Diff'rent Strokes 1978-1988?

[HecLar8492]

Hi you guys! I am a huge fan of the show and I was wondering if you guys think Diff'rent Strokes could have lasted another two seasons, all the way up until 1988? It sucks that its spinoff, The Facts of Life, lasted longer! But because of its cancellation in 1986, what do you guys think made it get canceled without finishing out Season 8? Do you guys think firing Dana Plato was the worst idea the producers and Network Executives ever did? I thought, in my opinion, that one of the things that hurt the show was the fact that the show did not carry any storylines throughout its run! Like the episode where Willis, Charlene, and Kimberly form a band.....What happened to them? It was things like that that I think made it harder for the producers to come up with new episodes all the time instead of having Willis, Arnold, and Kimberly develop interests and pursue them throughout instead just "an episode." Like when Kimberly was persuaded by Dorthy Hamil to train and skate with her so she could skate for the Olympics. I also think that not allowing the kids to "grow up", well not so much Willis and Kimberly, but Arnold in particular, is what also hurt the show, and that by the time they did allow them to in Season 8, it was all but to late! Anyways, that's all I wanted to say! It looks like we are in for a rough two weeks because I heard that Season 7 is the worst season of the show as Dana Plato was surely missed!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by HecLar8492

Hi you guys! I am a huge fan of the show and I was wondering if you guys think Diff'rent Strokes could have lasted another two seasons, all the way up until 1988? It sucks that its spinoff, The Facts of Life, lasted longer! But because of its cancellation in 1986, what do you guys think made it get canceled without finishing out Season 8? Do you guys think firing Dana Plato was the worst idea the producers and Network Executives ever did? I thought, in my opinion, that one of the things that hurt the show was the fact that the show did not carry any storylines throughout its run! Like the episode where Willis, Charlene, and Kimberly form a band.....What happened to them? It was things like that that I think made it harder for the producers to come up with new episodes all the time instead of having Willis, Arnold, and Kimberly develop interests and pursue them throughout instead just "an episode." Like when Kimberly was persuaded by Dorthy Hamil to train and skate with her so she could skate for the Olympics. I also think that not allowing the kids to "grow up", well not so much Willis and Kimberly, but Arnold in particular, is what also hurt the show, and that by the time they did allow them to in Season 8, it was all but to late! Anyways, that's all I wanted to say! It looks like we are in for a rough two weeks because I heard that Season 7 is the worst season of the show as Dana Plato was surely missed!

kimberly was the weakest character on the show to me so not seeing her in season 7 was no biggie because she was always a small contributor to the show.

[Jude The Obscure]

Well to each their own, but Kimberly seemed to disappear from the show right after the wedding episode. Was there any storyline mention of where she was at?

[MikeLutton]

i heard she went to france

[stevea]

wasn't there some mention of her going on to college? if so it was only a passing line.

[Jude The Obscure]

Oh you mean where she was hired on as an "au pair" to that couple? I got the tail end of that episode the other day.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Jude86

Well to each their own, but Kimberly seemed to disappear from the show right after the wedding episode. Was there any storyline mention of where she was at?

It was time for her to go Jude, she was 18-lol

[Jude The Obscure]

That is lame,Sol. It was not time for her to go. Sam and Maggie should have went instead!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Jude86

That is lame,Sol. It was not time for her to go. Sam and Maggie should have went instead!

The same thing happened to Denise on the Cosby Show, once she graduated and became 18 her role on the show was not the same because she had to go to college. Kimberly and Willis had to move on and do other things so viewers could focus on the kids that were still in grade school-lol

[willjarmon]

Dana Palto got pregnant and they were going to keep her but decided to fire her instead. NBC thought that it would damage the show so Willis' senior year stuff made for his absence in season 7 and Kimberly was in France up until the end of season 7

[OnTheMarkTexas]

I am sure that if they wanted to, the producers could have kept DIFF'RENT STROKES in production for a decade, perhaps longer.

Despite the fact that both NBC and ABC had cancelled the series, the producers could have opted to produce the show via first-run syndication -- like TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, IT'S A LIVING, and CHARLES IN CHARGE had all done after being dropped by a network.

During the final season of KNOTS LANDING, star William Devan had a conversation with an executive at CBS who said they could have kept the show on the air 20 years or longer (like a daytime soap) if they had wanted to, but that obviouisly would have constituted a smaller budget, smaller cast, less location shooting, etc.

Other factors have to be taken into consideration, as well, like keeping a show fresh and interesting as it ages, changing tastes of viewers, and more competition from cable networks.

It basically boils down to the delima of "do we keep the show going and hope we can retain or attract more viewers or do we pull the plug while it is still receiving respectible ratings?"

Honestly, there is nothing more pathetic than a show still being on the air way past its prime. Remember how painful it was to watch the final season of LAVERN & SHIRLEY?

[Jude The Obscure]

Why couldn't they simply marry Kimberly off? Wasn't she seeing that David guy? It would have been a good point of contention to see Drummond realize his little girl has grown up and gone off to marry a guy he wasn't wild about. She didn't have to be a series regular anymore--they could have done occasional visits and explained the pregnancy like that. The producers overreacted to the situation.

[OnTheMarkTexas]

Originally Posted by Jude86

Why couldn't they simply marry Kimberly off? Wasn't she seeing that David guy? It would have been a good point of contention to see Drummond realize his little girl has grown up and gone off to marry a guy he wasn't wild about. She didn't have to be a series regular anymore--they could have done occasional visits and explained the pregnancy like that. The producers overreacted to the situation.

I agree with you that it seemed a little overreactionary for the producers to fire Dana Plato simply because she became pregnant. She wasn't underrage after all, she was simply un-married. What's the big deal?

Makes me wonder if they had been having issues with her and this provided them with the perfect excuse to give her the ax?

And why would her real-life pregnancy necessiarly have to carry over into the show's plot? The writers could have come up with a storyline to explain Kimberly's absence during Dana Plato's real-life maternity leave. Afterwards, she could have returned and the audience would be none the wiser.

At the time that she was let go, did they ever give the reason of her firing as her being pregnant or did they just issue some blanket statement about "creative direction"?

I would think that even back in the mid-1980's, had they admiited to firing her for becoming pregnant, she would have had some sort of legal recourse.

[ThomasE]

Originally Posted by OnTheMarkTexas

I am sure that if they wanted to, the producers could have kept DIFF'RENT STROKES in production for a decade, perhaps longer.

Despite the fact that both NBC and ABC had cancelled the series, the producers could have opted to produce the show via first-run syndication -- like TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, IT'S A LIVING, and CHARLES IN CHARGE had all done after being dropped by a network.

During the final season of KNOTS LANDING, star William Devan had a conversation with an executive at CBS who said they could have kept the show on the air 20 years or longer (like a daytime soap) if they had wanted to, but that obviouisly would have constituted a smaller budget, smaller cast, less location shooting, etc.

Other factors have to be taken into consideration, as well, like keeping a show fresh and interesting as it ages, changing tastes of viewers, and more competition from cable networks.

It basically boils down to the delima of "do we keep the show going and hope we can retain or attract more viewers or do we pull the plug while it is still receiving respectible ratings?"

Honestly, there is nothing more pathetic than a show still being on the air way past its prime. Remember how painful it was to watch the final season of LAVERN & SHIRLEY?

True! Very True! It would have been nice to have seen Knots Landing go for another six years. It ran for 14. If it would have ran until 1999, I would have been fine just as long as Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark ramained with the show. Well, I would have expected Joan Van Ark to come back.

You bring up very good points!