Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

pose14 I have just finished watching season two of Different Strokes and it is still as priceless as when I used to watch it as a kid.The actors where great from Conrad Bain(Mr.Drummond) to pint-size Gary Coleman(Arnold Jackson). I look at shows today and notice every time they try to used the child element, they usually get a kid that is cute but can not act and hope his cuteness will carry him over.I see this every week in a show call All of Us. This is what made Different Strokes so special. You had a young kid who was cute and who could read his lines flawlessly. The premise was a great concept. Have to orphans from Harlem being adopted my a millionaire. It was great to watch how they tried to conform to there newfound wealth without giving up there street element. I just can not wait for the rest of the episodes to be release on DVD.

MorbidMorgan ' Diff'rent Strokes ' is undoubtedly a sitcom classic, one of those hugely popular television shows that is still adored by millions of fans throughout the world today. Through regular reruns a whole new generation is being introduced to the antics of the Park Avenue bunch, a bunch who so entertainingly captivated us all during the show's initial screening between 1978-86.The family friendly series made a star out of Gary Coleman, forever immortalised as the loveable scamp with the chubby cheeks, Arnold Jackson, and his catchphrase "Whatchu Talkin' About?" made television history. Yet despite it's cosy sitcom settings, ' Diff'rent Strokes ' was not afraid to address sensitive issues and during it's long run expertly dealt with the likes of racial prejudice, child molestation and bullying.Conrad Bain, a distinguished actor who had earlier appeared in tv's ' Maude ' played Trans-Allied tycoon Phillip Drummond, the kindly widower who adopted the Jackson kids from Harlem, Arnold and Willis ( Todd Bridges ), after their death of their mother Lucy who had served as his housekeeper. The kids had to adjust to living in a swank Park Avenue penthouse with a new housekeeper ( initially Charlotte Rae as Edna Garrett, spun off into her own sitcom, ' The Facts Of Life ') and a teenage sister ( Dana Plato ) - cue plenty of comical misadventures!Bain, Coleman, Bridges and Plato were a formidable team and you cannot help but warm to their likeable characters. They were wonderfully supported by the likes of Rae, the late Nedra Volz ( so funny in the 1985 movie ' Moving Violations ' ) and Mary Jo Catlett as housekeepers Edna Garrett, Adelaide Brubaker and Pearl Gallagher.Once ' Diff'rent Strokes ' ended the young cast were unable to escape the pressures of fame and their various scrapes with the law somewhat tarnished the show's image. The lovely Dana Plato for one sadly passed away in 1999 due to a suspected drugs overdose.2003 will mark the 25th Anniversary of ' Diff'rent Strokes ' and I would hope that a reunion of sorts is on the cards. And wouldn't it be intriguing if Gary Coleman stepped into the shoes of an adult Arnold Jackson, perhaps as the new head of Trans-Allied in a spin-off series?

richard_wright I hate to burst everybody who loved this show's bubble, but the sad fact is this is arguably one of the worst programmes to ever be unleashed on that box of tricks called a TV. Everything about it was bad, from the flat delivery of the characters they called acting, to Gary Colemans quickly irritating catchphrases that he seemed to say about half-a-dozen times a show. Also noteworthy is the horrible fashion and stupid hair that may have looked good for the 70's but will now provoke more hysterics than anything contained in the so-called "scripts".So now we have realised that it has virtually nothing in the laugh department, what kept people watching for 6 odd years? What it the lead's height problem? The "catchy" theme tune? The disbelieving state of mind that a programme so awful could take up valuable air time? I have to draw a blank, I'm afraid. All I will say is: if you can survive half an hour of any episode of this without rolling your eyes whenever Arnold does his little routine, cringing whenever Kimberly opened her big fat gob to moan about how unfair life is or feel violently sick whenever Drummond spun yet another of his sentimental philosophies about family unity which always ended in a "group hug" then you are a better man than me.

sewheele "Diff'rent Strokes" ranks among a handful of masterpieces that have made their debuts on American television. So powerful and three-dimensional are its characters that it puts lesser works such as the over-bloated mini-series "Roots" to shame. "Strokes" hit the airwaves like a bombshell back in 1978; most of its viewers had yet to see the harsh realities of the ghetto depicted on the small screen. Before their eyes, they noticed two hard-edged African-American street urchins in a highly competitive game of basketball (these scenes were no doubt a key influence on the works of future African-American filmmakers Spike Lee and the Hughes Brothers). This no doubt awoke white America to the grittier, more nihilistic aspects of the urban community. If that wasn't reality enough, the children are taken aback by the presence of wealthy WASP Mr. Drummond(who despite such class and ethnic differences is miraculously able to relate to the youngsters without resorting to urban slang). In an act of great compassion, he hugs them and decides to save them from depravity in a modern-day Dante's Inferno. The threesome soon rejoice as they enter Drummond's slick limo and take off. Because of his frail demeanor, Mr. D is barely able to wave his driver off yet does so out of desperation. This is a terrific character quirk that genius actor Conrad Bain brings to such a complex role.Had "Strokes" simply stayed on this route, it would've remained a TV classic. However, nothing prepared audiences for the ground-breaking episode in which pedophilia, of all topics, was presented in such harsh detail. Actor Gordon Jump blew away all his previous achievements ("WKRP", Maytag commercials) with his remarkable performance as a seemingly benign old man with a dark, dark secret. I won't spoil it for you here, but the reaction of the child's father is one of the most heartwrenching and subtle displays of Method acting in recent memory. A great episode, and one indicative of this landmark series' finest moments.