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

I must admit every single one of these so-called "Behind The Camera" or "What Really Happened" movies about former sitcoms is like a train wreck. You know it will be bad. However you cannot help but keep watching and it is very hard to leave or turn off in this case, especially if you are big fan of the series. Whether it be "Mork & Mindy" or "Three's Company", every one of these movies has followed the same pattern: bad acting, cheesy dialog, actors who look or act nothing like the original stars, and story lines which make almost everyone look selfish or difficult. You can basically just watch the "E!True Hollywood Story" and get the same information but what fun would it be without the above-mentioned flaws.

So when the hundredth re-enactment of the "Diff'rent Strokes" story aired on NBC, it was no surprise that it resembled all of the previous TV movies. It was also no surprise that, being a big fan of the sitcom, I was unable to change the channel.

It starts out from the beginning of the sitcom and spans to the present day with interviews from Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman who were most likely consultants on the project. The bad acting and cheesy dialog right away became evident as most of the actors were unknowns and it was obvious that Quentin Tarentino was not in charge of the script. The scene where security guard Gary Coleman punched the lady who asked him for an autograph was a classic in cheesy scenes.

True to form, the actors really did not resemble the original cast members. The only one that bore somewhat of a resemblance to the actors was Dana Plato. The actor who played Mr. Drummond (Conrad Bain) looked like him but you could tell he was wearing tons of makeup. The guy who played the grown-up Gary Coleman was the absolute worst. Other than being short and black, he had nothing in common with the original actor or the other two actors who played Coleman in the movie. They should have just gotten Gary Coleman himself to play the role.

Finally, the storyline made just about everyone look bad. The people that looked the worst were the parents of the sitcom stars. Dana Plato's mother was an unfit parent who put drugs and sex ahead of her daughter. Todd Bridge's father was abusive and estranged from him and his mom. Gary Coleman's dad looked the worst of anyone in the movie, which is saying a lot. He forced Gary to continue with the show when he was really sick, took Gary's money, fought with the producers, made a scene almost everywhere he went, etc. Next, the producers of the show were just a step below the parents. They only seemed to care about the show and how much money they could make off it and did not give a damn about troubled stars whose lives were spiraling downward. I remember a scene where someone tells Gary Coleman that there are no friends in the acting business just professional acquaintances.

The stars themselves came out looking bad, albeit victims of mistreatment and bad parenting. Gary Coleman was portrayed as a bitter and ungrateful child actor who was always feuding with the producers, his parents and other stars of the show. They could have probably added another hour solely based on his relationship with his estranged wife and subsequent death at age 42. Todd Bridges and Dana Plato came across as washed-up actors who were given chance after chance to clean up their act and still could not. One surprising thing to come out of the movie was that they were carrying on an affair (something you wouldn't have gotten from the "E! True Hollywood Story"). The only person who came out looking good in the movie was Conrad Bain who seemed to genuinely care about the three stars.

Watching a movie is all about expectations. If you watch a movie expecting the next "Godfather", you're probably going to grade it much tougher and be disappointed. However, with this movie I don't think anyone expected a five-star masterpiece. While this movie is not good by the standards that a lot of movies are: plot, acting, dialog, etc. It is good in the fact that it meets people expectations and is entertaining to watch.

This movie was very informative. I didn't think that things like this were still going on. I thought the Jackie Coogan law took care of this type of problem. I thought the actor that played Johnny Carson was great, his appearance, voice, mannerisms - amazing! My favorite part was when he threw up his hands at the end of the vignette when he got such a kick out of the kid and asked, "Do you want to take over the show?" It really brought back lots of fond memories of Johnny for me. I didn't see his name listed in the cast credits. Tthe last actor to play Gary Coleman seemed too old to play Gary. But I did like the first little fella. Would like to view this film again.

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 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.

I can't believe I'm one of the only people who've seen this. I assumed it came out in the states as it was quite fascinating.

It is actually the story of Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. They are interviewed extensively in this movie and are pretty candid. That in itself is worth it to see.

At the beginning it looks like all other "what exactly happened on the set of" movies but changes somewhere in the middle. It begins to take on "How Hollywood screws up kids movie". And a very good blamer at that.

The ending with Gary Coleman is excellent as he tries not to pass the blame anyone. But the movie does it for him. It's a mixed bag when it comes to acting and the script but it shows where things started going very wrong for everybody. Conrad Bain comes out looking bad in this one. And I can see why NBC sent this straight to Asian movie channels (One step below straight to video). They make the network execs look like insensitive unemotional jerks.

Overall it's a very uneven movie and it seems to change it's focus in mid stream. But if you liked Diff'rent Strokes and wanted some reasons how the kids got messed up, it gives a few good explanations why and how nobody helped them. Dana's story is pretty sad. An interesting movie for those who liked the TV show and wanted to see how it went wrong.