Here is a link to a podcast about the Bicycle Man episode.
http://www.averyspecialepisodepodcast.com/?m=1

Thanks!

I got through an hour of it, but I should've stopped listening much sooner than that. It would've been nice if the podcast was done by people who had more of a clue of what they were talking about and who weren't constantly struggling to even remember the names of people. One of them didn't even know the difference between Gary Coleman and Emanuel Lewis. :rolleyes:

I got through an hour of it, but I should've stopped listening much sooner than that. It would've been nice if the podcast was done by people who had more of a clue of what they were talking about and who weren't constantly struggling to even remember the names of people. One of them didn't even know the difference between Gary Coleman and Emanuel Lewis. :rolleyes:
Their forte is Saved By The Bell. After doing all those, their next project is Very Special Episodes. I enjoy the commentary and humor. It'd be nice if they were more familiar with the shows.

I never realized this until now but all this time people would always talk about this particular DS episodes and had the misconception that Arnold was the victim of molestation when in fact it was his friend Dudley that was the victim.

I wonder of somewhere the time these episodes were being written that maybe the networks didn't want one of their main stars getting molested and left it to one of the secondary characters to be the victim.

I've always figured they had Dudley as more of the victim instead of Arnold because the character is seen shirtless and Gary Coleman had had kidney transplant surgery so he very likely didn't want to do any scenes shirtless because he didn't want people seeing his surgical scars. I remember there was an episode where as a joke Willis opens the bathroom door and takes a picture of Arnold and his "little bare butt" as they put it as he's getting out of the shower. Arnold realizes what's happened and we see him come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. But he's wrapped in the towel like a girl or a woman would be, with the towel up high so only his bare shoulders are exposed, kind of strange for a boy to do that. Unless again they were doing that to hide Gary Coleman's surgical scars. I think that's the only reasonable explanation that makes sense.

Ed.

I've always figured they had Dudley as more of the victim instead of Arnold because the character is seen shirtless and Gary Coleman had had kidney transplant surgery so he very likely didn't want to do any scenes shirtless because he didn't want people seeing his surgical scars. I remember there was an episode where as a joke Willis opens the bathroom door and takes a picture of Arnold and his "little bare butt" as they put it as he's getting out of the shower. Arnold realizes what's happened and we see him come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. But he's wrapped in the towel like a girl or a woman would be, with the towel up high so only his bare shoulders are exposed, kind of strange for a boy to do that. Unless again they were doing that to hide Gary Coleman's surgical scars. I think that's the only reasonable explanation that makes sense.

Ed.

Interesting theory. It seems like there could be truth to it.

It was Kimberly that took the picture of Arnold when he was in the bathroom.

Oops, you're right it was Kimberly and not Willis, I remember now. My mistake LOL.

Ed.

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Remember the 'Diff'rent Strokes' with the bicycle man child molester? It was a very special episode.

The guy that played Dudley said that he was molested in real life. The episode helped him come out an tell someone.

The guy that played Dudley said that he was molested in real life. The episode helped him come out an tell someone.

It is my understanding that the person who molested him was his uncle.

The problem with episodes (https://flashbak.com/tv-nightmares-10-highly-disturbing-sitcom-episodes-of-the-70s-and-80s-5813/) like these (like the when where Arnold and Kimberly were kidnapped while hitchhiking) is they didn't know how to balance the comedy with the horror. The audience laughter in other parts of the episodes was really off-putting.

http://comforttv.blogspot.com/2016/11/top-tv-moments-gordon-jump.html

Diff’rent Strokes (1983)
I’m honestly not sure if the two-part episode “The Bicycle Man” is better remembered as a bold attempt at public service announcement, or more like Reefer Madness, in which a serious topic is so mishandled the result is unintentionally campy and hilarious. Gordon Jump plays bike shop owner Henry Morton, a child molester who targets Arnold and his friend Dudley. Obviously that’s a tough sitcom subject, even with the “very special episode” qualifier – but it cannot be left off any ranking of Jump’s memorable career moments.