Dana Michelle Plato was an American actress. She rose to fame for playing Kimberly Drummond on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), which established her as a teen idol of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her personal struggles with substance abuse were well documented by the media and led to her premature death at the age of 34. Her life has retrospectively been called a "tragedy".
Gary Wayne Coleman was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the corticosteroids and other medications used to treat it, his growth was limited to 4 ft 8 in (142 cm). In the mid-1970s, he appeared in commercials and acted in an episode of Medical Center. He caught the attention of a producer after acting in a pilot for a revival of The Little Rascals (1977), who decided to cast him as Arnold Jackson in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), a role which launched Coleman into stardom. For playing the role of Arnold, he received several accolades, which include two Young Artist Awards; in 1980 for Outstanding Contribution to Youth Through Entertainment and in 1982 for Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series; and three People's Choice Awards; a consecutive three wins for Favorite Young TV Performer from 1980 to 1983; as well as nominations for two TV Land Awards. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars", and an influential child actor.
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped in Chicago and produced by Winfrey. It remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in American television history.
Leif Garrett is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his drug abuse and legal troubles.
Daniel Leroy Baldwin is an American actor. He is the second oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors. He is best known for playing the role of Detective Beau Felton in the NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. He also starred in films, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Hero (1992), Mulholland Falls, Trees Lounge, Vampires, Phoenix, Paparazzi (2004), Sidekick (2005), The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell (2006), and Grey Gardens (2009).
Conrad Stafford Bain was a Canadian-American actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude (1972–1978), and as Charlie Ross in Mr. President (1987–1988).
The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources. Most of the site's content revolves around historical and current events, although it also features documents and photos relating to out-of-the-ordinary crimes and people.
Fish is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Barney Miller that aired on ABC from February 5, 1977 to May 18, 1978. The series starred Abe Vigoda as New York City Police Department Detective Phil Fish and Florence Stanley as his wife Bernice.
Domenick Jack Irrera is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Much of his material is in the form of stories about his life, especially his childhood years and growing up in an Italian-American family.
Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress. Her best-known roles include Carol Morrison in the film American Graffiti, Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time, Molly Phillips on Disney Channel’s supernatural series So Weird, and Barbara "Barb" Denning in Orange Is the New Black.
"Very special episode" is an advertising term originally used in American television promos to refer to an episode of a sitcom or drama series which deals with a difficult or controversial social issue. The usage of the term peaked in the 1980s.
Intervention is an American documentary series that premiered on March 6, 2005, on A&E. It follows one or two participants, who are dependent on or addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. They are documented in anticipation of an intervention meeting by family or friends. During the intervention meeting, loved ones give the addict an ultimatum: go to an inpatient drug rehabilitation program immediately, or else risk losing contact, income, or other privileges. The show follows up on the recovery progress for future episodes or for web shorts.
A Million Little Pieces is a book by James Frey, originally sold as a memoir and later marketed as a semi-fictional novel following Frey's admission that many parts of the book were fabricated. It tells the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and abuser of other drugs and how he copes with rehabilitation in a twelve steps-oriented treatment center.
Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, later called simply Rehab with Dr. Drew, is a reality television show that aired on the cable network VH1 in which many of the episodes chronicle a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. The first five seasons of the series, on which Pinsky also serves as executive producer, cast celebrities struggling with addiction, with the first season premiering on January 10, 2008, and the fifth airing in 2011.
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, respectively, who are two boys from Harlem taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue businessman and his daughter. Phillip Drummond is a widower for whom their deceased mother previously worked; his daughter, Kimberly, is played by Dana Plato. During the first season and the first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred, as Mrs. Edna Garrett, the Drummonds' first housekeeper, who ultimately spun off into her own sitcom, The Facts of Life, as a housemother at the fictional Eastland School. The second housekeeper, Adelaide Brubaker, was played by Nedra Volz. The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, first appearing as a recurring character, later becoming a main cast member.
Zach Anner is an American comedian, actor, and writer with cerebral palsy who gained worldwide attention with the submission of a video to Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" competition. He won his own TV show on OWN through Oprah's Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star. His wheelchair travel show, Rollin' With Zach, premiered December 12, 2011. Zach recently wrote for and guest-starred on the ABC-TV sitcom Speechless, which is centered on a teenager with cerebral palsy.
Oprah Prime is an American prime-time television series hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey, airing on Oprah Winfrey Network. The series premiered on January 1, 2012, with a two-part episode featuring Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. The third season brought a new series title, Oprah Prime, and premiered on March 9, 2014.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience is a series of live television specials that was first broadcast by ABC on May 22, 2019. Conceptualized and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the specials feature all-star casting for live recreations of sitcom episodes of various television shows created by companies run by the renowned producer, Norman Lear, that originally aired in the 1970s and 1980s.
"The Bicycle Man" is a two-part very special episode of the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986). Serving as the 16th and 17th episodes of the fifth season, it was written by Blake Hunter, directed by Gerren Keith, and guest-stars Gordon Jump as a bicycle shop owner who tries to molest Arnold Jackson and his friend Dudley Johnson. The episode also features Le Tari as Ted Ramsey, Dudley's adoptive father, and Brad Trumbull as Detective Simpson.
