Dana Michelle Plato was an American actress. An influential teen idol of the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was known for playing Kimberly Drummond on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986). 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). The show became successful and 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.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, often referred to as The Oprah Show or simply Oprah, is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, from Chicago, Illinois. Produced and hosted by Oprah 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 played the role of Detective Beau Felton in the NBC TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. He has also starred in films, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Hero (1992), Mulholland Falls, Trees Lounge, Vampires, Phoenix, Paparazzi (2004), 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.
Laura Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress. Her best-known roles include Carol Morrison in the film American Graffiti, Julie Mora 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.
My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss is an American reality television series broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). The series premiered on November 7, 2004, while its tenth and final episode aired on December 12, 2004. Filmed in Chicago, Illinois, the series depicted twelve contestants in competition for a position at the venture capital firm Iocor.
The Rerun Show is an American sketch comedy television series that aired on NBC from August 1, 2002 until August 20, 2002. VH1 also aired the show on Fridays at 11:30 P.M. The series was created by John Davies and David Salzman.
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 well-known people 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.
Mathew James Willis is an English musician, singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He is known as co-founder, bassist and co-vocalist of the pop-punk band Busted. Willis released his debut solo album Don't Let It Go to Waste on 20 November 2006. It contains three top-20 singles.
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.
