After watching season 2 and half of 3, i forgot how funny Adele really was on this show. She defintely stood out more than Mrs. Garrett. Which leads me to this question, What in the world did Mrs. Garrett do so entertaining on Diffrent Strokes during season 1 to get her own show?? I never understood that.

I have to agree that I enjoyed Adele on Diff'rent Strokes much more than Mrs. Garrett. I think the character of Mrs. Garrett worked much better on The Facts of Life, with a large cast of young girls. :)

I loved Adele. She was spunky! Mrs. G was good in her own right, although I will agree it did seem weird that she got her own spinoff from a year's worth of work.

I have to agree that I enjoyed Adele on Diff'rent Strokes much more than Mrs. Garrett. I think the character of Mrs. Garrett worked much better on The Facts of Life, with a large cast of young girls. :)


Yeah it will always be a mystery as to why she got her own show.

Yeah it will always be a mystery as to why she got her own show.

part of it was because NBC was D-E-A-D sitcomwise in the late 1970's, Diff'rent Strokes was the only sitcom they had that got decent ratings at all, so might as well take someone from the show and give them their own show which would be an instant hit, and Charlotte Rae was the only one from DS that you can take out of the Drummond penthouse and give a show to without killing the foundation that Diff'rent Strokes had. I think it ended up paying off in the long run for both shows since both Strokes and Facts lasted through to the second half of the 1980's (with FOL going off in 1988), even though the first season of Facts Of Life was damn near unwatchable IMO, and I am someone who loves seasons 2-9.

From the same logic, don't be too surprised if NBC spins off someone on My Name Is Earl next season, since it's the only sitcom that is getting decent ratings now on there.

part of it was because NBC was D-E-A-D sitcomwise in the late 1970's, Diff'rent Strokes was the only sitcom they had that got decent ratings at all, so might as well take someone from the show and give them their own show which would be an instant hit, and Charlotte Rae was the only one from DS that you can take out of the Drummond penthouse and give a show to without killing the foundation that Diff'rent Strokes had. I think it ended up paying off in the long run for both shows since both Strokes and Facts lasted through to the second half of the 1980's (with FOL going off in 1988), even though the first season of Facts Of Life was damn near unwatchable IMO, and I am someone who loves seasons 2-9.

From the same logic, don't be too surprised if NBC spins off someone on My Name Is Earl next season, since it's the only sitcom that is getting decent ratings now on there.


It took about 3 years for FOL to do well in the ratings since they had to bring DS cast members to guest star on Facts of Life. Like Willis appearing on FOL in 1981

It took about 3 years for FOL to do well in the ratings since they had to bring DS cast members to guest star on Facts of Life. Like Willis appearing on FOL in 1981

FOL's ratings took off in season 2 when Jo came in the cast and NBC moved it to 9:30 on Wednesday nights following DS, it went from #74 to #26 in the ratings and stayed in the 20's and 30's for the remainder of it's run. DS and FOL were NBC's top 2 sitcoms well until the 1984 season when Cosby came along (Cheers and Family Ties didn't really take off in the ratings until Cosby)

Do y'all mean Adelaide? Anyways, I think all the housekeepers were entertaining, but Mrs. Garrett kind of had a couple funny jokes, and Adelaide was much more involved with the family. :)

I liked Mrs. Garrett better.

I liked Mrs. Garrett better.


WHY?