Original Airdate: January 9, 1980
You can watch this episode on Daily Motion or DVD.
Diff'rent Strokes is the first sitcom-core show if we are using the strict definition. You might say Diff'rent Strokes defined the genre. It was also my first favorite TV show that wasn't a cartoon. It first aired two years before I was even born, but was such a juggernaut, it was rerun in syndication on weekday evenings, during that golden time slot after the evening news but before primetime started, which is when my love affair began. I have a very clear memory of catching a few minutes of a TV movie starring Gary Coleman. When my mom started bugging me about going to bed, I whined that I wanted to watch Arnold. My dad told her that Gary Coleman was in this movie I was watching and that I wanted to stay up for it and I corrected him saying, NO, ARNOLD IS IN IT. I also remember the 1986 World Series being shown during that time slot, infuriating me by preempting Diff'rent Strokes reruns. I remember specifically because it was the one the Mets were playing and Sid Fernandez was in his prime, which was a big deal because he was from Hawaii and all anyone could talk about was Sid Fernandez in the World Series, which made me more and more furious the more I had to hear about it. Because I had to go without my stories for a week.
I don't know what it is about this show, but watching it years later is acid-trippy. I was going to say that a lot of shows from this era were weird like this but that isn't at all true. Facts of Life had elements of this, but nothing like Diff'rent Strokes. The racial politics are uncomfortable, of course, but even the pacing and line delivery is awkward. Scenes often end on a poignant note and then the studio audience clapped as if it was the end of an act in a play. This was possibly the first example of one character on a show being primarily responsible for the show's success. This was also true of plenty of shows that came later, most notably Webster (the poor man's Diff'rent Strokes) and of course Family Matters, which was supposed to be about a working class black family but ended up being about a psychotic young nerd who gets to go into space. The producers knew their meal ticket was all in Gary's little hands, so the entire show revolved around his cutest lines (not just his tagline, but mostly the tagline). So most of Arnold's lines are read with the camera focused on him and he reads them really slowly. Then everyone laughs and hugs him. That's basically the show.
I didn't specifically remember this episode from the early syndication. I must have seen it because several shots were used in the opening credits in subsequent seasons and I do recall the thrill I felt when I saw the origins of Arnold carrying a giant stack of newspapers through the front door. Remember that feeling? Anyway, this episode is a standout for us because Pete carried a line from it with him since he was a kid. I'll get to that later.
In this episode, Arnold, Willis, Kimberly, and Mr. Drummond gossiping about how they need to interview another housekeeper. When Facts of Life spun off, it took Mrs. Garrett from Diff'rent Strokes. Mrs. Garrett was the classic Diff'rent Strokes housekeeper but she didn't even last two seasons. That's amazing. Rest in power Charlotte Rae this past August, by the way. Enter Adelaide. Adelaide is funny because she is very old and very short. During her interview she cracks a joke about how she won't get the job if she disclosed how old she was. I think Drummond asking Adelaide how old she is would be illegal now and possibly even then. It's hard to imagine this would have ever been acceptable, but the past is weird and awful. As I suppose is the present anymore. Anyway, they hire the short old lady.
One of the weirdest parts of this show is its reliance on rich guy jokes. If this show was on now, everyone would hate it. The rich guy jokes fly fast and furious as a POLITICAL PARTY operative comes buy to solicit donations from Mr. Drummond. He happens to mention that they lost their city council candidate because he dropped out. Inspired, he suggests that Drummond run in his place. Phil is unsure, but of course the kids are all over it and even Adelaide gets in on the action, promising the senior citizen vote. She keeps saying "senior citizen" and it sounds awkward. I feel like in the 80s we used to call old people senior citizens, but part of me wonders whether I just called people senior citizens because I heard Adelaide use the phrase. Is that possible?
So Drummond runs but also pieces together that the operative from POLITICAL PARTY only thought he'd be a good candidate because of his two black sons and his ancient, short housekeeper. He's shocked offended by the suggestion that a candidate's family composition and willingness to hire a 128 year-old housekeeper could be used to his advantage. He's so angry, he goes out on his own, without party resources. The kids agree to be "his organization," but I guess he also has an office staff.
Time passes and we learn that Drummond is way behind in the polls, running 4th out of 4 candidates. They think it's because he's a new candidate and needs more exposure. To address this issue, they arrange a TV appearance on the 7 o'clock news. The next morning, the doorbell rings and a shower-capped and houserobe'd Adelaide answers the door. It's a camera crew! Seven o'clock, as it turns out, meant 7:00 AM! Zoinks! We had a long discussion about whether you would assume AM or PM. Put me down for Team PM. Any news that airs in the morning is the Morning News. Pete said that he would have assumed morning because the news is usually on at 5 or 6. I don't care, you don't call the morning news the anything-o'clock news.
Anyway, Phil is out for a jog so the kids and Adelaide work their butts off to keep the news crew there. They say some adorably clueless things before Drummond bursts through the front door, asking "What the hell is going on?" to which Arnold, reading one of Pete's all-time favorite lines from a sitcom "Dad, you just said 'hell' on TV! Oops, so did I!" Knowing my husband as well as I do, I know it's just a matter of a swear being uttered on network television. He will admit to this. The news man asks Drummond a direct question but cuts him off for time before he's able to answer. The entire group is deflated.
Cut to election night. The same news man who was at the Drummond-Jackson home announces that the city council seat in question was won by the incumbent. The first time I watched this episode as an adult, I was taken a little aback by the idea that there even was an incumbent. The news man qualifies this news by calling "maverick independent candidate Philip Drummond" out for making a surprising second place finish. And then he called him a winner, even though he lost.
One thing I've been noticing while summarizing TV shows for this blog and for the podcast is that the older ones are fairly simple and the more recent ones (still 25 years old) are a lot more complicated. Diff'rent Strokes is true to form. The entertainment value in this episode mostly consists of one-liners. The plot is s think, most of these early episodes are more a slice of life than a traditional arcing story. Nothing happens. Just a lot of people standing around, talking. Still, probably the most entertaining thing on TV in 1980.