You know the story. A widowed millionaire (Conrad Bain, fresh from Maude) adopts two African American boys, whose deceased mom worked for him.
Diff'rent Strokes spent 8 seasons total between NBC (1978-85) and ABC (1985-6), and, as with many of Norman Lear's series, dealt with real world issues such as racism and kidnapping over the course of the run.
Halfway through season 2, Charlotte Rae's character of housekeeper Edna Garrett was spun off into The Facts of Life, which bowed the following summer. Nedra Volz spent some time as Adelaide before leaving for a recurring role on The Dukes of Hazzard. Mary Jo Catlett took over the housekeeper's role for the rest of the run. Gary Coleman had been tried out in an attempt to revive Our Gang with an inner-city spin that didn't sell, but became an icon with this series, which led to one of his movies, "The Kid With The Broken Halo", spinning off a self-titled animated series in 1982 that lased just 1 season. Todd Bridges came over from Fish to be the big brother.
Following is the series opener, "Movin' In". The theme song was co-written & sung by Alan Thicke.
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