Retroist Diff’rent Strokes Podcast

Nov 13, 2020

In this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I discuss the 1978 sitcom, Diff’rent Strokes. This show was both controversial and well-received at the time. Its life and reputation were extended by its long run in syndication.

I begin the episode discussing very special episodes of television. I find them fascinating in how effective they were back then to a young me versus how easy they are to chuckle about now. Technology and the availability of EVERYTHING have really changed our expectations of entertainment, whether it teaches a lesson or not.

Then I move onto the show itself. I talk about the creators of the show, the cast members, the theme songs, and much more.

Diff’rent Strokes has a lot of humor that is dated, especially in early seasons. But the charisma of the cast and clever situations make this show very re-watchable. I hope I can persuade you to check it out.

Listen and download the Retroist Diff’rent Strokes Podcast

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Production Notes

I have tried to record this show several times before. I have never been happy with how it turned out. I hope this one is good enough.
This cast is large, so I edited it down to the main cast members. I feel bad that I couldn’t cover everyone.
Yes, I have some pronunciation issues again. I practiced saying things, then I record it and I go right back to how I say things as a kid.
I cut down the theme songs. Wish I could play more of them.
Cut down the commercials to just one this week. Can you guess its connection to the show? It’s not obvious from the audio.
metagirl is back! We have been circling around each other for a few months now. It was great to get to connect. I know a lot of people enjoy her segment.
I cut down the spinoffs and connected shows, removed over two minutes from there.
I discussed the problems the kids on this show had, A LOT. It was just too much and it was depressing. I cut out nearly 3 minutes of it.
I removed some old quotes I found about the show’s release. It was okay but didn’t feel important.
I removed some stuff that I mentioned that would get repeated in metagirl segment.
Thanks to Chris Shadowens for pointing out that while the structure of Family Affair was similar, it was also a good deal different. The adoptees were actually family members and Mr. French was not a housekeeper but instead a butler.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.