Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete First Season
by Leslie H. Martinson, Ellen Falcon, Dolores Ferraro, Lee Lochhead, Selig Frank
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DVD details
Actor: Danny Cooksey, Dixie Carter, Mary Ann Mobley, Mary Jo CatlettDirector: Dolores Ferraro, Ellen Falcon, Lee Lochhead, Leslie H. Martinson, Selig Frank
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: Spanish (Original Language); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 588 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete First Season
DVD Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
It was exactly what it said it would be! Brand new and just what I wanted! Great delivery time too! :-)DVD Review: Good DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
It is another TV show I enjoyed back then. Am glad I got this DVD. And it is a lot of memory. DVD Review: LOVE IT
Summary: 5 Stars
Just as funny as it was when it was on tv. It is a great wholesome show to watch with the kiddos.DVD Review: A Great Show!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I would say it like this, Diff'rent Strokes is by far one of my favorite old school TV shows of all time. Gary Coleman was funny and so were the rest of the cast. It was sad what happened to Todd Bridges and Dana Plato(R.I.P.) but this cast was good. I also loved it because of its diversity and that love sees no color. So Sony Entertainment, please release further seasons of this great show on DVD. This is great clean fun.DVD Review: Diff'rent Strokes - Season One
Summary: 5 Stars
"Diff'rent Strokes" was one of my favorite TV shows from my childhood. Here was a comedy show that I would constantly watch with my friends and family members. And why not? It was a sitcom that the whole family could enjoy. Not to mention it was a very funny show. So I decided to take a little trip down memory lane and watch the entire first season of "Diff'rent Strokes" on DVD, and it still holds up well 30 years after it debuted on NBC.
The premise: wealthy widower Philip Drummond agrees to honor the dying wish of his black housekeeper (a widow) and take care of her two sons Arnold and Willis Jackson. He brings the two boys from Harlem to live in his luxurious penthouse apartment with him, his daughter Kimberly, and their new housekeeper Mrs. Garrett. What follows during the course of season one is the wonderful bond that this family creates. In the very first episode, older boy Willis (13 years old) is not too pleased to be living away from Harlem. But as the first season progresses, he and his younger brother Arnold (8 years old) begin to really like living with their new family.
There are many touching moments throughout the first season of "Diff'rent Strokes" as well as a lot of funny moments. There are many episodes that I liked, but my personal favorites were: Episode #5 - "The Spanking", where Arnold gets in trouble for dropping water bombs off the 30th floor balcony and Mr. Drummond thinks that a spanking is the best form of punishment; Episode #12 - "The Woman", in which Arnold, Willis, and Kimberly try to ruin Mr. Drummond's plans to propose to his new girlfriend who isn't quite the nice lady they though she was; Episode #22 - "Getting Involved", which puts Arnold in a tight spot after witnessing a robbery and becoming the prime target of the robber; and Episode #23 - "Willis's Birthday", where the entire clan go to Harlem to celebrate Willis's 14th birthday. But all-in-all, there was rarely a disappointing moment during the first season of "Diff'rent Strokes".
The cast of "Diff'rent Strokes" was a very good one. Conrad Bain, who had just come off of six years on the hit Bea Arthur series "Maude" (where he was hilarious as Dr. Arthur Harmon), was wonderful as Philip Drummond. Here's a very good actor who starred on back-to-back hit sitcoms, then seemed to disappear from the scene after "Diff'rent Strokes" was cancelled in 1986 after eight years on the tube. The only acting projects that I saw Bain in after "Diff'rent Strokes" ended its run was a supporting role in the short-lived George C. Scott 1987-1988 sitcom "Mr. President" (which aired on the Fox network back when it was a brand new network airing opposite network heavyweights CBS, NBC, and ABC), and a very small role as Meryl Streep's grandfather in the 1990 Mike Nichols film "Postcards from the Edge". But since then I haven't seen him in anything else. As good as Bain was, he wasn't the main star of "Diff'rent Strokes". That honor belonged to Gary Coleman, who played the wisecracking Arnold. Here was an actor who went on the steal scene after scene and in the process got the biggest laughs on the show. He also provided the show's now famous catchphrase: "Whatchoo talkin' bout?" All of that is evident in season one. But lets not forget about the other actors: Todd Bridges and the late Dana Plato were also very good as Willis and Kimberly. And Charlotte Rae was terrific as Mrs. Garrett. Rae would move on to her own show, which was the "Diff'rent Strokes" spin-off "The Facts of Life". You can see the "Diff'rent Stokes"/"Facts of Life" connection with the final episode of season one titled "The Girls' School" (featuring a guest appearence by a very young Molly Ringwald, who went on to star in the first season of "The Facts of Life"). Just like "Diff'rent Strokes", "The Facts of Life" went on the become a big hit as well. The later seasons of "Diff'rent Strokes" would feature two different housekeepers, but I always thought Mrs. Garrett was the best housekeeper on this show. And Rae made the most out of that role (she was great on "The Facts of Life" as well).
It was well worth it watching the first season of "Diff'rent Strokes". This is a great show to watch along with anybody. Whether your an adult or a kid and you're looking for a very funny family sitcom from the past to watch on DVD, "Diff'rent Strokes" would be a great choice. Plus the DVD feature a couple of great extras, which include a look back at the show and has interviews with three of the actors: Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, and Charlotte Rae (as well as some of the crew members behind the show). Unfortunately, Gary Coleman is noticeably absent from the extras. It would have been great to see him in the DVD extras.
Description of Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete First Season
"Whatchoo talkin' bout Willis?" When pint size Gary Coleman uttered that phrase to his TV brother played by Todd Bridges audiences were hooked and a star was born. But the show's popularity was based on more than the rise of the diminutive wise-cracking Coleman. DIFF'RENT STROKES was a pop culture phenomenon that broke through cultural barriers as well. The story of two African-American kids from Harlem who move to Park Avenue to live with a wealthy white widower (Conrad Bain) and his precocious teenage daughter (Dana Plato) not only gave audiences lots to laugh about but gave them something to talk about. Along with their no-nonsense housekeeper (Charlotte Rae) this group was anything but average - but they reflected the changing face of the American family and brought issues of race and class into households across the nation. Finally available on DVD this 3-disc set collects all twenty-two episodes from the hilarious first season. Now you can experience all of the fun of DIFF'RENT STROKES again!System Requirements:Starring: Gary Coleman Todd Brigdes Conrad Bain Dana Plato Charlotte Rae Running Time: 588 Min. Copyright Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating:?NR UPC:?043396070325 Manufacturer No:?07032More than just a ratings hit for NBC, the Norman Lear/Bud Yorkin-produced Diff'rent Strokes was a pop-culture phenomenon, thanks largely to the wise-beyond-his-years performance of star Gary Coleman. And while the show has languished of late in syndication in a heavily edited form, Columbia's first-season set amends that situation by packaging all 24 uncut episodes on a three-disc set with some interesting extras. Launched in November 1978 as a mid-season replacement for the failed Joe Namath series The Waverly Wonders, Diff'rent Strokes vaulted to no. 27 in the Nielsen ratings; audiences responded to the warmth and humorous culture clash between wealthy Philip Drummond (Lear vet Conrad Bain) and Arnold and Willis (Coleman and Todd Bridges), the sons of his late housekeeper whom he adopted. Though Bain, Bridges, Dana Plato (as Bain's daughter), and Charlotte Rae (as housekeeper Mrs. Garrett) all delivered solid performances, it was Coleman's charm, his timing, and most of all, his catch phrase "Whatchoo talkin' bout?" that drew in viewers.
The series was so successful that NBC used it to launch or boost two other shows: The Facts of Life, which sent Mrs. Garrett to run a girls' school (its pilot, "The Girls' School," is episode 24 on the third disc), and the McLean Stevenson program Hello, Larry, which followed Strokes on the network (the two-part cross-over episodes are featured on disc 3). Though perhaps best known to current audiences for the unfortunate luck suffered by several of its cast members after the show's cancellation in 1986, this first-season set offers a pleasant reminder of the show's charms. The set is rounded out by two featurettes featuring interviews with many of the show's stars and producers (though Coleman is notably absent), and commentaries by story editor Fred Rubin. --Paul Gaita
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