What made this show lose its touch!?!?!?!

[arny parny]

sam

[danielle black]

i think the show went downhill when mr. drummond got married. it wasn't just the marriage, it was a whole bunch of things.

[Natalie1969]

People transplant all the time-referring to the southern Maggie moving north. What made her fit in is that she was a TV star (had her own TV exercise show) and New York is a good place for TV show personalities.

[Larenz09]

Originally Posted by Brad Russ

This isn't Gary Coleman's fault obviously, but I think the show began losing it's charm as Arnold got older and lost his cuteness. Usually cuteness is something people hate in a tv show like in the case of Sam, or the Olsen Twins, but I think most would agree that in the early years of this show Arnold's cuteness was one of the best parts. What really drove the nail in the coffin for me though was the addition of Sam. I don't hate the kid or anything, but I just found him extremely boring, and annoying.

Gary was still handsome looking even when he became a young teen.

I think that what made the show lose its fire was when Gary's character, Arnold, didn't seem as aggressive as he was with his sassy talk and smirky remarks as when he was little.

Gary was fast-approaching adolesence, and even though his voice didn't seem to change much, his charactor did, as it became less of a standout and he began to quiet down somewhat from the days when he had everyone glued to their TV sets to watch and hear him spew out a lot of sass.

He might have grown tired of the show, and when it ended, his leagal battles with his parents began, as he wanted the money from his parents that the show had earned. Both sides were actually big losers, in a way, because eventually, a bitter rivary had erupted from this and Gary never tried to reconcile with his parents, but neither did they try to reconcile with him.

I truly wish that this debacle was settled between him and his parents, but it is what it is, and it's something of a bitter hate that Gary ended up taking with him to his death bed!!

[megamanj2004]

DS was starting tolose its touch w/ so many special eps.

But it really truely JtS/BtF'd when Mr. D. gets married and in came Maggie and Sam.

Maggie came off as somewhat naggy and Sam was annoying!

Got worse when S8 came along. The new Maggie didn't help matters, the updated theme song sucked.

[dummytree]

Originally Posted by Larenz09

He might have grown tired of the show, and when it ended, his leagal battles with his parents began, as he wanted the money from his parents that the show had earned. Both sides were actually losers because eventually, a bitter rivary had erupted from this and Gary never tried to reconcile with his parents, but neither did they try to reconcile with him.

I truly wish that this debacle was settled between him and his parents, but it is something of a bitter hated that Gary ended up taking with him to his death bed!!

He had grown tired of the show. He said he was happy at first when Danny was introduced in the show because he could play the part of an older brother for a change, but it didn't last for long.He was just fed up with "Diff'rent Strokes", and burnt out by years of hard work basically, not to mention his physical & mental health.

He once said in '98 that he usually didn't talk about his battle with his parents anymore because it was over and he and his parents had moved on...So not true.

[Larenz09]

Originally Posted by dummytree

He had grown tired of the show. He said he was happy at first when Danny was introduced in the show because he could play the part of an older brother for a change, but it didn't last for long.He was just fed up with "Diff'rent Strokes", and burnt out by years of hard work basically, not to mention his physical & mental health.

He once said in '98 that he usually didn't talk about his battle with his parents anymore because it was over and he and his parents had moved on...So not true.

Yeah, neither side would reconcile with the other, as Gary grew increasingly angry and bitter over this and he ended up carrying this grudge right to his grave!

Gary withdrew into himself, as he began to trust fewer & fewer people. The explosive argument between himself and the cast members on The Insider, could very well have been the frosting on the cake for him. Not to mention him having suffered a seizure backstage on the set. So tragically sad that we lost a great actor!!!!!

[Gabgirl]

Originally Posted by megamanj2004

DS was starting tolose its touch w/ so many special eps.

But it really truely JtS/BtF'd when Mr. D. gets married and in came Maggie and Sam.

Maggie came off as somewhat naggy and Sam was annoying!

Got worse when S8 came along. The new Maggie didn't help matters, the updated theme song sucked.

Clearly, when Drummond and Maggie got married, and brought on Sam. It was very obvious as Gary was getting older he had grown tired of being the precocious cute kid. So I believe they brought in Sam's character to recreate that cutesiness that we saw with Gary in the earlier years of DS.

It was also noticeable that Kimberly and Willis' roles had deteriorated greatly around this time. So with the addition of Maggie and Sam, the show was able to keep that family setting.

i personally felt after the first season of Maggie and Sam should've been the end of the series. IMO, it really had run its course.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by dummytree

He had grown tired of the show. He said he was happy at first when Danny was introduced in the show because he could play the part of an older brother for a change, but it didn't last for long.He was just fed up with "Diff'rent Strokes", and burnt out by years of hard work basically, not to mention his physical & mental health.

He once said in '98 that he usually didn't talk about his battle with his parents anymore because it was over and he and his parents had moved on...So not true.

Todd Bridges himself, explains it, Gary's parents were making him go to work while he was sick. I don't think that people fully realize just how ill Gary was when he was making Diff'rent Strokes. I believe that he had and correct me if I'm wrong, two kidney transplants during that time period. And he was regularly on dialysis, even while on set.

[EccentricGenius]

Simply put, the introductions of both Maggie McKinney and (eventually) her precocious son, Sam, midway through Strokes' sixth season marked the beginning of the beginning of the end for the long-running sitcom, along with Dana Plato's abrupt termination--due to her real-life pregnancy--upon the conclusion of that aforementioned season.

And let's not forget the rise and eventual success of lighthearted and lightweighted eighties family sitcoms such as Family Ties, Growing Pains, Who's The Boss?, and, of course, The Cosby Show that contributed to Strokes' downfall and later cancellation.

[EccentricGenius]

Perhaps this article I just discovered on http://www.popculturereferences.com will finally shed some really bright floodlights on Diff'rent Strokes' eventual decline in both quality and popularity during the second half of its overlong, eight-season run (seasons five through eight); turns out the arrivals of both Maggie and Sam were only the tip of the proverbial Nielsen ratings iceberg that ultimately sank Strokes. Enjoy.

http://www.popculturereferences.com/...jump-the-shark

[rusty spike]

I always thought that Mr. D loved Maggie more than she loved him. And while it's mostly true about love and romance that it's rarely 50/50, I just felt that Maggie had little regard to Mr. D's children. I thought her character came off cold.

And that's how I also felt about the third housekeeper, Pearl.

[EccentricGenius]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

I always thought that Mr. D loved Maggie more than she loved him. And while it's mostly true about love and romance that it's rarely 50/50, I just felt that Maggie had little regard to Mr. D's children. I thought her character came off cold.

And that's how I also felt about the third housekeeper, Pearl.

Interesting observation, rusty spike. Although Philip Drummond fell head over heels in love--practically overnight, mind you--with feisty aerobics instructor and hostess Maggie McKinney (and her eternally precocious son, Sam) midway through Strokes' sixth season, it was painfully obvious Maggie didn't give two f**ks about Arnold, Willis, or Kimberly after she and Sam both became permanently ensconced in Drummond's luxurious two-story Park Avenue penthouse in the heart of midtown Manhattan.

As for Drummond's fourth housekeeper, the cheerful Pearl Gallagher, she may not have been as sympathetic as Mrs. Garrett, but at least she was an improvement over the grumpy Adelaide.

Thanks for commenting! Enjoy your day, bro!

[Mace Dolex]

I think bringing in Maggie was ok for Philip to have a companion but there was no need to bring in Sam that by doing that it didn't let the show evolve and kept it as a safe kiddie show.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by EccentricGenius

Interesting observation, rusty spike. Although Philip Drummond fell head over heels in love--practically overnight, mind you--with feisty aerobics instructor and hostess Maggie McKinney (and her eternally precocious son, Sam) midway through Strokes' sixth season, it was painfully obvious Maggie didn't give two f**ks about Arnold, Willis, or Kimberly after she and Sam both became permanently ensconced in Drummond's luxurious two-story Park Avenue penthouse in the heart of midtown Manhattan.

As for Drummond's fourth housekeeper, the cheerful Pearl Gallagher, she may not have been as sympathetic as Mrs. Garrett, but at least she was an improvement over the grumpy Adelaide.

Thanks for commenting! Enjoy your day, bro!

Mary Ann Mobley's interpretation of Maggie when the show moved to ABC for its final season, was actually much more traditionally warm and maternal than Dixie Carter's take. Some of the comments that I've read elsewhere have argued that Dixie's portrayal came across as too stern and cold hearted. Basically, Mary Ann gave the character a much nicer demeanor and seemed more like a woman that you would genuinely want as your mother than Dixie's more nonsense approach.