The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Jeff Harris and Bernie Kukoff

Theme song: “It Takes Diff’rent Strokes” composed and performed by Alan Thicke , Al Burton, and Gloria Loring

• 001. Movin’ In – 11/3/1978
  • Wealthy industrialist Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain) lives in a high rise apartment in Manhattan with his 13-year old daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato), who spends most of her time in boarding school. Big changes occur when their black housekeeper Lucy passes away and asks Phil on her deathbed to take care of her two sons. Phil hires a new housekeeper named Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) and the moves Lucy’s sons 13-year old Willis (Todd Bridges) and 8-year old Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman) from Harlem into his home. Mrs. Garrett nearly quits when she finds out that her new boss is bringing in two boys, but changes her mind when she finds out they are orphans. They arrive at the penthouse apartment and while Arnold is thrilled with its opulence, Willis has reservations about being a fish out of water and refuses to accept his new home. Mr. Drummond tries to make them feel welcome by getting them to participate in family fun time and then having loads of toys and a pony delivered to their house. Will is still resigned to leaving and going back to Harlem to live with another family, but after Mr. Drummond tells Willis that he is being selfish, and Arnold concurs. Willis spends some time thinking in the hot tub and decides to give living there a shot, with the stipulation that the door is always open if he wants to leave. 2/15/15

• 002. The Social Worker – 11/10/1978
  • A social worker named Ms. Aimsley (Ellen Travolta) comes to visit the Drummond household to see how Willis and Arnold are faring. Mr. Drummond coaches the boys on what to say, and although Ms. Aimsley knows they were coached, she still allows them to stay, noting that normally black children belong with black families. Drummond is relieved, and tells Mrs. Garrett what Aimsley had said, which Arnold overhears only part of and thinks that Aimsley’s statement was Mr. Drummond’s opinion. When Arnold tells Willis, he calls Ms. Aimsley and tells her that they need to be with a black family. She brings the rich Mr. and Mrs. Thompson (J.A. Preston, Fran Bennett) to take them, but when Willis hears Ms. Aimsley repeat her statement, he realizes that Mr. Drummond had been ‘mis-quoted’ and the boys decide to stay. 2/16/15
• 003. Mother’s Last Visit – 11/17/1978
  • Mr. Drummond gives Arnold and the rest of the family advice that when something is bothering them they should talk about it, in this case the problem being that Mrs. Garrett is feeding Arnold too much. Later Phil gets news that his mother (Irene Tedrow) is coming to visit but he is concerned what her reaction will be when she finds out that he now has two black sons. When she arrives she is rude to Mrs. Garrett, calls Phil “Sonny,” and faints when she sees Willis and Arnold. Willis encourages Mr. Drummond to call her out for being a snob, mentioning the advice that he earlier gave them. When Arnold spills tea on her and she flips out, Phil finally tells her that she is behaving like a snob. She promises she will try to change and they all go out to dinner together… including Mrs. Garrett. 2/21/15
• 004. Prep School – 11/24/1978
  • Mr. Drummond has high hopes that Willis and Arnold will attend his alma mater Digby Prep School, but Willis doesn’t even want to give it a chance. Arnold is more interested and talks Willis into at least going to check it out. Headmaster Miles Bordinay (Howard Morton) arrives from the school to take Willis and Arnold to see the school, but has no confidence that they’ll past the entrance testing. The boys end up loving the school, but sure enough they don’t pass the test and are refused admission. When Mr. Drummond finds out the testing would easily eliminate inner city kids from entering, he insists – under threat of pulling donations from a new auditorium – that Bordinay come to his apartment and face a test from the boys based on inner city knowledge. They make their point and Phil Drummond insists that Bordinay make changes to the policy or threatens his job. 2/22/15
• 005. The Spanking – 12/1/1978
  • Arnold uses the telescope on the terrace to refine his water bomb dropping skills and nails Henry (Weldon Bleiler) the maintenance man. When Henry reports it to Mr. Drummond, he decides that considering Arnold being warned for this in the past, he now deserves a spanking. Arnold doesn’t want one and leaves a note for Willis indicating that he has run away. After the family frantically searches for him, Mrs. Garrett finds him hiding in the kitchen cabinet. Before she can report it to Mr. Drummond, Arnold disappears again. This time Mr. D finds him in the hot tub fully clothed. Willis decides to step up and be the one to administer the spanking. Arnold thinks that Willis will go easy on him, but he doesn’t… which causes Willis to tearfully decide that he doesn’t like hitting his brother. They decide that Mr. D, as head of the family, should be the one to administer punishments. 4/7/15
• 006. Goodbye Dolly – 12/8/1978
  • After Arnold declares that he is a big boy and no longer needs his stuffed doll Homer, Willis gives it away to Kimberly’s school charity auction and it sells for ten cents. Arnold then cannot sleep without Homer and is up for two nights straight. Even though the family is exhausted, Arnold still is full of energy. Mr. D and Mrs. Garrett think a robber has broken in when Arnold gets up to watch TV in the middle of the night. Mr. D ends up hiring private detective Miles Monroe (Jack Riley) to find the doll, but when he declares it will be impossible, their next recourse it to re-create it. Arnold immediately recognizes that the new doll is not the real Homer. As Mr. D tries to explain how we must say goodbye to things in life sometime, Arnold falls asleep… or at least fakes it. 4/8/15
• 007. The Trial – 12/15/1978
  • While compiling papers for a legal complaint against him, Mr. Drummond discusses the American legal system to a skeptical Willis, who feels that the black neighbors he grew up with never got a fair shake when it came to the law. Meanwhile Arnold has been up to a lot of mischief, including taking cookies, looting Kimberly’s make-up, and using Mr. D’s legal papers for paper airplanes. Mr. D starts to ground him from a skateboard competition but lets him off. However when he finds Arnold’s goldfish Abraham in his hot tub, he follows through with the grounding. Willis thinks that Arnold deserves a trial before he is found guilty, so Mr. D obliges, utilizing Mrs. Garrett as the judge. Arnold is ultimately found guilty, but then Willis confesses that he actually was the one who committed the crime and that the legal system had failed once again. Mr. D points out that Willis had set up his brother and that Willis would have committed an illegal act in the real world. Willis’ punishment is cleaning out the hot tub. 6/28/15
• 008 & 009. Retrospective – 12/29/1978
  • During the Christmas season, Mr. Drummond visits their bedroom, excited about their first Christmas together and the 56 days they’ve been a family. Kimberly and Mrs. Garrett join them, and through flashback, Mr. D recalls the boys’ arrival and Willis’ stubbornness about staying, how the boys won over his mother, the time that he repeated a quote that a social worker said, and nearly caused the boys go live with another family, the time that Arnold’s doll Homer was given to charity, the time Mr. Drummond punished Arnold when Willis put Abraham in his hot tub, the time Mr. Drummond tried to get the boys into Digby Prep School, and the time Arnold was caught dropping water bombs off the terrace. After reminiscing until late at night they head off to bed in preparation the boys’ hockey game the next morning. 6/28/15, 9/1/15
• 010. The Fight – 1/5/1979
  • Willis is angry at Arnold for backing down from school bully Stewart the Gooch. He tries to convince Arnold that he needs to stand up for himself and fight, but Arnold is scared and pretends to be sick to stay home from school. When Mr. Drummond finds out what is going on, he advises Arnold that he should always try talking first. Willis disagrees and tries to teach Arnold to fight, and to call the Gooch and act crazy in order to scare him. Arnold goes to fight the Gooch and ends up with a black eye. Mr. Drummond is angry at both boys and sends Willis to his room for his part, while reiterating with Arnold that there is a time to fight, but only after exhausting ways to make peace. Willis tries to run away, but Arnold threatens to fight him if Willis abandons him. This convinces Willis that Arnold knows when it is time to fight and he agrees to stay. Mr. D approves a pillow fight and is then attacked by the boys. 9/1/15
• 011. The Club Meeting – 1/12/1979
  • Willis is lamenting missing his old friends from Harlem. After he breaks a clock and doesn’t get punished, followed by Kimberly telling the boys that everything in the apartment is all of theirs, Willis decides to invite his friends over to the apartment for their weekly club meeting. Willis and Arnold dress in fancy clothes and immediately begin bragging about all of their possessions to Bubba (Billy ‘Pop’ Atmore), Vernon (Anthony Thompkins), Tiny (Tony Williams), and Charles (Brian Salmon). This eventually leads to an argument when Willis insists that they allow Arnold in the club, and Arnold insists that they make Willis president. Willis’ friends ends up storming out and telling the boys that they have changed since becoming rich. Willis sulks and comes to realize that he made a mistake and sets out to apologize and ask to be allowed back in the club. 11/25/15
• 012. The Woman – 1/19/1979
  • Mr. Drummond calls a meeting with the family to tell them that he has invited a woman named Diane Sloane (Elinor Donahue) with he has been getting serious to dinner and is considering asking her to marry him. When the kids meet Diane, they like her, but soon find out that she has sent her son and daughter abroad to school, and plans to do the same with them. They hatch a plot to continually interrupt their father before he can propose. Eventually he gives her the ring, and she accepts, but after one more interruption, he has a talk and scolds his kids. They inform him of her plans, which he doesn’t believe. However when he brings it up to her, she tells him that it is true, which immediately voids his marriage proposal. Mrs. Garrett assures him that something better will come along. 11/25/15
• 013. No Time for Arnold – 1/26/1979
  • Arnold is looking for attention but Willis is busy teaching Kimberly to dance, Mr. Drummond is busy working at home, and Mrs. Garrett is busy doing chores. After Arnold randomly calls Hawaii, Mr. D suggests that Arnold read a book. Arnold looks at a volume called Problems of Children 5 to 10 and reads about how bed-wetting is often a cry for attention. Arnold starts pouring glasses of water in his bed, which leads to Mr. D taking him to the doctor… and then to the zoo. Mr. D tells the family that Arnold may need attention after losing his mother and advises the family to give him extra attention. The doctor has also prescribed a placebo, and Mr. D puts Willis in charge of administering it. In order to avoid it, Arnold admits to Willis that he has been faking it. The next morning Wills pours water in Arnold’s bed, which causes Arnold to think he really has a problem. Willis also tells Mr. D about Arnold’s trick, causing Mr. D to scold Arnold about lying about such a thing. Arnold promises not to do it again, and Mr. promises that they will give more attention to Arnold. 1/28/16
• 014. The Relative – 2/2/1979
  • A woman named Myrtle Waters (LaWanda Page) arrives from Detroit claiming to be a cousin of Arnold and Willis’s mother Lucy Mae. Although she has pictures with Lucy, her explanation of how they are related is rather fuzzy. Myrtle starts hinting around that she needs food and a place to stay, and Mr. Drummond invites her for dinner and to spend the night in Kimberly’s room since she is away at school. On her way out, Myrtle fakes a fall on the carpet and a subsequent neck injury. Soon Mrs. Garrett is reluctantly waiting on her hand and foot, although everyone in the family is suspicious, even Willis and Arnold. When Arnold attempts to scare Myrtle with a giant spider to disprove her injury, Mr. D scolds them and starts dishing out a punishment. Suddenly Myrtle starts to feel guilty and admits she is faking the injury and pleads that the boys not get punished. Mr. D offers to hook up Myrtle with a friend in Detroit who might have a job for her. After this, Mrs. Garrett happily makes her a sandwich. 1/28/16
• 015. The Tutor – 2/9/1979
  • Despite the fact that Willis is the captain of the basketball team, his teacher forces him out because he got four D’s on his report card. Mr. Drummond hires a recommended tutor named Danny Rose (Barry Diamond), who has some unconventional methods of teaching. When Danny forces Willis to remember a date in 1975, Willis throws a temper tantrum, which gives Mr. D some doubts about his ability. After Danny takes the kids on a field trip through Manhattan, Mr. D decides to fire him. However when Danny unlocks the fact that Willis is blocking out 1975 because it is the year that his father died, and Willis brings home a report from his teacher indicating improved grades, Mr. Drummond changes his mind about Danny. Meanwhile Mr. Drummond tries to close a business deal with a Tokyo businessman named Mr. Yamashita. 4/8/16
• 016. The New Landlord – 2/16/1979
  • Arnold spots a new man who has moved into the building out frolicking on the adjoining terrace with a woman named Barbie (Deborah Zan). The man comes over to the Drummond apartment and reveals that he is the new landlord Charles Sutton (Jack Riley). Sutton reveals that their lease states that no pre-teen children are permitted residence in the building. Arnold tries to disguise himself as the older brother Arthur, but he is caught by Sutton and Mr. Drummond, who tries to convince Sutton to look the other way like the previous landlord did. Sutton refuses, but it is soon discovered that he is in possession of notes indicating the new laws of fair housing. The Drummonds get to stay, and during the commotion Arnold lets it slip to Sutton’s wife Emily (Erica Yohn) about Barbie. 4/8/16
• 017. Willis’ Privacy – 2/23/1979
  • Arnold starts to get under Willis’ skin as Willis works on a school photography project with his friend Vernon. Irritated when Arnold creeps into all his pictures, their argument reaches a head when Arnold inadvertently ruins their photos when he barges into the bathroom, which they have set up as a darkroom. Although Mr. Drummond tries to smooth things over, Willis’ solution is to divide the room in half, leading to further fights. With Mr. D ready to lay down the law, Willis asks to spend the night with Vernon, which Mr. D fears will become permanent. Depressed thinking Willis no longer loves him, Willis prays to God for Willis to come home. Sure enough Willis shows up in the middle of the night, having missed Arnold as well. 7/27/16
• 018. Mrs. Garrett’s Crisis – 3/2/1979
  • Mrs. Garrett is hungover and depressed the morning after a meeting with her friends, whose career successes have made her feel like a failure. She feels even further discouraged when she gets disciplined by Mr. Drummond when she contradicts him in front of the kids and tells him that Willis should not be allowed to go on a survival trip with his class because she thinks the weather will be bad. Although the kids try to cheer her up, she tells Mr. Drummond that she is resigning her position, but agrees to stay one more day so that the kids can give her a proper goodbye before she leaves. Her mind is nearly changes after taking care of Arnold and camping out in the living room with him… until she finds out that Mr. D has already contacted an agency looking for her replacement. Her plans are again put on hold, when she finds out from the school principal that Willis and his class are missing. Willis ends up making his way home cold and wet, and when Mrs. Garrett attends to him, both he and Arnold tell her how much like their mother she is to them. This changes her mind and she decides to stay permanently, realizing that she has been doing her life’s work all along. 7/27/16
• 019. The Job – 3/16/1979
  • Willis wants to raise $114 for to buy a pair of disco skates, but feels guilty about asking Mr. D for a gift that expensive, so Willis convinces him to allow him to get a job rather than taking an upfront loan from him. After unsuccessfully searching the ‘help wanted’ ads, he ends up getting a job at Big Harry’s gas station. Mr. D is proud of him for sticking with getting the job, but Willis ends up getting fired on the first day of work for causing several clumsy accidents. He is ashamed and doesn’t want to tell Mr. D, so he decides to try and get another job and just tell him that he quit for something better. However he gets fired from his second day at Chinese restaurant for throwing away the manager’s lunch. When Mr. D says that he is going to bring the family to Big Harry’s to see Willis in action, Arnold and Kimberly spring to help Willis by faking a phone call from Willis saying that the gas station sold all the gas and they are closing. Willis comes home during the fake phone call, feigning an accident. Willis has to tell the truth when Arnold continues his ‘conversation’ but then has to come clean with the truth. Mr. D is proud of Willis for his perseverance, and Willis ends up getting good news when Harry calls to offer Willis his job back. 10/2/16
• 020. The Trip: Part 1 – 3/30/1979
  • The Drummond family is looking for a place to go for their Spring break. Phil gets a call from his old army buddy from Portland, Oregon, disc jockey Larry Alder (McLean Stevenson), who calls to Phil that Trans-Allied Incorporated, of which Philip sits on the board of directors, has purchased Larry’s radio station KLOW. Phil agrees to come out and see Larry and the station, but privately worries since the board is going to be making a decision on whether to automate the station. Initially Arnold is afraid to fly, but once he realizes that he will spoil everyone’s trip if he doesn’t go, he changes his mind. Larry nervously waits at the airport terminal in Portland with his daughters Ruthie (Kim Richards) and Diane (Donna Wilkes), and then realizes they are at the wrong gate. Arnold runs into Ruthie first and then they all meet up, and Larry and Phil have an emotional reunion after not seeing one another for fifteen years. While at the airport, Phil gets a call from his company telling him that they are going to automate the radio station, meaning Phil will have to fire Larry. Judith Hurst provides the voice of the airport pager. NOTE: This the first of a two-part of a crossover episode with the series Hello, Larry, the second part being an episode of Hello, Larry. However the second part was released into syndication as an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. 10/2/16
• 021. The Trip: Part 2 – 3/30/1979
  • The Drummonds stay with the Alder family in Portland, and Ruthie is able to get it out of Willis and Arnold that her father is going to be getting fired by their father. Ruthie tells Larry, which causes a rift between him and Phil, who tries to express his responsibility to be fiscally responsible to the shareholders. Phil gets a tour of the station from the producer Morgan Winslow (Joanna Gleason), who flirts with Phil to try and charm him. After Arnold gets over his stage fright, he joins Willis and Ruthie on the air for an interview, and Ruthie recites a poem about friendship while Willis and Arnold hum, in an attempt to get Larry and Phil to be friends again. Phil is adamant that he is trying to help Larry as a friend, but Larry doesn’t want charity, even turning down an offer to be the station manager. In the end, Phil tells Larry that after visiting the studio and seeing the warmth of his program, he’s decided that it is a sound investment and that he is going to keep the station open. Larry and Phil are able to fully reconcile. George Memmoli is the station engineer Earl. Edie McClurg provides the voice of the radio caller. NOTE: This the second of a two-part of a crossover episode with the series Hello, Larry, the second part originally being an episode of Hello, Larry. However the second part was released into syndication as an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. 10/2/16
• 022. Getting Involved – 4/6/1979
  • Arnold witnesses a hold-up with his telescope from the terrace, but since his description of the victim being a man in a dress and red monkey hat and one of the robbers being a bearded woman sounds so outlandish, his family doesn’t believe him. Arnold takes it upon himself to call the police and Sergeant Morison (Ron Feinberg) corroborates Arnold’s descriptions as a long-haired mugger and the victim was a U.N. delegate from ‘Buwanda’ wearing a Kaftan and fez. Arnold identifies the robber in a criminal photo book and agrees to ID him in a line-up. A photographer (John H. Mayer) takes Arnold’s picture and he winds up in the paper, and this prompts a threatening phone call warning Arnold not to ID the hold-up man, so Phil decides to pull the plug on letting Arnold be involved. United Nations representative Louis Adams (Carl Byrd) brings the victim Mr. Kwambe (Lawrie Osag) to thank Arnold and present him with a medal for his bravery. Willis decides that Arnold should get involved, and talks him into going to the police station behind Mr. D’s back, where he successfully makes the ID and the robber is arrested, as his friend who made the threatening phone call. The boys admit to Morison that Mr. D wasn’t on board, and he notifies Mr. D. Although he is disappointed in their sneaking, he is nonetheless proud of them for putting away the criminal. 1/2/17
• 023. Willis’ Birthday – 4/13/1979
  • Willis is down because his fourteenth birthday is coming up and he’s afraid that no one knows. Mr. D does in fact know and agrees to pay for Willis to have his party back in Harlem. Willis arranges to have the party at his friend Vernon’s house, even though Arnold is annoyed by Vernon’s sister Francine (LaShana Dendy) who has a crush on him. Mr. D disappoints Willis when he tells him that he didn’t think that he, Kimberly, and Mrs. Garrett wouldn’t fit in at a party in Harlem and only plans to drop them off. He admits that he’s scared to go into the neighborhood on a Saturday night, and after Willis assures him that it will be okay, Mr. D agrees that they will all go. Although the party goes well with plenty of music and dancing, Mr. D and Mrs. Garrett get a couple of scares when Charles comes in with a fake birthday gun, and their neighbor Luther (Scorpio) comes in through the window. When a police officer comes in, Mrs. Garrett tries to assure him that everything is okay, but it actually turns out to be Vernon’s father (Carl M. Craig). Vernon’s parents tell Mr. Drummond that they are just as concerned about crime as he is. Betty A. Bridges is Vernon’s mother, Mrs. Brooks. Luther dances with Mrs. Garrett, while Arnold tries to avoid Francine’s advances, and finally succumbs to her bossiness and dances with her. 1/2/17 
• 024. The Girls School – 5/4/1979
  • Kimberly is exhausted from working on costumes for her school play A Mid-Autumn Day’s Fantasy in between studying, so Mrs. Garrett agrees to assist the girls and heads off to the East Lake School for girls. There she finds the school in a state of chaos as the girls have no supervision since their house master has just quit. She meets Kimberly’s fellow students snooty rebel Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), Sue Ann Weaver (Julie Piekarski), 12-year-old perpetual skater Tootie Ramsey (Kim Fields), Nancy Olson (Felice Schachter), chatterbox Molly Parker (Molly Ringwald), Laura (Laura Shuman), and Jennifer (Jennifer Rooney). Mrs. Garrett is soon sucked into the chaos and is consoling Nancy who just found out that her parents can no longer afford to send her to East Lake. Not only does Mrs. G manage to help sew all of the costumes, she tries to talk the headmaster Harold J. “The Crock” Crocker (Jack Riley) to set up a scholarship fund for performing arts, of which Nancy is a great candidate. When he refuses, she goes to Mr. Drummond, who is good friends with Charlie. Robinson (Peter Hobbs), the head of the Board of Trustees, who corners Crocker into establishing the fund. At Robinson’s urging, Crocker offers Mrs. Garrett the job of house mother. The Drummond family objects to the notion, and Mrs. Garrett declines. NOTE: This episode served as a pilot for the sitcom The Facts of Life, which would begin the following season. 4/10/17

SEASON 2

• 025 & 026. Arnold’s Girlfriend – 9/21/1979
  • As Phil works on a business deal for a new housing development, Willis tells him that Arnold has been having pains in his sides so Phil arranges for a doctor visit. Dr. Padnick (Kip King) is attending to another little girl named Alice Tanner (Rachel Jacobs), who has an imaginary friend named Penelope and is getting her tonsils out. While Alice and Arnold become friends, Phil meets her father Fred (Dabney Coleman), who is interested in going in on the new housing development. Phil invites them over to iron out the details, and Alice and Arnold plan to share a room for their operations, having established that Arnold needs his appendix removed. Right after Phil accepts Fred’s check for a half-million dollars, Fred meets Arnold, and his reaction clearly indicates that he is a bigot. Phil tears up his check and sends him on his way, with Fred vowing that Alice will never share a room with Arnold. Due to a mistake, they do wind up in the same room, but when Fred finds out, he demands that she be moved. When the kids find out, they both run away back to Arnold’s apartment. This is especially concerning in that the doctor says that Arnold’s appendix could burst which could be life-threatening. Everyone eventually tracks down the kids to the apartment, and when they hear Fred promise that they can stay in the same room, they both make their location known. Phil quickly rushes Arnold back to the hospital for his operation. He initially refuses to go under the knife until Penelope can join him, but when they mention that Alice might think he is a coward, Arnold quickly ‘sees’ her. Phil almost accepts Tanner’s money for the real estate deal again, but then Tanner makes the mistake of telling Phil that his mistake was telling him how he ‘really’ feels. Elaine Appleton and Rana Ford are the nurses. Bill Henderson is the attendant. NOTE: This episode aired as two episodes in syndication. 4/10/17, 11/20/17
• 027 & 028. Feudin’ and Fussin’ – 9/28/1979
  • Phil meets up with his friend Ted Green (Bobby Ramsen), a TV producer who is facing a crisis with his talk show New York Live, when his host is getting ready to quit. Arnold suggests Phil’s friend Larry Alder for the job. Phil makes a call to Larry, and soon the Alders, minus Diane (now played by Krista Ericksson), plus Larry’s producer Morgan, head from Portland to New York and stay with the Drummonds. Ruthie confides in Arnold that she has no interest in leaving Portland if he gets the new job. Larry is a bundle of nerves going on the air for his live audition, knowing that if his guest Meadowlark Lemon (himself) doesn’t show up, it will really bomb. Arnold conspires to keep Lemon from going on the air, so he hides his suit. When he comes out to look for it, he trips on a basketball, leaving Arnold to go onstage in his place. The next guest, Dr. Watkins, can’t come on either since she’s taking care of Lemon, so Ruthie joins Arnold on stage. Larry fumbles through the interview, but manages to impress Green and ultimately gets the job. Ruthie calls home and tells Diane, who doesn’t want to leave Portland either. Arnold finally breaks down and tells Morgan how Ruthie feels, and she tells Larry. As he tries to justify the move to Ruthie, Larry realizes that he will be re-entering the ‘rat race’ that he had relished leaving, and decides to return to Portland. Bobby Herbeck is the stage manager. NOTE: This is a one-hour crossover episode with the series Hello, Larry, the second part being an episode of Hello, Larry. However the second part was released into syndication as an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. 11/21/17
• 029. Mrs. Garrett’s Romance – 10/12/1979
  • Mrs. Garrett is taking some self-awareness night classes, and begins being pursued by a classmate named Leon (Philip Charles MacKenzie) and accepts a dinner date with him. The family conspires to wait up late and meet Leon, but he doesn’t come in after saying goodbye to Mrs. Garrett at the door. However he quickly returns to deliver an earring that she dropped, and the entire family is take aback to see that he is a 34-year old man. Although he is clearly much younger, they agree that it is Mrs. Garrett’s happiness that is important. The next morning Leon returns and proposed to her. She is torn by question, unable to decide whether to forget about the age difference and concentrate on how happy she fills, or make a more sensible decision. Her mind is quickly made up when she realizes that Leon still lives with his domineering mother, and that he is looking for the same qualities in the woman he marries. Although saddened by the loss of the relationship, she is still happy about being asked. 8/4/18
• 030. Birds and Bees – 10/19/1979
  • When Arnold meets his new neighbor, the preganant Mrs. Martino (Enid Kent), he begins to ask questions about how babies are made. Meanwhile Willis’s ninth grade class is studying family planning and he is paired off with a girl named Charlene Duprey, who is at odd with Willis about ‘having children.’ Arnold finally corners Willis about reproduction, and Willis comes up with a story about the eggs in salmon causing the babies to grow in women. Arnold tries to get Mrs. Garrett and Kimberly to refrain from eating salmon, and also relays this information to Mrs. Martino’s daughter Tina. An angry Mrs. Martino pays Mr. Drummond a visit to suggest that he give Arnold the real scoop. He does so… but only in technical terms that he picked up from his books. When Arnold tries to explain this to Willis, he finally shares the graphic truth with Arnold. Mr. Drummond concedes that Willis handled the situation better than he did by giving Arnold the correct information… but everyone flees the room when Arnold asks how to stop with just one baby, as Willis wants to do with his ‘wife’ Charlene. 8/4/18
• 031. Arnold’s Hero – 10/24/1979
  • Arnold is obsessed with boxing champion Muhammad Ali (himself), and Mr. Drummond attempts to arrange it so that Arnold can meet the champ when he realizes that his lawyer’s brother-in-law knows Ali’s business manager. Arnold tells all of the kids at school that he is going to meet the champ, and many of them, including the threatening Gooch, request that Arnold get autographs for them. Unfortunately, the meet-up is cancelled when the brother-in-law splits up from his wife, leaving Arnold disappointed… and scared to death of the repercussions from the Gooch. Kimberly and Willis get the idea to tell the champ that Arnold is dying, hoping that will get him to come for a visit. They bribe a waiter (John Starr) at Ali’s hotel to tell him what room he is in, and they slip him a note under the door. Ali catches them in the act, and agrees to come see the ‘dying’ Arnold. When he shows up, he meets Father O’Brien (James Cromwell), whom Mr. D is working with on an inter-faith Bingo fundraiser, and assumes he is there to counsel Arnold. However eventually Arnold’s enthusiasm when he meets the champ begins to make Ali suspicious, so the kids are forced to come clean. This does not stop Ali from signing the autographs… and speaking directly to the Gooch and causing him to faint. 2/8/19
• 032. The Adoption: Part 1 – 10/31/1979
  • As the boys prepare to meet with social worker Ms. Harrison (Sue Ann Gilfillan), who will give the final okay for Mr. Drummond to adopt the boys, they reach two decisions: to keep their last name Jackson, and to begin calling Mr. Drummond ‘Dad’. Meanwhile a struggling Los Angeles junk dealer named Jethro Simpson (Whitman Mayo) gets a new delivery from another dealer (Matthew “Stymie” Beard), in which he finds the last will and testament of Morton Ridley inside a mattress leaving his fortune of $97,000 to Henry and Lucy Mae Jackson, or in the event of their death, to their sons Willis and Arnold. The social worker approves the adoptions, just before they receive a surprise visit from Jethro, who claims to be a long-lost cousin of their father. Willis and Arnold becomes suspicious of Jethro when they can’t find him in any of their mother’s old scrapbooks. As they are getting ready to head off to court with the family and their lawyer Tom Bishop (Robert Rockwell), Jethro shows up at the apartment with his lawyer Mr. Payton (James Reynolds), who presents a signed letter from the boys’ father Henry stating that in the event of his death, Jethro would take custody of the boys. NOTE: This the first of a two-part episode. 2/8/19
• 033. The Adoption: Part 2 – 11/7/1979
  • Although Mr. Drummond vows to fight Jethro with everything he has, his lawyer advises him that it could be an uphill battle and very traumatic for the boys. On the other hand. Jethro gets nervous about the prospect of spending a lot of money on a court battle, so his lawyer advises him to turn on the charm with the boys since the judge will often take into consideration of the kids. Although he offers to take them to Rio or Los Angeles to live, they want no part of him. Mr. Drummond warns the boys that the law may be on Jethro’s side since he has a letter from their father. They try to get to know Jethro more, but are surprised when he doesn’t seem to know anyone from their past. They decide to run away from home rather than live with them, but Mr. Drummond catches them before they leave and tells them that based on their suspicions, he called a friend from Los Angeles and found out that Jethro is actually a junk dealer. When Jethro arrives later that night to make arrangements, Drummond confronts him about his lies, and he ultimately confesses and admits the letter was a fake. He turns over the will and asks for mercy. The boys talk Mr. D into dropping any charges against him. Later the family returns from court, where the adoption was approved, making them officially Mr. Drummond’s sons. They both call him “Dad.” Walter Stocker is the narrator.  NOTE: This is the second part of a two-part episode. 1/19/20
• 034. Father and Son Day – 11/14/1979
  • Willis is tired of being bested by an acquaintance named James “Jimmy” Hamilton (Erik Moses) who enjoys putting Willis down at the Y.M.C.A. where they both work out. Willis sees a sign for a Father and Son athletic competition and vows to beat James and his father. Mr. Drummond is happy to participate and the two begin working out in earnest, under the tutelage and coaching of Arnold. Willis runs into James again who still vows to destroy him, and introduces Willis to his father James Sr. (Mark Davitt), a tall and muscular man who is clearly physically superior to Mr. D. Willis then asks another guy named Larry (Reggie Jackson) who hangs out at the gym to step in and act as his father in the competition. Against Arnold’s advice, he tells his father that the competition has been canceled, which actually relieves a very sore Phil. When he later goes to the Y to pick up Willis and Arnold, he finds out from Larry that he is standing in with Willis because he doesn’t have a father, clearly hurting Phil’s feelings. That night Willis wakes up with a guilty conscience and confesses everything to his father. Phil is extremely pleased to hear this from Willis, and two go forward with participating in the contest, taking third place and James’ ridicule but having fun nonetheless. Willis is ready to start training for the following year, but no one else is. 1/20/20
• 035 & 036. Thanksgiving Crossover – 11/28/1979
  • Phil and the kids are excited for another visit from the Alders and Larry’s producer Morgan, and with Mrs. Garrett helping out at Kimberly’s school, there is plenty of room for all of them to stay at the apartment and to have a Thanksgiving meal together. Willis has a new Polaroid camera that he is getting used to, and uses it to take a picture of Arnold in the buff. The Alder sisters talk him into giving the picture to Arnold to destroy, sight unseen. The girls also bicker with Willis because they think the boys don’t plan to help prepare the Thanksgiving meal. Larry presents a business plan for Phil’s company to purchase a television studio in Portland which Larry will run, which had always been a plan of Larry and Phil’s since their days in the Korean war. This will also offer financial security for Larry and his girls, so Phil promises to let Larry present the idea to his Communications Team, but Larry finds it surprising that Phil can’t just make the call to move forward since they are his underlings. When Phil comes home that night he tells Morgan that the offer was well-received by his team, and to celebrate, Morgan plants a big kiss on him, which is captured on film by Arnold. Phil also confides in Arnold that he has overrode their enthusiastic response because the economy and interest rates aren’t currently right for buying a TV station. Larry catches Morgan kissing Phil again, and ensures them that they don’t need to do it behind his back. Morgan assures him that they will do it right in front of him, and she does it several times to prove it. Phil also tells Larry that he has to pass on the TV station offer, causing Larry to get angry and storm out and declare that he refuses to have dinner with them. Morgan talks Phil into looking at the figures again, but then he believes that Larry has tried to use Morgan to butter him up. This causes Morgan to storm out as well. By this time the Drummond and Alder kids are at each other’s throats as well, but they quickly make up over and work on stuffing the turkey together. The three adults all wind up at the same bar where they tell their woes to an uninterested bartender (William Pierson). The all agree to go have dinner for the kids’ sakes. At dinner, Phil assures Larry that he doesn’t forget his friends and will continue to monitor the market until the time is right to purchase the television station. Larry agrees that he shouldn’t have imposed on their friendship. They all dig in together. NOTE: This is a one-hour crossover episode with the series Hello, Larry, the second part being an episode of Hello, Larry. However the second part was released into syndication as an episode of Diff’rent Strokes. 5/3/20
• 037. The Rivals – 12/5/1979
  • Shortly after Willis visits Arnold at school to bring him the lunch he forgot, an older girl from the sixth grade named Lurlene (Donniece Jackson) flirts with Arnold and makes arrangements to come over and help him with his homework. Willis gives Arnold some advice on how to handle women by ignoring them three times and strutting by her. He tries these tricks when she arrives, so Mr. Drummond has a chat with him while Willis escorts her upstairs. It becomes clear that she has a crush on Willis when she asks him to teach her to dance, and then sends her “Arnie Parny” off to sharpen pencils while she waits downstairs with Willis. When Arnold comes down, Lurlene is suddenly ready to leave. She kisses Willis on the cheek and pats Arnold on the head. Arnold becomes furious with Willis for trying to steal his girl, while Willis maintains he didn’t egg her on at all and wants to reconcile with Arnold. When Arnold refuses, Willis becomes angry and decides to prove a point by doing all he can to charm Lurlene. Both boys dress up nicely, and Arnold gives Lurlene chocolates, but when she offers some to Willis, it becomes obvious that he won’t be winning her back. Arnold sulks off to the kitchen where his family cheers him up by telling his that there are more fish in the sea and that Lurlene was too old for him. Arnold goes back out to formally break it off with Lurlene, but she just insults him. This causes Willis to get angry at her and tell her she should be ashamed she took advantage of a little kid. Lurlene storms out, but not before Arnold can retrieve his candy and give it to someone he really loves… his brother. 8/17/20
• 038. Hot Watch – 12/12/1979
  • Arnold and Willis find an expensive engraved watch belonging to Molly Benson neighbor (Elisabeth Talbot-Martin) in an ashtray in the building hallway. They attempt to return the watch to the owner, but she isn’t home and moreover her door is open a crack. Willis shuts the door and decides to take the watch home and give it their father to return to her. As they are walking home, the new security guard Mr. Hanlon (Gordon Oas-Heim) whom Mr. Drummond recently hired to appease the tenants organization, nabs Willis and Arnold for loitering in the building. Naturally when Mr. Drummond tells him that that are his sons, he lets them go… but leaves them scared to return the watch to Mrs. Benson, for fear they will be accused of stealing it. Instead they try to hide it with plans to return it to where they found it, but Kimberly finds it first and shows Mr. Drummond. He instructs her to return it to its hiding place, and the boys later find it and plan to take it back to the ash tray. Unfortunately they are caught by Mr. Hanlon again, and this time he says he needs to tell Mrs. Benson that the boys had the watch and she will determine if charges are pressed. Mr. Drummond invites her over and he and the family charm her into not pressing charges. However Hanlon returns and announces that he knows Willis broke into her apartment as his fingerprints are on her doorknob. Willis then remembers that he closed her door, but now Mrs. Benson is too suspicious of them and plans to press charges. Phil, his lawyer, and the boys go to the police station themselves and begin working out a deal, with the worst case scenario being that Willis is released to Mr. Drummond’s custody, but it will remain on his record until he is eighteen. As they are discussing the case, Mr. Hanlon announces that due to Willis’s pleas of innocence, he staked out the building overnight and caught the real thief. Hanlon doesn’t understand why the didn’t tell the truth in the beginning, but Mr. Drummond explains it is because he is a cop and they are black. He apologizes for jumping to conclusions about the boys, and Willis apologizes for jumping to conclusions about him. Elaine Appleton and Diane Duncan are concerned tenants.  8/20/20
• 039. The Dog Story – 12/19/1979
  • Arnold comes home and announces that he has saved a dog from getting hit by a car. After Mr. Drummond scolds him for running into the street, he and his siblings all treat him like a hero. However as Arnold is going to be, he tells Willis and Kimberly that the dog had bitten him in the hand, so they show the bite to Mr. Drummond. He calls the family doctor Dr. Padnick, who tells them they need to find the dog to ensure that it didn’t have rabies. Otherwise Arnold will need to begin a series of rabies shots involving 20 shots to the stomach. They keep this news quiet from Arnold, even when the doctor calls back and tells them that the Board of Health has reported a stray dog with rabies in the area. The family begins to scour the neighborhood trying to find the dog. When Arnold questions Willis why it is so important, Willis tells him about the possibility of him needing the shots. Arnold decides to identify any dog that they bring in, so he can avoid the shots. He nearly identifies the dog belonging to one woman (Gracia Lee), until she mentions that the dog hadn’t had its rabies shots. Then he identifies a dog belonging to a man named Mr. Lee (James Hong), but Lee says the dog had no teeth. He then positively identifies a dog belonging to another woman (Olive Dunbar) and they consider the case closed. However Willis then brings over Mrs. Keith (Dorothy Meyer) who actually saw Arnold saving her dog. Mr. Drummond again scolds Arnold for lying about something so dangerous, and makes Arnold donate his $25 to a dog shelter. Still, everyone celebrates Arnold being a hero by taking him out to lunch to get a Hero Sandwich. 12/3/20
• 040. The Election – 1/9/1980
  • Willis and Arnold appear in the newspaper when they are stopped by a roving reporter and asked about smoking. During the interview, the boys mention that they were adopted by the rich, white Mr. Drummond. Meanwhile, Phil’s politician friend Jerry Fuller (Charles Thomas Murphy) stops by a for a contribution and then asks Phil to run for local City Council for the 43rd District. Phil doesn’t think much of the idea, but his family are all for it. In the midst of all of this, a new permanent housekeeper named Adelaide Brubaker (Nedra Volz) shows for her interview, but gets upset when Phil asks her how old she is. After he convinces her that he is indeed an advocate for the elderly, she forgives him and takes the job… while Phil decides to run for office. However when he later finds out that Jerry had only been pushing for him to run because he thought he could leverage his two black adopted children, Phil bows out of the race. Jerry tells him that he doesn’t have what it takes for politics, so Phil decides to run without Jerry’s help. Phil gets an interview on the Channel 12 News, but when they show up at 7am instead of 7pm, the newsman Roger Murdock (David Sheehan) has to interview Adelaide and the kids on the air. because Phil is out jogging They try to plug their father in every way possible, and unfortunately they run out of time for the segment just as Phil returns from his jog.  Later they watch the election results, but Phil narrowly loses to the incumbent Leland Tracey. Murdock announces that Phil did much better than the polls had indicated, and Murdock says his showing makes him a definite winner. Phil doesn’t discount running again, and thinks now that he is taken seriously, he might have more clout in town to get things done. Jesse Goins is the cameraman. 12/3/20
• 041. Friendly Mate – 1/16/1980
  • Phil has been in a grumpy mood, so the kids invite him to a horror movie to cheer him up. Philip agrees to go, and confesses that he is feeling lonely since it’s been so long since he’s had a female mate. When he goes to work that morning, Willis and Arnold plot to find him a date by using the computer dating service called Friendly Mate, run by two female friends: an African-American named Lucille (Vonetta McGee) and her white friend Joan (Bobbi Jordan). The boys go to the office and speak to Joan about arranging a date for Phil that evening, but when Lucille sees them, she assumes that Phil is black and decides to go out with him herself. When Phil gets home that evening from the office, he announces that he’ll have to skip the movie because his friend Roger has set him up with a date. The boys skip the movie so they can send the computer date when she shows up, but the other date – a woman named Robin (Lee Crawford) – shows up first, and Willis sends her away thinking she is the Friendly Mate date. Lucille shows up, and the boys are thrilled she is black… until they realize she was the Friendly Mate. Arnold tries to lock her in a closet in the kitchen, while Willis retrieves Robin. Phil meets Lucille first, then Robin, and with the boys’ offering their explanation, all is forgiven. Phil invites both ladies to have dinner with him and they accept. 3/26/21
• 042. Poor Drummond – 1/23/1980
  • As the family prepares for a vacation to Hollywood, the kids catch wind that their father is having financial troubles. Although he tries to deny there are any issues, the truth is that Phil is awaiting approval on a 30 million dollar loan for a housing project that he has underway, and if it doesn’t come through it will break him. His business manager Tom Bishop (Robert Rockwell) to help find a way to get the loan. Kimberly overhears Phil’s discussion with Tom and really starts to believe they may wind up poor. The boys catch her crying and try to comfort her by telling her how they managed when they were poor. Things get even worse when Phil announces that they will need to postpone their vacation. Willis and Arnold know that Phil is too proud to beg, so they head to the local Social Security office and meet with E.G. Stilson (George Pentecost), but he believes they may be trying to perpetrate fraud since they give away the fact that they came in a limo. Kimberly and Phil have a talk, and they agree that they’ll be alright as long as they’re all together as a family. Tom comes to see Phil and tells him that several of Phil’s friends got together and guaranteed his loan. Phil is ecstatic… but Stilson comes to the apartment to investigate and he is aghast that anyone living on Park Avenue in such posh surroundings would be asking for welfare. Willis and Arnold are called out to explains themselves, and all is forgiven when they realize they were only trying to help the family. Phil announces that the California trip is now back on. 3/27/21
• 043. Big Business – 1/30/1980
  • The kids are all complaining that they’ve blown through their allowances and don’t have any spending money. Mr. Drummond suggest that if they’re too young to get a job, they need to find a need and fill it. Adelaide cheers them up by making them some of her special brownies, and the boys rave about how much their friends love the. They get the idea to start selling the brownies instead of giving them away, and wind up making a dollar on the first day. Their father says since he’s paying for the ingredients, Adelaide should get some of the profits of the sales. She agrees to accept the boys doing some of her chores in exchange. Kimberly wants in on the deal, and the boys agree to give her 50% of the earnings. However when the boys take an advance order from Big Wally at the candy for three dozen, Adelaide tells them she doesn’t have time to bake them. Willis and Arnold have already dipped into the $12 advance, and there is only $2 left, so they can’t refund the money. Meanwhile, Phil is dealing with a troublesome employee named Angelo who wants profit sharing with the company, so he fires him. Kimberly agrees to step in and bake the brownies if the boys make her an equal partner. The boys are reluctant to share equally and claim that she is supposed to do the work and they’re supposed to reap the profits… just like their father is doing. The boys discuss it, and decide to fire her and make the brownies themselves. Naturally, they destroy the kitchen and cover themselves in flour. When Phil and Adelaide return from buying plastic plants that she can’t kill, they are furious at the mess. Willis and Arnold tell their father that they were only doing what he did in business. When Angelo calls Phil, he realizes he has in fact been shortsighted and tells Angelo to meet him in the office. He also tells the boys that he set a bad business example for them, and he agrees to loan them the money to pay back Big Walley, and helps them clean the kitchen. 7/22/21
• 044. Return of the Gooch – 2/6/1980
  • Arnold’s classmate the Gooch has returned to his old ways of picking on Arnold at school. Although Mr. Drummond discourages violence, he suggests that Arnold take some Karate lessons in order to be able to defend himself. He enrolls in a Tae Kwan Do class, taught by Mr. Kim (Soon Tek-Oh) and his assistant Curtis (Curtis Wong). They show off some of their moves, and a week later Arnold is attempting to replicate them at home. However, he is still afraid of the Gooch and lacks confidence in his Tae Kwan Do skills. Willis tries to be helpful by letting Arnold practice on him, then pretends that Arnold knocked him out with his ‘killer foot’. This does in fact give Arnold confidence, so much so that he challenges Gooch to a fight at the school. When he tells Willis, he panics because he knows Arnold doesn’t have a ‘killer foot’ at all. He tells Mr. Drummond, who orders Arnold to cancel the fight. Arnold decides to take his beating in order to save face, and Willis says he won’t tattle on him, but that he plans to go along. That morning, Mr. Drummonds starts to suspect that Arnold went to fight, but Arnold and Willis come back as if they had been jogging. Drummond forces him to admit that he went to fight, but Arnold tells him that the Gooch never showed up. Willis later tells his dad that the Gooch didn’t show up because Willis had take Gooch to see Mr. Kim so he could see what Arnold had learned in his class. 7/22/21
• 045. Valentine’s Day Retrospective – 2/13/1980
  • It’s Valentine’s Day, and the three kids have written a poem and made a special Valentine card for their father, and planned an evening at the circus for him. He tells the kids how proud he is to be their father, but Willis reminds him that he once made a drastic mistake when he pretended someone else was his father so he had a better chance of winning a Father and Son contest (episode Father and Son Day). After Mr. Drummond leave, Arnold decides he wants to wear his Super Arnold costume to the circus, so he and Willis go down to the storage area in the basement to look for it As they are searching, the janitor (David Bond) comes along and accidentally locks them in the basement. Arnold is worried, but Willis reminds him how worried he was when he was going to have his appendix removed (episode Arnold’s Girlfriend), which turned out all right. Arnold admits that no matter how things turn out, he’s had a good life… and even met Muhammad Ali (episode Arnold’s Hero). That evening Mr. Drummond gets home, and when Arnold’s friend Lewis calls looking for him since he wasn’t in school, he starts to worry and calls the police. Kimberly mentions that he had been looking for his Superman outfit. Downstairs, Arnold and Willis tell each other that they are the best brothers that either could have, although Arnold remembers the time he wasn’t so great when he though Willis was trying to steal his woman Lurlene (episode The Rivals). Still trapped in the basement, Arnold considers praying again like he did when Willis wouldn’t speak to him (episode Willis’s Privacy), but before he does that, Mr. Drummond and Kimberly check the cellar and free them. They all have a happy reunion, and go on to the circus that night. 1/20/22
• 046. Skin Deep or True Blue aka Guess Who? – 2/20/1980
  • Arnold borrows his father’s tape recorder, but then gets scolded by everyone in the family when he starts recording Willis and Kimberly without them knowing about it. Meanwhile, Kimberly returns from a skiing trip, where she met a dreamy guy named Roger Morehouse (Grant Wilson). Roger calls for her and asks if he can stop by and bring his younger sister Emily (Melora Hardin) along. When they arrive, Emily arrives first, and she and Willis hit it off, and she asks him to help teach her how to dance. Downstairs, Roger shows up and asks Kimberly to attend a costume dance with him, and when he hears how well Emily and Willis are getting along, he mentions that maybe Willis would join them and they can all attend the dance together. They go upstairs and ask Emily and Willis, and both think it is a great idea. After Kimberly and Willis leave the room, Roger makes it clear that he doesn’t want her going out with a black guy, and tells her that she needs to feign illness and cancel the date. Unbeknownst to anyone, Arnold is under the bed recording the conversation. Emily thinks the notion is ridiculous, but nevertheless, she complies with her brother and later calls Willis to cancel. Arnold has been keeping the secret, but now plays the tape for his father, and then they both play it for Willis and Kimberly. She is disgusted that Roger is a bigot, so she does not cancel the date, but instead is wearing realistic blackface when Roger arrives to pick her up. They all then confront him about his bigotry, and throw him out. Phil tells his kids how proud he is of all of them by being mature, but confronting the issue in a way to really teach him a lesson. 1/20/22
• 047. Teacher’s Pet – 2/27/1980
  • Mr. Drummond attends Arnold’s Parent Night at school, and he is immediately smitten when he meets Arnold’s teacher Nancy Osborne (Mary Ann Mobley). Although Drummond only seems to have a passing interest in discussing Arnold, Nancy tells him that because of his size, Arnold seems to have a special need for acceptance from his peers. Phil asks Nancy to have dinner with him that weekend, and after a little convincing, she agrees to go with him. Arnold is taken aback by this turn of events, but Willis tells him that it could be a good thing, as he can now expect special treatment from her. However, this quickly backfires, because as soon as he children sense that he is getting special treatment, they give him a black eye by playing football with him and using him as the ball. Willis then advises him to go from teacher’s pet to teacher’s pest by cutting up in class. When his friends Dudley Johnson (Shavar Ross) and Robbie Jason (Steven Mond) start picking on him, Arnold starts making faces and doing silly dances behind Ms. Osborne’s back, then puts a can of fake nuts with a springy snake inside on her desk. When no one will admit to the crime, the teacher pushes back a test date from the following week to the next day. This gets everyone even more angry at Arnold, so he promises to get the test answers from her briefcase when she comes to the house for dinner. After he does this, he feels bad, so Willis tells him that he should come clean about what he did. He builds up the courage to go and tell her – just when she and his father start to kiss. They both understand his situation, but advise him how wrong what he did was. Ms. Osborne even takes some responsibility for giving him special treatment, and Willis admits he gave Arnold the idea about cutting up in class. Arnold agrees to going to be without supper… as long as he can have it for breakfast. 5/26/22
• 048. The Slumber Party – 3/12/1980
  • Phil gets a call from an old girlfriend named Valerie Hunter (Carol White), who is only in town for a limited time. Phil offers to take her out to dinner to a French restaurant, and tells Kimberly that she can babysit while they are gone. Willis takes issue with her babysitting, but Phil says that he wants her to be in charge. However, Kimberly’s Eastland friends Natalie (Mindy Cohn), Tootie, Cindy (Julie Ann Haddock), and Molly show up unexpectedly and invite Kimberly to attend a slumber party at Molly’s house. Mr. Drummond tells the kids he is going to cancel his date, but Willis volunteers to be in charge. Although Mr. Drummond reminds him that the boys stayed up too late and Arnold ate too much, he decides to give him another chance. At the restaurant, Drummond tries to convince Valerie to stay in town longer, and also tries to get some alone time with her before she goes. He keeps trying to get the violin player Sacha (Frank De Vol) to play Arrivederce Roma, but every time he starts to play, the Captain (Don Draper) brings him the phone. First, Willis wants to invite his friends Vernon, Jimmy Clark (David Coburn), and Charles (Tony Williams) over for a sleepover, and Phil allows it. Back at the apartment, Arnold starts to get frustrated when the other boys won’t play with him, and Willis won’t allow him to invite any of his friends over. Then Kimberly and her friends all return because Molly’s brother is sick. Willis claims that their father put him in charge, but Kimberly maintains that she is in charge again. Willis tries to get Kimberly’s friends to leave. Kimberly then calls her father and interrupts his date once again. The kids continue to fight and Phil continues to worry, and the fight at home devolves to a pillow fight. Phil is distracted the entire dinner, culminating with Willis and Kimberly both showing up at the restaurant. Phil is furious that they are not mature enough to handle their argument on their own, but Valerie sympathizes with them and invites them both to stay for dessert. The agree, and then call in all of their friends to join the dinner as well. 5/26/22
• 049. Arnold Faces Fatality aka The Will – 3/19/1980
  • Arnold brings Abraham to breakfast one morning requesting that Adelaide make him a worm omelet, all because it is Abraham’s birthday. Arnold requests that they throw a party for Abraham and everyone goes along with it. However, Adelaide later finds Abraham dead in his bowl floating on his back. Mr. Drummond decides he should be the one to tell Arnold about it. It also gets him thinking about the fact that Arnold is now facing another crushing loss of someone he loves, and decides that he should start thinking about adding Willis and Arnold to his will. He starts to broach the subject of death, but before he can tell Arnold, Willis calls him from upstairs and says not to tell him yet, as he has an idea. Mr. Drummond makes up some nonsense about the death of the penny. Willis’s idea is to try to find a match for a black goldfish that looks like Abraham and swap it with the dead fish. A messenger (John Starr) delivers the will for Phil’s revisions, and Arnold sees it and thinks that all of Mr. Drummond’s talk about death was because Phil himself were the one dying. Willis comes home and tells his dad that he was unable to find a black goldfish to swap with Abraham. Arnold then tells Willis about their dad dying, but Willis thinks he is talking about Abraham and goes along with it until he realizes that Arnold was taking about their dad. He assures Arnold that their dad isn’t dying. Mr. Drummond thinks it is finally time to tell Arnold the truth, but before he does, Kimberly comes home with a nearly identical black goldfish. Arnold is relieved that Phil isn’t dying, and everyone is relieves that Arnold has been fooled, but as they sing Happy Birthday to Abraham, Arnold realizes that the new fish is in fact not Abraham after all. Phil finally tells Arnold the truth, and the family converts the birthday party into a makeshift funeral. Once everyone has spoken about Abraham, Arnold and the family march into the bathroom and flush Abraham down the toilet. Arnold names his new goldfish Abraham Junior 9/21/22
• 050. The Squealer – 3/26/1980
  • Willis is excited to join a new gang at school called The Tarantulas, but when they come to visit Willis at the apartment, they immediately turn off Kimberly and Arnold by the way the group leader Lenny (Dan Spector) flirts with Kimberly and insults Arnold. Also in the group are Willis’ old friends Jimmy Clark and Mike Hamilton. Kimberly is surprised to see Jimmy in the Tarantulas, but he only becomes more obnoxious and jokes around like the others. Lenny mentions that Willis is joining just in time to participate in their D-Day, although no one yet knows what it is. Just after leaving the apartment, the Tarantulas run into Mr. Drummond in the hall. Kimberly and Arnold try to talk Willis out of associating with the guys, but Mr. Drummond puts a final nail in the coffin and expressly orders Willis not to hang around with the boys. Willis doesn’t think it is fair, and when Kimberly asks Arnold where Willis keeps his gym bay so she can borrow it for her ballet class, Arnold finds the bag, which now contains his own Tarantulas jacket. Willis explains that their Dad doesn’t understand the way of the streets, and that he can only relate to rich folks in suits. He asks Arnold to keep it from Mr. Drummond since he doesn’t understand street folks. Mr. Drummond walks in on Arnold wearing the jacket, and quickly guesses that Willis has joined the group. He still forbids Willis from joining the group, and grounds Willis for a week. Later, Jimmy Clark’s father (Michael Twaine) stops by to speak to Willis about D-Day, hoping that he can stop whatever doing with spray paint. Willis refuses to give any details to Mr. Clark because he refuses to be a squealer… but he does go down and sees the boys at school. Arnold gets a call from Willis that he has been arrested and is now in jail. Kimberly and Arnold go see him ell, followed not long after by Mr. Drummond, whom Kimberly had tipped off about Willis. He is angrier than ever before and tells Willis that he needs to cooperate with Detective Morrison (formerly spelled Morison) in order to cop a plea. Willis stays steadfast about not being a squealer and refuses to cooperate in naming other members of the Tarantulas. Jimmy then steps in, accepts responsibility, and offers to give information about the other Tarantulas who were involved. Jimmy also tells Mr. Drummond that Willis didn’t participate in spray painting the school, but merely showed up to try and stop them. Mr. Drummond is grateful to Jimmy for being courageous and is proud of Willis for trying to stop the trouble, even though he feels he wasn’t squealing, but rather than keeping the kids out of trouble. Jimmy tells Willis that he wished that Willis had squealed on them after all to keep them out of this potential trouble. 9/22/22

SEASON 3

• 051 & 052. The Bank Job – 11/12/1980
  • Mr. Drummond agrees to take the kids to an amusement park on a Saturday afternoon, and Kimberly is bringing her friend Tootie along. Arnold had a major crush on her and tries on a Samarai outfit and a pair of cowboy boots in an effort to impress her. Kimberly gives Tootie a heads-up that Arnold is going to be asking her to be his date at the park, and Tootie agrees that she will accept. Arnold then gets the idea that he’d like to stop at the bank to get some money so that he can treat Tootie for the afternoon, even though Mr. Drummond offers to pay for everything. Arnold and Willis go into the bank and Arnold takes out $11.50 from the teller (John Starr), then Arnold decides he wants the free toaster he never received when he opened the bank account. He approaches a man he thinks is the manager, but it turns out to be a man in a mask with a gun who goes by the name Woody (Mike Cavanaugh). He also has a partner named Thomas (Jesse Goins) and they are robbing the bank just as it closes at noon. Woody makes contact with the bank manager Mr. Gibson (James Reynolds), and then sends the tellers Lillian (Elaine Appleton) and Alicia (Delores Cantu) to bring out the money. Although Thomas is more easy-going, Woody doesn’t trust the tellers and sends them back to find more money. Mr. Drummond gets worried about the boys and goes to see what is keeping them. The security guard (Billy Beck) tries to fend him off, but Drummond is insistent, so Woody allows him to come in. After a while, Kimberly and Tootie also get suspicious and go to the door, where the guard is able to signal them with his eyes that there is trouble inside. The girls call the police, and when Woody and Thomas are ready to leave, they find that the place has been surrounded. Despite warnings from Captain Burns (Dick O’Neill), Walter decides that they are going to leverage their hostages and not come out. After a couple of hours pass, Arnold pleads to go to the restroom, and they allow Willis to take him. The boys find that there is a window in there, but it is covered in bars. They then all decide they are hungry and demand that Woody orders them food. Mr. Drummond makes an offer to allow them to leave in his limo and go to the airport where his company jet can fly them to Cuba. He even offers to go along with them in order to keep his boys safe. After the arrangements are made, Woody decides he wants to take the boys instead. When the delivery boy (Justin Mastro) brings the food, Woody says that the front door will not be opened again, so he has them drop the food in the night deposit box. While Arnold is eating, he notices the keys to building and sends them out through the deposit box. The police are able to retrieve the keys and enter the back door while Arnold and Willis stall them by clinging to their father and crying that they do not want to go with the crooks. Mr. Drummond then causes a diversion by telling the crooks that the police pulled a switcheroo with the chauffer. When they look out the front door, the police pull their rifles on them and are able apprehend the crooks without firing a shot. Later, the family watches the coverage of the robbery on TV, and although the TV reporter (Geoff Edwards) interviewed the family and asked a lot of dumb questions, no mention was made of the Mr. Drummond or Arnold’s plot to stymie the robbers. Mr. Gibson brings a reward for Arnold for his bravery: a new toaster filled with an envelope of cash. Mr. Drummond offers to take the kids to the amusement park the next day. Kurt Smildsin is the policeman who takes the food order. Victor Rivas is the SWAT man. NOTE: This is a one-hour episode that aired in syndication as a two-part episode. 1/12/23
• 053. Small Claims Court – 11/19/1980
  • Arnold has been walking dogs to make some extra money, but by the team he reaches $29, he is ready to retire and spend the money. He decides to purchase a model train engine from Haskell’s, and although Mr. Drummond offers to help him buy it, Arnold prefers to make the purchase himself. When Arnold comes home with the engine and puts it on the model train track to show Kimberly and Willis how it runs, he finds that it won’t work. He tries to take it back to Haskell’s, but Mr. Haskell (Milt Kogen) tells him that all sale items were sold ‘as is’. Arnold is furious and dreads showing his father since he refused his help. However, once he shows it to him, Phil tries to call Haskell’s, but is told the same line. Phil then suggests that they take Haskell to Small Claims Court. Arnold becomes nervous when he finds out that he will have to represent himself. After a few weeks go by as they wait for the hearing, Arnold finds himself nervous and unable to sleep on the night before. His father suggests that they hold a brief mock trial to get Arnold used to the questions, and then they all go back to bed. The next day, they all come before Judge Roscoe C. Briggs (Paul Kent), who hears the caes of both sides. Arnold is still nervous when he hears the Judge rule in favor of a businessman named Mr. Newhouse (Leonard Breman) over a customer named Mrs. Spangler (Julia Calderon). Haskell points out that there was a sign in the store indicated that all sale items are sold ‘as is.’ Mr. Drummond counters that there is an implication that all items sold will function. Although the Judge says that this law is not relevant to the case, he finds in favor of Arnold anyway, and Mr. Haskell is forced to make restitution. Shirley Neal is the court clerk. 6/29/23
• 054. Substitute Mother – 11/26/1980
  • Adelaide is heading to Philadelphia for three weeks to take care of her sister who has a broken leg while her husband is out of town. She has lined up a substitute housekeeper named Sondra Williams (Denise Nicholas) to take her place while she is gone. Arnold becomes smitten with her at first sight, as she has a smile and demeanor that reminds him of his Mama. Even Willis can see the connection but realizes that it would be a very slim chance of a relationship developing between her and Mr. Drummond, especially since she is black. Arnold looks to Kimberly to find out what it takes for a woman to land a man, and especially how her mother used to get along with her father. She tells him how they used to have dinner together, joke together, dance together between courses, and then cap off the meal with crepes suzette. Arnold goes to work to arrange this, ensuring that Willis and Kimberly are out of the house by treating them to roller skating, and then telling Sondra that Mr. Drummond has been lonely and then asking her if she might have dinner with Mr. Drummond since he has been feeling lonely. He even tells her what to do to make him happy, including dressing in red, making jokes, dancing with him and making the crepes suzette. He sneaks back from the roller rink and also makes sure that the dining room lights keep going out so that Mr. Drummond will have to light candles. Adelaide calls and tells Arnold that her sister’s husband came home early so she is coming home herself. When Arnold acts as if he doesn’t want her to come back that night, Adelaide takes that to mean that she is fired. Willis and Kimberly come home during the dinner since they think they’ve lost Arnold, who makes an appearance at that point. Adelaide then shows up and accuses Mr. Drummond of ending her services because Sondra is younger and is dancing with him. Arnold admits that he orchestrated the whole thing and was trying to get Sondra to marry Phil and become their new mother. Sondra says this could not be possible as she is already engaged to another man. Mr. Drummond tells them that he might easily get married again at some point, but Arnold expresses that he hopes Phil gets married at some point before Arnold does. 6/29/23
• 055 & 056. The Accident – 12/3/1980
  • Mr. Drummond has his 50th birthday coming up, and Arnold has wrapped a tennis racquet for him… which is in the exact shape of a tennis racquet. Meanwhile, Drummond meets with his associate Don Connelly (Robert Ginty) about a foreign construction deal before an upcoming board meeting. Connelly suggests they pay a ‘commission’ to someone to help them negotiate the contract, but Phil sees it as a bribe. Don tries to convince Phil that it’s part of the custom in their country, but Phil, as Chairman of the Board, overrules him. The family returns to the birthday celebrations when the kids and Adelaide bring in a singing telegram named Cyndi (Cyndi Cardinal). After opening his gifts from the family, Phil decides to celebrate by taking the family wherever they want to go over the weekend. Arnold decides on going to Disney World, so Phil says he will pick up the tickets that afternoon and then they will all go out for his birthday dinner. As they wait for him to come home, they get a phone call letting them know that Phil has been in a car accident and is in the hospital. They all rush to the hospital and find that he is still unconscious. They speak to his doctor, Dr. Benson (Tom Rosqui) tells them that their father has a concussion after being hit by a drunk driver who didn’t survive the accident. According to the doctor, Phil may need brain surgery. Arnold is particularly upset when he realizes that Phil had been hit coming out of the travel agency. Don Connelly stops by to see Phil and finds out that Phil hadn’t been to the Board meeting because of the accident. The kids are all upset and can’t hold back the tears, worrying that their father will die. Arnold has his prayer session with God, asking that his father recover. The next morning at the hospital, the nurse (Gina Gallego) notifies the doctor and family that Mr. Drummond is trying to talk. However, when he does begin speaking, he tells everyone that he’s never seen anyone in the family before in his life. He is surprised to find out that he is rich, and that he has two black sons. He can’t remember his birthday or anything that had occurred leading up to his accident. Phil’s lawyer Tom Bishop shows up to inquire about his status. Dr. Benson hopes that once Phil is back in his surroundings, he will recover his memory. Two weeks later, Phil has still not recovered his memory, but the doctors release him to return home. Being home still doesn’t jog his memory and starts to get frustrated and snap at the family. Making matters worse, Don Connelly stops by to tell him that the board meeting has been rescheduled. When he finds out about Phil’s loss of memory, he starts making plans to remove him from the board and throw him out. Tom tells him that the one thing he can do to prevent this is to regain his memory. As Phil struggles to try and regain his memory, Connelly begins filing a petition to prove that Drummond is unqualified to serve on the board. Phil starts to think that it might be best to give up the company since he obviously cannot run it in his condition. Tom reminds him that if Connelly can have him declared mentally incompetent, Phil’s kids may become wards of the court. Phil calls Connelly to come over so that he will resign from the company if Connelly withdraw his effort to have him declared mentally incompetent. Willis tells Arnold privately that they are making things worse and that is might be best if they leave and head back to Harlem. Kimberly suggests that they go through some old family albums to try and trigger his memory. Unfortunately, Kimberly bursts into tears when Phil can’t remember his late wife. However, he does start calling Kimberly ‘Pumpkin’ like he had when she was little. He then remembers the time Kimberly buried him in the sand at the beach. Willis and Arnold try to jog his memory about things they had experienced, but he seems to have no memory of them. Arnold then agrees that they should probably return to Harlem and stay with Vernon. When they try to sneak out, Phil catches them in the act. He tells them that he’s withdrawing from the company and that no one will take them away. They suggest that it won’t make any difference if he isn’t ever going to remember them. He yells at them and tells them to get up to their room or that they’ll be grounded for two weeks. When they tell him that he’s never grounded them for that long, he remembers that he did in fact ground them for that long when they tried to run away after they first arrived at his house. They are all suddenly thrilled as Phil starts to remember even more. Don Connelly then arrives with the papers, which Phil promptly tells him to shove. He tells Kimberly that he’s going to fire him, and once the doctors give him clearance, they are going to take their trip to Disney World. Rana Ford is the second nurse. NOTE: This episode aired as a one-hour episode but was split into two parts in syndication. 10/25/23
• 057. Little Mother – 12/10/1980
  • Phil is visited by his old friend Ed Marshall (Claude Earl Jones) from Akron, who brings along his daughter Ellen (Kari Michaelsen), a friend of Kimberly’s. As soon as Ellen can get Kimberly alone on the terrace, she confides in her that she is afraid she might be pregnant. She is afraid to tell her father and doesn’t want to prematurely tell the father, and with her mother gone, she has no one in whom to confide. Kimberly agrees to help her find an obstetrician in New York, which makes her feel better. Kimberly goes along with her, and then they wait to get the results. Kimberly leaves one of her textbooks at the doctor’s office, and when they call her house to let her know, Willis takes the message. He and Arnold then jump to the conclusion that it is Kimberly who is pregnant. When they tell her that she left the book at the doctor’s office, she tells them that it was her dentist where she was having her teeth cleaned. Ellen comes to see her and reports that she is definitely pregnant but doesn’t want to have a baby at fifteen. Kimberly tells her that abortion is at least an option. Ellen is still too scared to tell her father, and it moves Kimberly to tears. Phil starts to suspect something and questions the boys to see if they know. Although Willis wanted to keep things a secret, Arnold drops enough hints that he finally figures out that they believe Kimberly is pregnant. When Phil confronts Kimberly about being pregnant, he gets angry when she starts to deny it, but she then convinces him that it is Ellen who is pregnant. Ellen then shows up at the apartment and tells Kimberly that her father found one of the obstetrician’s cards, so she told him that it was Kimberly who is pregnant. Ed then comes over to talk to Phil, telling him that times have changed, and kids make mistakes, encouraging him to be loving and understanding since Kimberly is pregnant. Phil then informs him that it is Ellen who is actually pregnant, but also encourages him to follow his own advice about being loving and understanding. After expressing his anger initially, he calms down and greets Ellen with a hug and invites her to have dinner with him alone so that they can talk about things. 3/2/24
• 058. Football Father – 12/17/1980
  • While Willis is away on a camping trip, the Pee-Wee Football tryouts takes place, but Arnold feels it would be fruitless to try out because he has always been too small to play. Mr. Drummond and Kimberly give him the confidence to tryout anyway, so Arnold changes his mind and gives the tryout everything he has. Unfortunately, as he predicted, he was cut from the team, but even more humiliating to him was the fact that Coach Steve Slattery (Greg Mullavey) chooses a girl named Cynthia Needleman (Angela Newell) to join the team. Arnold is so downtrodden about not making the team, that Mr. Drummond goes to see Coach Slatter and see if he can make room for Arnold on the team. Coach Slattery insists that they have very little budges and can only afford to re-use the six uniforms that they have. Phil offers to buy Arnold a new uniform, but Slattery insists that it would destroy morale for just one kid to have the new uniform. Phil then agrees to buy all new uniforms for the entire team. They both recognize it as a bribe, but Phil wants to save Arnold’s feelings enough to go through with it. Coach Slattery then stops by the apartment and tells Arnold that he’s keeping him on the team. Arnold is thrilled, but after the first game where all he does is keep the bench warm, he starts to feel disappointed again. Worse yet, he got caught up in the measuring chains and was dragged across the field, embarrassing him even more. Phil goes to see Coach Slattery to complain about Arnold not getting to play, even when their team won 35 to nothing. Although Slattery agrees to start Arnold in the game, Phil and some of the other parents, Dudley’s father Ted Ramsey (Le Teri) and Mr. Green (Pat Mulligan), see first-hand that Slattery is not only a tyrant on the field, but encourages the players to hurt kids on the other team. Phil decides that he doesn’t want Arnold to play under these conditions. When the other parents also raise objections, Slattery says that he’s quitting coaching the team. Phil agrees to take over as coach, but insists that the boys have fun, putting in the first five players who hadn’t yet played a game. Arnold has no idea what position he plays, and Phil has no idea where to put him, but agree it’s going to be ‘some game’. Meeno Peluce is Miller.  3/3/24
• 059. First Love – 12/31/1980
  • Willis has been making late night phone calls to his girlfriend Charlene DuPrey (Janet Jackson), which is keeping Arnold up late at nights. When he appears tired at breakfast that week, he tells his father the reason why. Mr. Drummond isn’t crazy about Willis getting so serious at age fourteen and is more disturbed by the fact that Willis’s grades are slipping since he’s been going to visit Charlene at her home in the Bronx on school nights. He tells Willis that he needs to cool off from seeing Charlene on weeknights while he gets through his exams. Willis is angry and defiant at this rule, so the first chance he gets, he sneaks out at night to go see Charlene so he can give her a bracelet he bought for her. Arnold tries to help cover for him by recording Willis’s voice so that when his family says goodnight to them, he can play Willis’s recorded response. Unfortunately, he messes it up, and plays Willis saying “Goodnight Dad” to Kimberly and “Goodnight Adelaide” to his father. Mr. Drummond thinks he is joking, so he tries to play along, but when he tries to tickle Willis, he finds only his pillows under the covers. Mr. Drummond is furious and stays up to wait for Willis to come home, this time demanding that he have no contact with Charlene at all until after the exams. This time, Willis finds another loophole by having Charlene come and visit him while his father is at a committee meeting. When Charlene arrives, she tells Willis that her father Alex (Arthur Burghardt) has told her that she can’t see Willis anymore because the thought they were getting too serious after Willis gave her a bracelet. While Willis and Charlene are upstairs studying, Mr. Drummond comes home early from his meeting. Kimberly tries to distract him, while Arnold tells Willis that he is home and helps sneak Charlene out through the kitchen. However, before she can get out the door, Mr. DuPrey shows up looking for Charlene. Kimberly has her hidden in the den, but Willis decides to come clean and confess. Although both fathers are angry, Kimberly talks them into reconsidering their strict policies, so they agree that they can see each other on weekends as long as they keep their grades up. Arnold is quick to tell Charlene that if she and Willis ever break up, to keep him in mind. 7/14/24
• 060. Count Your Blessings – 1/7/1981
  • Arnold has a bad day in school when he hits his teacher with an eraser while aiming at some kids who are making fun of him for being so short that he didn’t even show up in the school picture. He goes on to complain about how the other children have always poked fun at him, and his sense of humor can only go so far. Arnold tries eating vegetables and stretching in the closet by hanging from the rack, and Willis tries to fool him into believing that he grew an eighth of an inch. Arnold isn’t fooled and settles into a depression because he has no idea how tall he will be. Mr. Drummond suggests that they go seen an endocrinologist, who can help him determine what his future height will be. Dr. Roberts (Rhoda Gemignani) takes some x-rays and determines that Arnold will be five feet tall. This is not good news to Arnold, and he goes home more depressed than ever. Phil decides to have his real estate broker Dorothy Gordon (Joan Welles) drop by his apartment and bring her daughter Cathy (Melanie Watson) along to stay with Arnold while they go to look at some properties. When they arrive, Arnold is surprised to see that Cathy is not only very short but is confined to a wheelchair due to her disease. Arnold isn’t sure how to react, accidentally insults her by calling her ‘handicapped’, but then making her feel good when he forgets she’s in a wheelchair and starts to run upstairs. She can tell that he is down in the dumps and encourages him to talk about his issue. When he tells her that he will never be more than five feet, she understands it is a bummer, but says she’s much rather be a five-foot black kid who can run. This triggers Arnold to really count his blessings, and he and Cathy go off and have ice cream, even making a date to have dinner after she attends the next ballet class that her mother teaches. Arnold tells everyone how much he appreciates the love of his family and the fact that he will remain short so that he doesn’t become impossible to live with. 7/15/24
• 061. The Loan – 1/14/1981
  • Arnold befriends the young doorman named Manny (Tommy Aguilar) in his building, and laments to Arnold that he would live to be able to get a better job. He says that he and his friends all want to chip in to start a limo business, but he needs $4000 to kickstart it. Arnold says that his father is rich and may bankroll him, so Arnold goes up to talk to his dad about it. When he arrives home, his dad is playing Monopoly with Willis and Kimberly, and he tells Willis that he should never loan out money for business ventures unless the borrower has collateral. Manny stops up to bring Mr. Drummond the newspaper, and Mr. D tells him that he would like to talk to him about his business venture but doesn’t have time right now. After he leaves, Arnold mentions that he will have to have collateral to get the loan. Manny says that he doesn’t have any, but says that if he only had $100, he could make $4000 in a day. Arnold says that he has that much money and would be glad to loan it to him. Manny says he will pay Arnold back double his money in appreciation. Arnold goes up to get his money from its hiding place, but Willis has to help him with his safe combination. After he gives the money to Manny, Willis and Kimberly question what he did. When tells them, they insist that he go get his money back before their father finds out. Arnold returns to Manny and asks how he intends to earn the money, and he tells him that he has the inside track on a horserace and that a horse named Surefire will win. Arnold tells him that he wants him money back, but after he gets it, he starts to feel guilty, so he returns it to Manny. Willis, Arnold. and Kimberly all try to tune into the horserace, but Phil comes home and keeps interrupting, as much as they send him to gather clothes for Goodwill. They go upstairs and the retreat to the living room and finally get to watch the race. Although Surefire has a horrible start, he eventually wins. When Phil sees them celebrating, and Arnold tells him what he did, Phil is furious. However, Manny shows up and tells Arnold that he never placed the bet because he didn’t want to risk losing the money and Arnold’s friendship. When Phil asks him why he needed to borrow Arnold’s money since he has a decent job, he tells him that he sends nearly all of his money back home to his family. Phil finds this admirable and offers to co-sign a bank loan for the money after witnessing Manny’s honesty and loyalty. Dave Johnson is the voice of the horserace announcer. 11/13/24
• 062. Roots – 1/21/1981
  • Willis has his friends Charles (Tony Williams) and Oscar (Erik Moses) over to the apartment for a visit. After the boys meet Kimberly and see her do one of her ballet routines and then hearing about the fancy dinner that Adelaid is preparing, the guys tell Arnold and Willis that they seem to be losing their ‘blackness’ in their highbrow lifestyle. They say they are not the same as they were when they lived in Harlem and have been cut off from their roots. Willis gets upset and throws them out, but then admits that the guys do have a point. He decides that he and Arnold should visit Harlem more often to stay in touch with their old lifestyle. After several days of going to Harlem and insisting that Adelaide make them soul food, Phil and Kimberly start to get tired of the food and request hamburgers. Arnold and Willis star to dress differently, stay away from ‘white foods’, learn phrases in Swahili, and decorate their room in African relics. Willis changes his name to Hasani and Arnold changes his to Abubaka. They play African music and bang on their bongos all of the time, making it hard for Kimberly to practice her ballet. In fact, they tell their father that they aren’t going to go to Kimberly’s recital. Phil becomes furious and tells them that they are going too far, and now they are hurting members of their family. He says he wants them to stay home more than they go to Harlem, but this only instigates Willis to take Arnold and head back to Harlem again. Phil goes to see a black female psychologist named Dr. Chadway (Lee Chamberlin), hoping that she might know how to sway them back. She suggests a session at their house, and then puts them through the motions of role reversal. Phil and Kimberly pretend to be Willis and Arnold, and they act rudely as they swagger around the house. Willis and Arnold portray Phil and Kimberly and act like they are being stifled by their father. However, when Phil starts to imply that Willis and Arnold no longer love them and wish they had been adopted by a black family, Willis takes it to heart and tells his father that it is hurting him to think that he thinks the boys no longer love them. Willis gives his father a hug, and they tell Kimberly that there’s no way they would miss her recital. Dr. Chadway suggests they are off to a great start and should have a few more sessions to work through the issues. Phil tells them that he plans to be more sensitive to their needs to explore their culture. Chadway reminds the boys that their heritage doesn’t have as much to do with how they dress or what they eat as it does that they celebrate their culture with dignity and pride. 11/13/24

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