Trivia for
"Diff'rent Strokes" (1978) More at IMDbPro »

• The name of Arnold's pet goldfish was Abraham.
  
  
• The original concept for the show was different from what would come on the air. It would have been on ABC and set in an upscale Long Island town, not in Manhattan. There was no older brother, originally, and the housekeeper would have been younger and sexier. The production company balked at the changes the network suggested, and ABC lost interest.
  
  
• Charlotte Rae was promised a smooth return back onto this series if her spin-off, "The Facts of Life" (1979), had failed. But it was renewed, so she was replaced.
  
  
• Dana Plato was written out of the series when she became pregnant in 1984, and it was agreed that it would be out of character for the same to happen to Kimberly Drummond. However, she was allowed to return for guest appearances after the birth of her son.
  
  
• When Conrad Bain signed on to do "Maude" (1972), the production company promised him his own show when that one ended. By then, 'Gary Coleman' was also signed to the company. When the planned updating of "The Little Rascals" (1955), which Coleman would have been in, was aborted, they paired them and decided to come up with a suitable premise.
  
  
• 'Gary Coleman' wanted the show to end in 1985, when it moved to ABC, but was persuaded into signing on for another year, after which it was cancelled.
  
  
• When ABC picked up the show, the producers contacted 'Dixie Carter' to return to play Maggie Drummond, but she was unavailable because shortly after NBC canceled, she had landed her role on "Designing Women" (1986), so Maggie was recast with Mary Ann Mobley.
  
  
• Mr. Drummond paid $3,500 a month for his Park Avenue apartment.
  
  
• Arnold's question "Watchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" was ranked #17 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 20 Top Catchphrases" (21-27 August 2005 issue). It was never intended as a catch phrase; the writers simply made it so after the positive reaction to Coleman's delivery in the premiere. Towards the end of the show's run Coleman had become so tired of it that he demanded it be retired; he has not uttered it publicly since his 1999 cameo as himself on "The Simpsons" (1989).
  
  
• Mary Ann Mobley played Conrad Bain's love interest twice: first she played Arnold's teacher Ms Osbourne, who dates Mr Drummond in the 2nd season; then she replaced Dixie Carter as Maggie Drummond towards the end of the series.
  
  
• In addition to the spin-off series "Facts of Life, The" (1979), characters from this show also made crossovers onto "Hello, Larry" (1979) and "Silver Spoons" (1982), thereby implying that all four shows exist in the same universe.
  
  
• Staff writer Fred Rubin composed a funky instrumental piece he offered as the theme song, but by the time he offered it, the more famous theme heard today had already been chosen.
  
  
• Arnold's friends Dudley Johnson and Robbie Jayson are named after 2 of the shows writers.
  
  

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