For the uninitiated, Diff’rent Strokes is the story of two boys from Harlem living with a rich white widower in a Park Avenue penthouse apartment. It seems that before Phillip Drummond’s (Conrad Bain) passed away, he promised to take care of her two boys Arnold, (The late Gary Coleman) and Willis Jackson (Todd Bridges). The two boys come to live with Mr. Drummond, his teenage daughter (the late Dana Plato), and their kooky housekeeper Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae). By the third season, of course, Charlotte Rae left the series to star in The Facts of Life. She was replaced by Nedra Volz as Adelaide Brubaker. After some cultural bumps in the road, Arnold and Willis adjust to life on Park Avenue and Drummond eventually adopts the boys.
Despite a lack of critical respect, Diff’rent Strokes was an immediate hit for NBC. Diff’rent Strokes was never cutting edge television. If an episode taught a small life lesson and made the audience laugh along the way, mission accomplished. Blessed with a ten mega-watt smile and cuteness off the charts, Gary Coleman was a huge star by the third season. For me, this was the season the show really found its groove.
For the most part, the third season finds Arnold and Willis trying to wrangle their way out of some sort of trouble. One of the biggest stars on television by now, Gary Coleman’s is most often at the center of each episode, offering wisecracks whenever possible and being adorable. Along the way, Arnold managed to learn some tough lessons: In the episode “Small Claims Court,” Arnold learns to stand up for himself against a crooked toy train dealer. In “Where There’s Hope,” Arnold doesn’t want to invite a particularly pushy new neighbor girl to his tenth birthday party. He’s forced to rethink things when he learns she has leukemia. Occasionally, Diff’rent Strokes would go right for your heartstrings: In “Count Your Blessings,” Arnold is crushed to learn he’ll be lucky if grows to be 5 ft. tall. This is the episode that introduced Kathy Gordon (Melanie Watson), Arnold’s wisecracking friend in a wheelchair.
Willis spends the season trying to act cool and deal with falling in love. “First Love” marks the first of ten appearances by Janet Jackson as Charlene DuPrey. It seems appropriate for Willis to be dealing with the issues of first love, because as many fans will no doubt notice, Todd Bridges’ voice had broken between the second and third seasons. Kimberly too, is maturing and learns the power of makeup in “The Older Man.”
I loved Diff’rent Strokes when it originally aired, and I still enjoy it today. The best thing about the show is that its first mission is to make the audience laugh. Yes, life lessons often find their way into the stories, but they’re never at the expense of a good Arnold Jackson wisecrack! By the third season, the actors seemed comfortable in their roles and appeared to be having fun. Whether its Adelaide going on a date with and older man, or Arnold crushing on Tootie Ramsey (Kim Fields’ The Facts of Life character) Diff’rent Strokes remains enjoyable entertainment.
Here is the full list of season three’s 22 episodes:
• “The Bank Job: Part 1”
• “The Bank Job: Part 2”
• “Small Claims Court”
• “Substitute Mother”
• “The Accident: Part 1”
• “The Accident: Part 2”
• “Little Mother”
• “Football Father”
• “First Love”
• “Count Your Blessings”
• “The Loan”
• “Roots”
• “Junk Food”
• “The Bus”
• “The Older Man”
• “Where There’s Hope”
• “The Magician”
• “Drummond’s Fair Lady”
• “The Ancestors”
• “Almost American”
• “Room For One More”
• “The Athlete”
Shout! Factory presents the episodes in 1.33:1 full frame. The episodes don’t appear to have been digitally remastered. Nonetheless, each episode looks quite good, given that they were shot thirty years ago.
Presented in Dolby 2.0 Mono, dialogue is clear throughout and ambient sounds are distinguishable. There are no subtitles or alternate language tracks included.
There are no special features.
