RANKED: The 25 Greatest Shows Of The 80’s

23. Diff’rent Strokes

Image Source: Herb Ball/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Diff’rent Strokes starred Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who were taken in by a rich Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato). Drugs, sexual abuse and racism were faced head-on, even as the effects of child stardom on its three leading kids were swept under the rug. The show was as defined by the way it tackled difficult American issues as it was by Gary Coleman’s endearing catch phrase, “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”