school and their (once again) kooky and kind house mother. It all came from a spur of the moment decision a fated, experimental line read based on actorly instinct. The plot of the March 1983 episode "The Reporter": Arnold (Gary Coleman) publishes a shocking story about rampant drug use among his elementary school peers. According to Richard Irvin's "Spinning Laughter," the proposed series was written by three "Diff'rent Strokes" staff writers and concerned Catherine Armstrong (portrayed by Maureen McNamara), an inexperienced teacher who takes a job helping a group of first-generation immigrants from around the world prepare for their American citizenship test. By the time the comedy went into production in 1978, Thicke had established a healthy sideline as a theme song composer he also wrote the music for the game shows "Stumpers," "Celebrity Sweepstakes," "The Joker's Wild," and "The Wizard of Odds." But Plato and her character were well received by audiences, and the producers became convinced that her inclusion added an extra element of appeal to the audience, offering a female character for young girls and women to identify with. The title of the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," with a little creative spelling and punctuation to speed up the pronunciation of the first word in a casual, colloquial fashion, is an abbreviation of and reference to the common phrase "different strokes for different folks."