Ode to 80s TV: The Nostalgia of "Diff’rent Strokes"
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Please indulge me for a few moments....
I am at home (with a broken shoulder as most of you know) and have been watching a marathon of Diff’rent Strokes (1978-1986). I am sure you all remember this show. I watched Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life FAITHFULLY as a kid, and even with cable and all the shows we loved playing in syndication, I have not seen these shows on TV. The Brady Bunch has probably never been off the air and yet these two gems seem to have been lost in the cracks. Admittedly they were two of my fave shows as a child.
It is funny to watch the episodes and see HUGE stars with bit parts. People I hadn’t remembered being part of the program. Janet Jackson had a part for 4 years as Willis’ girlfriend and if I may say, she was GORGEOUS before all that plastic surgery (at least she didn’t go as far as Michael and LaToya, who clearly have the same surgeon...I have to check for breasts just to tell those two apart).
One of the episodes had Forest Whittaker as the school bully. Such a bit part. It is funny to look back and see him there. He looks the same only younger with no facial hair. Mr. T was in an episode and ref. the A Team (another great 80s program). And Kareem Abdul Jabar was on a couple of episodes (oddly enough, years apart) as a substitute teacher.
The other thing that strikes me as I watch the shows, as it has been SO many years since I have done so, is thinking about the lives of those kids after. I feel like you couldn’t go to the grocery store at any time in the 90s without at least one of those child stars being splashed accross all the tabloids. I guess Todd Bridges has gotten his stuff together, but they have all been arrested, on drugs and Dana Plato was dead (suicide by overdose) before she was 35. Okay, I guess that is depressing.
It does bring a sense of nostalgia for my childhood and memories of simpler times with less to worry about when Wed nights was all about Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, although I think it was Tuesdays originally and it moved (yes, I remember the night it aired...I have a freaky memory...The Dukes of Hazard was Friday nights at 8pm just before Dallas, I think Silver Spoons was on Mondays, Growing Pains was Wed nights, The Golden girls were Saturday nights...it is just the shows I really loved at the time). My biggest problems were had I done enough homework to get by with out any major trouble (I wasn’t nearly as anal as a child as I am now ) and had I managed not to fight with my mother and get myself grounded (in my house this meant no TV--cruelty!) that week.
Okay, thanks for indulging me on my rambling about Diff’rent Strokes. I will leave you with some other shows I would like to see on TV even if only for a one day marathon. Let me know if you remember them.I do love a good walk down memory lane!
Jennifer Slept Here
Charles in Charge (the original and the second one -- that was weird...same show and a totally different family)
Joanie Loves Chachi (did anyone else notice that HAPPY DAYS started out in the 60s and Joanie Loves Chachi was a modern 80s show???)
The Hardy Boys (Hey, I said just for a one day marathon...I am nostalgic and besides it was on when I had bronchitis and was home for a week in 1999 and I got hooked...you may be surprised...alas it was gone soon after and has not been back)
Square Pegs (Sara Jessica Parker’s first series and she was not nearly as stylish)
Rags to Riches (I LOVED this...do you remember the show about a rich man that adopted a gaggle of teenage female orphans?)
Solid Gold and/or Dance Fever (ok I am blushing, but I loved those shows with people dancing about in gold lamay and sparkles).
Double Trouble (remember the show with the twin red-haired girls)Kate & Ally (a classic)
WKRP in Cincinnati
Night Court (my mom loved this show)
Ok, that is a start. Let me know if you can think of any others! I do realize that you remember some shows better than they were, as times and TV have certainly changed...as have we. I had been very excited to find out that Emergency (as a child I fantasized about living in the fire house with Johnny and Roy), the Dukes of Hazzard and Soap had made it back to TV, only to be disappointed when I watched them again. Emergency had horrible camera work and BAD acting (sorry Randolph Mantooth I still love ya), The Dukes of Hazzard made me feel like if I lived like them I would slice my wrists, a feeling that did not present itself when I was a child, and Soap, well...Soap was just plain painful. I don’t think I made it through a whole episode. I am convinced I would still love some of these shows though.I have enjoyed my evening of Diff’rent Strokes after all! I hope you are all well and will never be forced to watch as much TV as I have, being home alone and unable to drive over the last 2 months!
Hugs, Christine xo
Please indulge me for a few moments....
I am at home (with a broken shoulder as most of you know) and have been watching a marathon of Diff’rent Strokes (1978-1986). I am sure you all remember this show. I watched Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life FAITHFULLY as a kid, and even with cable and all the shows we loved playing in syndication, I have not seen these shows on TV. The Brady Bunch has probably never been off the air and yet these two gems seem to have been lost in the cracks. Admittedly they were two of my fave shows as a child.
It is funny to watch the episodes and see HUGE stars with bit parts. People I hadn’t remembered being part of the program. Janet Jackson had a part for 4 years as Willis’ girlfriend and if I may say, she was GORGEOUS before all that plastic surgery (at least she didn’t go as far as Michael and LaToya, who clearly have the same surgeon...I have to check for breasts just to tell those two apart).
One of the episodes had Forest Whittaker as the school bully. Such a bit part. It is funny to look back and see him there. He looks the same only younger with no facial hair. Mr. T was in an episode and ref. the A Team (another great 80s program). And Kareem Abdul Jabar was on a couple of episodes (oddly enough, years apart) as a substitute teacher.
The other thing that strikes me as I watch the shows, as it has been SO many years since I have done so, is thinking about the lives of those kids after. I feel like you couldn’t go to the grocery store at any time in the 90s without at least one of those child stars being splashed accross all the tabloids. I guess Todd Bridges has gotten his stuff together, but they have all been arrested, on drugs and Dana Plato was dead (suicide by overdose) before she was 35. Okay, I guess that is depressing.
It does bring a sense of nostalgia for my childhood and memories of simpler times with less to worry about when Wed nights was all about Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, although I think it was Tuesdays originally and it moved (yes, I remember the night it aired...I have a freaky memory...The Dukes of Hazard was Friday nights at 8pm just before Dallas, I think Silver Spoons was on Mondays, Growing Pains was Wed nights, The Golden girls were Saturday nights...it is just the shows I really loved at the time). My biggest problems were had I done enough homework to get by with out any major trouble (I wasn’t nearly as anal as a child as I am now ) and had I managed not to fight with my mother and get myself grounded (in my house this meant no TV--cruelty!) that week.
Okay, thanks for indulging me on my rambling about Diff’rent Strokes. I will leave you with some other shows I would like to see on TV even if only for a one day marathon. Let me know if you remember them.I do love a good walk down memory lane!
Jennifer Slept Here
Charles in Charge (the original and the second one -- that was weird...same show and a totally different family)
Joanie Loves Chachi (did anyone else notice that HAPPY DAYS started out in the 60s and Joanie Loves Chachi was a modern 80s show???)
The Hardy Boys (Hey, I said just for a one day marathon...I am nostalgic and besides it was on when I had bronchitis and was home for a week in 1999 and I got hooked...you may be surprised...alas it was gone soon after and has not been back)
Square Pegs (Sara Jessica Parker’s first series and she was not nearly as stylish)
Rags to Riches (I LOVED this...do you remember the show about a rich man that adopted a gaggle of teenage female orphans?)
Solid Gold and/or Dance Fever (ok I am blushing, but I loved those shows with people dancing about in gold lamay and sparkles).
Double Trouble (remember the show with the twin red-haired girls)Kate & Ally (a classic)
WKRP in Cincinnati
Night Court (my mom loved this show)
Ok, that is a start. Let me know if you can think of any others! I do realize that you remember some shows better than they were, as times and TV have certainly changed...as have we. I had been very excited to find out that Emergency (as a child I fantasized about living in the fire house with Johnny and Roy), the Dukes of Hazzard and Soap had made it back to TV, only to be disappointed when I watched them again. Emergency had horrible camera work and BAD acting (sorry Randolph Mantooth I still love ya), The Dukes of Hazzard made me feel like if I lived like them I would slice my wrists, a feeling that did not present itself when I was a child, and Soap, well...Soap was just plain painful. I don’t think I made it through a whole episode. I am convinced I would still love some of these shows though.I have enjoyed my evening of Diff’rent Strokes after all! I hope you are all well and will never be forced to watch as much TV as I have, being home alone and unable to drive over the last 2 months!
Hugs, Christine xo
posted by Unknown | 10:09 AM
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