Diff'rent Strokes vs Webster vs The Facts of Life

[Neutronman67]

Now i myself consider Diff'rent Strokes to be one of the best african american show of the 80's decade the episodes had people think about everyday life issues in the world and if it had not been for arnold with his whatchu talking bout willis catch words during the early seasons the show would have bomb after season 3, Webster is another great show of the 80's but it was just not as educational when it came to dealing with serious issues DS did plus webster did not have much of a personality he was always calm in the series, The Facts of Life is a great 80's show i thought the ms garret character made the sitcom come to life if not for her the show would not have lasted 9 long seasns, which show do you prefer to be more entertaining Diff'rent Stokes, Webster, The Facts of Life ???

[zypherix]

As one that could never stand young kids on tv shows, the choice is simple: The Facts of Life all the way.

[DJM77]

Diff'rent Strokes was the most entertaining to me. Besides that, without Diff'rent Strokes there wouldn't have even been a Facts Of Life or a Webster.

[Mace Dolex]

Webster was a thinly veiled DS clone while Facts Of Life was mostly for girls, I'd pick Diff'rent Strokes as my favorite of the three.

[70s show watcher]

different strokes was my fave of the 3 followed by facts of life i kind of enjoyed webester when it aired in the 80s but these days it does not hold up for me at all where with ds and fol i still enjoy them as much as i did during childhood/teen years

[Buffyboy323]

Originally Posted by DJM77

without Diff'rent Strokes there wouldn't have even been a Facts Of Life or a Webster.

I completely agree.

1. The Facts of Life
2. Diff'rent Strokes


3. Webster

[Neutronman67]

zypherix The Facts of Life was kinda a kids show since the girls on the show were teenagers but yeah they were alot older then webster and arnold who were 8 or 9 years old.

[MacLeaper]

I enjoy "Diff'rent Strokes", "The Facts of Life" and "Webster" equally- they're all fun shows.

Now i myself consider Diff'rent Strokes to be one of the best african american show of the 80's decade the episodes had people think about everyday life issues in the world and if it had not been for arnold with his whatchu talking bout willis catch words during the early seasons the show would have bomb after season 3,

What does "African American show" even mean? That the show features someone of African-American descent? I don't know if I'd call a show that had 2 black main stars an "African-American show". (with "Webster" and "The Facts of Life", there is generally just one main black star, though on "Webster", there was also Ben Vereen playing Webster's uncle at times.)
I think many people qualify "African American shows" to mean TV shows that have a predominantly African American cast- i.e. "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", "Family Matters", "Sanford & Son", "Good Times", etc.
(Although I don't even like to call those shows "African American shows". I prefer just to call them TV shows. (Sorry to go off so much on that point- I just don't like labelling everything...)

[Neutronman67]

I think of Webster and Diff'rent strokes as a family show for all nationalities of people can relate and enjoy, but most people would consider Webster and Diff'rent strokes to be african american sitcom because majority of the episodes revolved around the black characters, i think some people would consider Benson to be considered an african american sitcom because the black person in the sitcom was a maid.

[Neutronman67]

It's funny i dont no if both of these TV action Shows airs on TV One anymore but they aired Miami Vice on that channel only because the detective undercover cop was black and the undercover detective woman was blackthis was not an african american show lol and The A Team only aired on TV One because Mr T was the only black guy in the show again this was not an african american action show lol.

[waichingliu81]

diff'rent strokes

[MacLeaper]

I think of Webster and Diff'rent strokes as a family show for all nationalities of people can relate and enjoy, but most people would consider Webster and Diff'rent strokes to be african american sitcom because majority of the episodes revolved around the black characters, i think some people would consider Benson to be considered an african american sitcom because the black person in the sitcom was a maid.

I suppose I can concede that point, though I still don't think having a main character who happens to be of African origin (as well as American, of course) means the show needs to be labelled "African-American". I just think it's a fun show that people of any race can enjoy. And by the way, Benson was a butler.

The problem with this is what about shows like "Saved By The Bell"? Lisa Turtle is a main character on the show- does that mean "Saved By The Bell" is an African-American show? The same could go for shows like "Silver Spoons" and "The Facts of Life".

TV channels like TV One and BET that bill themselves as "black entertainment" (again- whatever that means. I personally think it's a little audacious to claim to know what an entire race likes and to generalize all of its members like that.) can call whatever shows they like "African-American"- I don't care about that. I just don't like to get into labels for everything. There are a number of TV shows that I like with a variety of characters from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, etc. and it really doesn't matter to me about racial and ethnic quotas and such. I just find shows I like and watch them.

[Neutronman67]

Lisa Turtle might as well been a white character in the show her race was never even mentioned during the series of saved by the bell, she kinda just blended in well with the other chracters as the token black girl, i thought it would have been cool to see a racism episode on Saved by The Bell but i guess the producers were afraid to put a risky subject like that on a kids sitcom.

Angela from Boy Meets World was also the token black girl but her race was never even considered on the show except for one episode where she says to cory and the gang i have got to get some black friends.

Both shows were not even close to be considered african american sitcoms since the show was not revolved around them.


I do consider Sanford&Son and Good Times to be african american sitcoms since majority of the people in the show happen to be black, when i say african american sitcom i was giving my respect to the black people who were in the show for example Redd Foxx and Jimmy Walker but yeah its a show where all people can enjoy

[MacLeaper]

Lisa Turtle might as well been a white character in the show her race was never even mentioned during the series of saved by the bell, she kinda just blended in well with the other chracters as the token black girl, i thought it would have been cool to see a racism episode on Saved by The Bell but i guess the producers were afraid to put a risky subject like that on a kids sitcom.

Angela from Boy Meets World was also the token black girl but her race was never even considered on the show except for one episode where she says to cory and the gang i have got to get some black friends.

Both shows were not even close to be considered african american sitcoms since the show was not revolved around them.

But both of those shows prove my point. Why did "Saved By the Bell" and "Boy Meets World" need to announce the race of Lisa and Angela, respecitvely? Yes, it might have been nice if these shows had done an episode to focus on racial relations and the overall message that we need to love everyone since we are all made in God's image and He loves everyone and commands us to do the same. (Jesus made it clear that His followers will be known by their love for one another- John 13:35)
But I think it's nice that there wasn't a big deal made about Lisa and Angela being African-Americans. I don't really think of them being African-American any more than I think about Slater being Latino or Zack being of Dutch origin [well, the actor is anyway- I don't think this was ever said on the show of Zack's character]. I just think of them all as part of the gang and I don't care about their races. (To be fair, one episode of "Saved By The Bell: The College Years" did deal with racial relations.)
My point is though is this- I generally feel that perhaps if we didn't make such a big deal about it, it wouldn't be such a big deal.
As Pete said in "The Muppets Take Manhattan"- "Peoples are peoples."

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by Neutronman67

Lisa Turtle might as well been a white character in the show her race was never even mentioned during the series of saved by the bell

It was mentioned in the "Running Zack" episode.