Aufgenommen in die Filmliste "Epilepsie im Spielfilm" von Friedhelm C. Schmitt, siehe auch www.medizin-im-film.de

Die Serie, die eine der erfolgreichsten in der Geschichte der afro-amerikanischen Sitcoms ist, lief acht Jahre im amerikanischen Fernsehen. Mit 189 Episoden landet sie knapp auf Platz vier hinter "The Jeffersons" (249 eps), "Alle unter einem Dach" (215 eps) und "Bill Cosby" (197 eps). Schon 1979 startete ein ebenfalls sehr erfolgreicher Spin-Off namens "Facts Of Life", der erst 1988 eingestellt wurde.

Ab dem 2.8.1999 läuft "Noch Fragen Arnold?" auf DF1 Comedy & Co. (http://epguides.de/differentstrokes.htm)

Zur Episode: Die Epileptikerin:
Anfall: 6,50 - 7,20
Karen wäre gern Kindergärtnerin geworden. Vor einer Klasse bekam sie aber einen Anfall, weswegen sie suspendiert wurde. Auch andere Arbeiten findet sie nicht, wenn sie sagt, dass sie Epilepsie hat. Sie erklärt später den Kindern: "I tried living a normal live." So meint, dass der Stress beim Tehaterspielen den Anfall ausgelöst haben könnte. Und auf die Nachfrage der Kinder, warum sie sich nicht erklärt , meint sie: Talking don't work. Dabei habe sie nur 1 Anfall in 6 Monaten bzw. habe wegen der Therapie gar keine Anfälle mehr. Sie zerstreut auch die Angst der Kinder mit: Epilepsy is not catchy.

All das erfährt der Zuschauer, nachdem die Kinder weggelaufen und später wiedergekommen sind mit ihrem ebenfalls geängstigten Vater.

Die Kinder gehen nach ihrem Erlebnis mit der so reizenden Karen geschockt heim und erklären: "it was creepy." Ihr Vater klärt sie auf, dass sie einen epileptischen Anfall gesehen haben. Er sagt: That's not creepy, it's a neurological disorder." Damit widerspricht er ein wenig kalt und nicht wirklich überzeugend nur das abfällige Reden der Kinder. Sie machen sich lustig mit: "Are you a break dancer or an epileptic." und "Hold my milk. I wanr a milk shake."
Die Haushälterin Pearl, selbst epilepsiekrank, fasst sie von der emotionalen Seite und zeigt den Kindern, wie gemein sie reden.

Nun folgt die letzte Lektion: Die Kinder setzen sich mit der "Epileptikerin" bei einem erneuten Besuch auseinander. Sie erfahren mehr über ihr trauriges Schicksal und über die Krankheit durch die Brille der Betroffenen gesehen. Nun schliesst die Aifklärung aber mit einer Ermutigung der Betroffenen ab. Sie soll nicht aufgeben und wird dann das "normal life" doch noch erreichen.

Porträt der Serie:
Phillip Drummond, a widowed Manhattan millionaire and president of the mega-firm Trans Allied Inc., adopts two orphaned black brothers from Harlem 8-year-old Arnold and 12-year-old Willis. Drummond had made a promise to their dying mother and his housekeeper that he would care for the Arnold and Willis after she passes on; their father had died years earlier. The boys, whom Drummond always introduced as his two sons, went from rags to riches literally overnight. At first, Willis was a bit skeptical of their newfound wealth, but eventually, both he and Arnold felt right at home in their newfound surroundings. Also part of the family were Drummond's beautiful daughter, 13-year-old Kimberly; and his current housekeeper, Edna Garrett. As the years passed, Mrs. Garrett left to become house-mother at the Eastland School for Girls; she was replaced by the cantankerous Adelaide Brubaker and still later, charming Pearl Gallagher. Arnold's friends, Dudley and Robbie (and later, Charlie); Willis' girlfriend, Charlene; cast members from "The Facts of Life"; and Drummond's sister, Sophia, were frequently seen. In early 1984, Drummond found true love, marrying fitness instructor Maggie McKinney; she had a 6-year-old son, Sam. While most shows revolved around the typical lessons of growing up, some were quite serious (including a frightening encounter with a child molester and a memorable episode dealing with drug abuse guest starring First Lady Nancy Reagan). Written by Brian Rathjen {briguy_52732@yahoo.com}

Diff’rent Strokes: Eine Serie mit Aufklärungsehrgeiz. Themen u.a. Epilepsie

Sitcoms tackled serious themes at least as far back as the 1970s, when Edith Bunker was assaulted in a particularly jarring episode of All in the Family. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that comedies regularly took movie-of-the-week themes and used them to garner press attention for a substantial bump in ratings. In 1983, Strokes aired a two-part episode about child molestation where Gordon Jump (later known as Maytag’s Lonely Repairman) attempts to seduce Arnold and his friend. The show was so successful that Very Special Episodes devoted to bulimia, epilepsy, alcoholism, and the dangers of hitchhiking followed; fittingly, Strokes' last-ever episode in 1986 was a VPE, featuring Arnold investigating a steroid scandal for the school newspaper.

Diff'rent Strokes was often derided for its frequent "Very Special Episodes", which sometimes awkwardly mixed comic one-liners (often from Arnold) with some very non-comedic topics. Child molestation, kidnapping, sexual assault, epilepsy ... the list goes on.

"The Bicycle Man": Disturbing at several levels, and not just because the Guest Star that played Mr. Horton, the seemingly genial owner of a successful bicycle shop with a sinister secret, was Gordon Jump, the Lonely Repairman from the Maytag commercials and Mr. Carlson from WKRP in Cincinnati (a top-rated hit in syndication, at the time of the original airing of "The Bicycle Man" on NBC). But consider that: 1. Mr. Horton's character never changes — he's just a nice guy who invites boys he's made friends with into his apartment for some male bonding (pizza, ice cream, wine and eventually, some adult videos), and uses this to his advantage; 2. The slow softening up and reveal of Mr. Horton's motives, ever covered up by his genial character, is not noticed by Arnold until later and never noticed by Dudley; and 3. After Arnold leaves the bicycle shop and admits what's been going on, he also lets on that Dudley is still with Mr. Horton ... and Mr. Drummond arrives with the cops Just in Time — literally, as Horton was seconds away from locking up the shop to retire to his bedroom to touch a drugged-up Dudley. What's worse: Dudley never caught on that things weren't quite right until Horton did start advancing on him (off-screen), and when Dudley objected Horton (in an apparently genial way, as this was also off-screen) gave him a nice, small pill to "help him relax," alluded to only later (Dudley is somehow able to vomit the stuff up before it takes full effect, as evidenced by the toilet flush).

And then there's the real lesson: The bad guys aren't necessarily the creeps rubbing their things in the park, or parked in front of the school scoping out the kids (while rubbing their things)... but the real problem that faced Arnold and Dudley (in this case) was a man that was presenting himself as a friend, that guy who is nice as they come, a successful business owner, community supporter ... on the list goes. Say what you will about the episode's decision to awkwardly keep in its typical Sitcom Humor. This was not a Clueless Aesop at work.

"The Hitchhikers": Kimberly and Arnold are shopping downtown in cold weather when they run short of money for taxi fare; rather than call home and admit they needed money (Drummond had counseled the kids about not wasting money on video games and junk) ... they learn first-hand why never to accept a ride from a stranger. This time, the kids' new friend, Bill, quickly reveals his true colors as a rapist; Bill, under the guise of being an artist who likes to draw pretty women to present as gifts to their loved ones, gets Kimberly to pose ... until she starts feeling uncomfortable with some of his requests and then he begins advancing on her. Arnold — locked in Bill's bedroom — eventually escapes and manages to spill out some details about his harrowing experience ... and that Kimberly is in trouble. Meanwhile, the nightmare is just beginning for Kimberly, as every trick she uses to escape Bill fails (Indeed, as can be implied by a comment Maggie makes later, Bill is experienced and has kidnapped and raped women many times in the past). He eventually takes her to the darkroom in the apartment building where he lives and tries to rape her. Fortunately, the cops arrive Just in Time.

"Sam's Missing": What becomes a weeklong nightmare is set into motion when bossy Arnold sends Sam to the store for party favors to celebrate Drummond's birthday, and Sam meeting a seemingly nice guy named Donald Brown at the store asking for help in looking for a missing dog. The nightmare for everyone begins when Sam is late coming home ... and then never comes home, leading everyone to fear the worst ... that he might be with someone, and that who knows what might be happening to him. When Drummond offers a reward that someone is only a little too eager (and uncaringly so) to collect, that only makes things worse; Sam may not only be dead, but they may never know if he's dead. That's all child's play compared to what Sam is going through. Mr. Brown reveals his true self, taking Sam on a two-hour ride to their home in upstate New York ... to his new home. (Because see, Don's 8-year-old son, who looked almost exactly like Sam, had died in a tragic accident a few months earlier, and wifey was so distraught note , and adopting a Street Urchin note might make things better. Yeah, right!) And goddamnit, he'd better get used to it, because if he doesn't ... "I will kill your parents! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME????!!! DAMNIT DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME????!!!!!!????" The fact that Sam has literally been shaken to the core by such a "nice" guy and intimidated into not doing anything to help himself is bad enough. But when he literally will not become emotionally attached to his "new family," Mr. Brown repeats his admonition, and he's getting even meaner with his warning ... and patience, never a virtue with him, is starting to run razor thin. Not to worry, of course: Sam is rescued by Drummond. It so happened that while nobody was home, Sam called home and gave out the telephone number; a bit later, Sam seemed to start perking up, which Mr. Brown takes note of that night at supper ... unaware of the fate that was awaiting him and his wife.

"A Special Friend": Arnold and Sam become friends with a street performer and act as her assistants while she tries to make money through panhandling. After Mr. Drummond asks them to not hang out with her anymore, they go to the park to tell her the bad news. While doing so, she suffers an epileptic seizure and starts jerking around uncontrollably. Arnold and Sam stand by horrified as police try to help her.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/NightmareFuel/DiffrentStrokes

Season 7 (1984-1985)
In the seventh season, Dixie Carter and Danny Cooksey were added to the opening credits (with Carter getting special "and" billing, last in the order), and many new areas and ideas were explored in the storylines, as viewers now got to see Philip as happily married. Dana Plato was no longer appearing as a main cast member, because of her pregnancy in real life. The producers felt that the pregnancy wouldn't be acceptable, so she was dropped from the show and returning for the season finale A Special Friend as a guest star. Also, since there was a new fresh-faced kid in the house with Sam, Arnold now had his own little sidekick and was happy to be a "big brother" for a change, and with Willis being dropped into the background slightly, this new brotherly duo took center stage for many storylines.

In the season, Todd Bridges was continuing the show as a main cast member, but developed absences in several episodes.

Additionally, stories focusing on Arnold's school life (featured occasionally in many previous seasons) were delved into much more. The ratings did not improve to NBC's hopes. Dixie Carter departed at the end of the seventh season and was replaced with Mary Ann Mobley in the eighth season.

Zu der ganzen Serie siehe auch: Diff‘rent Strokes, BY Jake Rossen, March 14, 2016
http://mentalfloss.com/article/65158/13-things-you-might-not-know-about-diffrent-strokes