Point #3: Diff'rent Folks

Diff'rent Strokes was NBC's flagship sitcom for seven seasons. For my Asian third-grade classmates and I, it was our first "water cooler" show. As summer drew near, I had to say goodbye to Yung-Suk, Mitsuhiro and a young Chinese girl with porcelain skin named Angela that my peers accused me of liking. My mom, my grandma and I were moving from Flushing to New Hyde Park.




Guess who moved with me? Arnold, Mr.Drummond, Willis and the gang. Not Todd Bridges's street gang, mind you, but the rest of the Diff'rent Strokes crew. In 1985, Diff'rent Strokes moved to ABC. It tanked and was cancelled after its first season.


Now I admit this seems coincidental. Truthfully,I thought nothing of it at the time. But look at two factors: The Emmanuel Lewis Factor and The Curse of Diff'rent Strokes. Emmanuel Lewis Factor: In 1985, ABC had the monopoly on shows with rich, white, non-biological fathers that took ethnic children into their homes by having both Diff'rent Strokes and Webster in its line-up. I always wanted a rich white dad like Mr. Drummond or George Papadapolous to adopt me. Lo and behold, my Mom meets Andy on the beach. Andy - a white doctor. Who proposes to my mom and later acquires an ethnic stepson in September of 1986 - the same month that Diff'rent Strokes doesn't return? Dr. Whiteboy. Why? Because ABC was holding on too tight to the empire of Rich White Dads and George Papaluffagus wouldn't cut the mustard, even if he was adept at cutting cheese.


The Curse never existed before the Drummonds moved to the ABC. The ill-fated move opened up a whole Pandora's box however. Though it was a while later, I had my own problems with drugs and the law. How else could I succumb to the Drummond Curse unless I was on ABC?

The white stepfather with the cute,chubby ethnic wiseass stepson; the later drug use; the simultaneous move of my family and the Drummonds. Can't someone give up the ghost and tell me who the sponsor of my show is at least? I guess what might be right for me may not be right for some.

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