Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes'

I have always been a big fan of this show and looked forward to the movie. it was painful to watch as the three kid stars went through so much at home and then went to work and portrayed a happy family.It made it easier to understand their adult troubles though. I got the feeling that part of the reason Todd and Gary agreed to this was in tribute to Dana. I hope the film becomes available on DVD.Todd and Dana did a good job of keeping their relationship out of the press,can you imagine the scandal?I remember seeing Dana and Gary on Geraldo.Todd was on the phone in jail.When he had to hang up Dana said "I'll be down to see you next week Todd,I love you". I must say that the cast did an excellent job also.

"Different Strokes" was one of those programs marketed to my generation - as was "Facts of Life", "The New Mickey Mouse Club", "Webster" (The Different Stokes rip-off) et al. This was a popular show for NBC in its first 4 seasons...and unless you lived in a cave, you couldn't escape hearing about the young cast. Kimberly, played by Dana Plato was the cute, wealthy white girl who had to grow to love her new 'brothers'; Willis, played by Todd Bridges was the street wise charge; and Arnold...well Arnold was the cute little moppet played by Gary Coleman -- and whether you watched the show or not, you knew Gary. He had "child star quality" all over him. I knew all of this, even not being a fan of the program - but I read teen magazines, read newspapers and looked at the news.

As a child viewer, I felt that Dana Plato was going to get a lot of TV and movie work. As a child viewer, I felt that Gary Coleman would be over exposed in just a few years. As a child viewer, I felt that Todd Bridges (whom I saw before Different Strokes in other TV works) was going to leave the business, go to college and become a Television Executive. That's what I thought, as a child viewer. Boy, was I wrong, and this TV rendition touches on many aspects without going into too much depth on any of them.

The one positive thing I have to give this rendition of the instances that happened, was that what they showed seemed to be through the view of Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman. No matter what anyone writes or says, whatever feelings and emotions happened outside of each of their views, they didn't get into in depth. But you know that each has a separate tale to tell that could easily become 3 or 4 separate films each with their own heart-wrenching perspective.

Gary Coleman's apparent rise to what should have been his stardom was thwarted by almost all who came into his life. Gary had health problems which were not attended to properly. Gary wanted to grow up, and the show wouldn't allow for him to. Gary needed star making vehicles but did not have any creative minds closely advising him to choose the right vehicles. And his parents - some parents are not meant to be personal managers. Parents need to be parents to WATCH the personal managers, and above all else care for the health and welfare of the child. Tragic.

Todd Bridges was a talented, in demand child actor prior to "Different Strokes". With the weekly series, Todd should have had more work. Todd should have had business managers to look over the accountants and then had someone to look over the business manager. And then someone to even look over that. Tragic.

Dana Plato was definitely on the radar of filmmakers and TV executives but at every turn, something went awry with Dana. Missed auditions for whatever reason, extra-curricular activities that did pour onto the show, and just Dana trying to find herself as many young women in that business tried to do. Without some real type of love, care, discipline - in the grueling schedules a weekly series can put on you, Dana turned into the most tragic of the three child/teen stars. Tragic.

This TV movie skims all of this just to give you a slight overview of all of the problems on the set, with the stars and at the NBC Executive levels itself at that time. When I was watching this TV rendition of "Different Strokes", I remembered one of the most interesting lines that came to me when moved out to California: "Never become the PPresident of a network. It's a thankless job, the job never lasts and you're forgotten as soon as you leave." This is sad - you do get to see a "skim" of what was up with Fred Silverman who created a boatload of programming for NBC, a skim of the talented late Brandon Tardikoff and a skim of the execs over at ABC and their pursuit over the advertising dollar and programming shows to a mass audience. This film didn't go as deep as it was at the time.

At points this TV movie was not sure where it wanted to go but it ended up at the overall view of Todd and Gary. They tried to hook it together by having the real Todd and Gary give their own insights between story but it wasn't enough. And Gary still comes across as very, very bitter. But - can you blame him? Another thing I did get was in watching this I wished I had a "way back machine" to be able to tell each of these actors what was in store for them so they could put the breaks on and change their courses before it was too late.

I'm sure they wished the same thing too.

I really enjoyed watching this TV movie last night. And it certainly said a lot about the exploitation of children in show business. The only sympathetic parent was Todd Bridges' mother...although Gary Coleman's mother was sympathetic at first.

What is the name of the actor who played Conrad Bain? I do not see it listed in the credits?

Gary Coleman still has a lot of issues to work through. But I can see he is on the road to recovery. He has been through so much.

What happened to Dana Plato's child? Is he with his father?

I hope Todd Bridges continues to achieve success in the future. He deserves it.

I enjoyed "Diff'rent Strokes", mainly because of Gary Coleman. I had already seen this bratty kid do such a good job on "The Jeffersons" even before he got his own series.

But if you're looking for the ideal world portrayed in the sitcom, look somewhere else. The few scenes from the show look like a nauseatingly sweet parody of "Leave It To Beaver" type shows. After about the first 20 minutes, no one except the network executives is allowed to be happy for more than two minutes. We see as much of the negative in these kids' lives as is possible in two hours minus commercial breaks. And most everyone seems to be angry or depressed nearly all the time. No wonder these kids ended up like they did--look at their parents! Though many kids from similar situations have turned out all right.

I thought all the actors playing Coleman did a good job. There will never be another Gary Coleman, and that's part of the problem. Because of his special talents (and his father's desire to keep making money), he wasn't allowed to just quit because of his illness. Bobb'e J. Thompson played the sassy Coleman about as well as any kid could. Robert Bailey Jr. effectively showed the angry teenager tired of being treated like a cute kid, as well as the sick child never allowed to take too much time off. Alon Williams, despite his height, looked and spoke like an adult (ironically, he looked more adult than the real Coleman). In one scene, though, it appears a bad makeup job was allowed to substitute for actually looking adult, so I am assuming that was Bailey.

In her first scenes as Dana, Jessica King seemed to be on drugs. Because of the nature of this movie, they would have told us if Dana really had been high. Whichever actress played Dana in her first scene at home, though, was much better than King in her first scene. Once Dana became an adult, Brittney Irvin gave one of the movie's best performances. And she had a nice body too--we got to see as much as network TV would let us.

Brennan Gademans and Shedrack Anderson both did a good job as Todd Bridges--Anderson, of course, had the greater challenge. Saul Rubinek gave the standout performance, though, as NBC head Fred Silverman. I thought most of the actors did a good job. Bruce Young and Lorena Gale seemed kind of old to be Coleman's parents rather than his grandparents.

A couple of celebrity cameos deserve mention. The actor playing Johnny Carson, though he looked like George W. Bush, captured the late night legend's mannerisms and speaking style perfectly. On the other hand, Johnnie Cochran seemed like a "Saturday Night Live" or "Mad TV" version of the flamboyant lawyer who entertained at the O. J. Simpson trial.

Julie Brown had only a brief appearance as Charlotte Rae, but she captured her style. One possible goof: Rae was told here that she would be headmistress at Kimberly's school. In fact, Mrs. Garrett was a house mother and later a dietitian on "Facts of Life". However, I don't know what the actual plan was.

John Innes' performance as Conrad Bain, on the other hand, was a joke. The man was not mentally or physically disabled. And this was not intended to be a parody.

I thought Coleman and Bridges both did a good job explaining their lives for us. Their presence added something and gave the movie some credibility. If they actually appeared, that helps to make the case that they approved of how they were portrayed.

If you want to see all the sleazy details of celebrities' lives and don't care about seeing them happy, this movie may be for you. If you wanted a more balanced portrayal with more of the good parts, maybe not.

The no-name cast delivers so many clichés and such laughable dialogue, that it should be re-titled The Unintentionally Funny Story of Diff'rent Strokes.

Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman Coleman and the late Dana Plato were the three child stars who played the child and two adopted wards of Philip Drummond, played by Conrad Bain. The show was a hit in the 70's and made Coleman a star. Bridges and Coleman played adopted siblings Arnold and Willis, who reside in a lavish home with their benefactor, Drummond and his daughter, Kimberly (Plato).

After the shows run, the three young cast members experienced growing pains not uncommon among Hollywood child stars: Bridges became addicted to crack, then was arrested and tried on charges of attempted murder. Coleman wound up bankrupt after being ripped off by his parents, during which time he learned that Hollywood has no roles for twentysomething, undersized actors. Plato, however, was the most tragic case of all. After Strokes went off the air, she had a dozen movie and television appearances, none of which brought the sort of recognition the role of Kimberly Drummond had. The twenty-four year old fought a long battle with drugs and public ridicule after a botched liquor store hold-up, she died at age 35, on May 8, 1999. Her death was determined to be a suicide by overdose.

This schlock makes Purple Rain look like Mystic River. It features an even funnier—-and tragically so—-in story interviews with Bridges and Coleman. Lucky for Plato that she isn't around to see this mess, for she would no doubt die of shame.