exercising his freedoms but don t exercise yours. laura: and his accent is now perfect right? and how he grew up in a strict german and austrian upbringing they whacked the kids and he said i was a rebel. said i was a rebel. i like to break the rules but they wanted conformity.. so it s okay for a little so it s okay for a little arnold but nobody r else? and nobody may now want him to come back. laura: that you miss him as governor? there was a house husband hamptons citing .
like, the show at the time. brown: it really fostered family time. so you usually watch the shows with your family, and then if there was some type of issue, you d talked with it with your family about it afterwards. narrator: diff rent strokes had in fact become famous for several special episodes tackling everything from teen crime to eating disorders. but it was a special episode in season five called the bicycle man starring gordon jump that may be the most memorable. weiss: diff rent strokes kind of led the way for the very special sitcom episode. they they re famous for their child-molestation episode, where this friendly bicycle dealer becomes good friends and offers pie and shows pornographic cartoons to arnold and his friend dudley. now we re gonna take some pictures, and we re gonna have another little sip of wine, and we re gonna take some more pictures. and so gimme strike a pose for me there. yeah, let s see what you do. hey, that s great, guys.
issues, and those issues are universal. can people of different racial backgrounds get along? can people from different socioeconomic classes get along? if given the opportunity, can minorities who come from a different background thrive? narrator: lear once again proved he was able to deliver social commentary while getting a laugh. but the face of the show, as far as viewers were concerned, was gary coleman. mcilwain: you know, i was 7 years old in 78 when diff rent strokes started. really, i was sort of drawn to arnold s character. you know, i identified with him, you know, sort of wished i had the charm he had to be able to get out of all these sort of circumstances and jams he of always seemed to get himself in. wolf: he was too adorable for words. and somehow those smart guys at nbc knew what they were seeing. drew: gary coleman, you know, came out of nowhere, but because he was older but looked so much
and everybody just thought she was fabulous. narrator: other famous guest stars included clarenceus guest clemens, mr. t, and muhammad ali. mcilwain: i remember when muhammad ali came on the show. i think arnold had a sort of funny variation of the fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee line, but i really like a remember just those two people being up against each other. hi there, arnold. who s that? it s me, the champ. joe louis? narrator: in one of the most memorable and highest-rated episodes, first lady nancy reagan stopped by thenancy drummonds to talk to the family about the dangers of drugs as part of her just say no initiative. mrs. reagan, i didn t know that you knew mr. drummond. i don t. (chuckles) i m really here to see arnold. what you talkin about, mrs. reagan? weiss: nancy reagan being on the sitcom solidified diff rent strokes as being,
bearing. it was just good casting. you know, the combination of him and gary coleman was magic. drew: even though diff rent strokes was really basedf rent around gary coleman, conrad bain was an essential element. and he really fit the mold. he really seemed like the rich guy who was a little nerdy and a little unhip, and that s what balanced the show. narrator: lear worked to flesh out ideas for the new show, including changing the name to diff rent strokes and adding other characters. todd bridges, who d made his name on several sitcoms including the barney miller spin-off fish, was cast as arnold s older brother, willis. a then-unknown dana plato was cast as mr. drummond s daughter kimberly. piazza: she was an all-american girl. dana plato was successful early on. she was trying to be an olympic- level skater, and she was really good at that, was definitely this all-american girl. narrator: as diff rent strokes was taking shape, a shake-up at the network sawa