7.9/1084 votesLoading...#1 - Little Mother
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 12/10/1980
Kimberly's efforts to help a pregnant girl friend, have Willis and Arnold convinced the Kimberly's the one expecting.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Ed Jurist
7.8/1083 votesLoading...#2 - Mr. T and mr. t
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 10/1/1983
Arnold's ecstasy over meeting his hero Mr. T goes from elation to emulation when the young girl he's trying to impress snubs him in favor of his idol. Former bouncer and bodyguard Mr. T, who came to national prominence as Sylvester Stallone's opponent in ""Rocky III"" and was the star of the hit television series ""The A-Team,"" makes a special guest appearance as ""The A-Team's"" B.A.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.8/1080 votesLoading...#3 - The Hitchhikers (1) (a.k.a.) Hitchhiking (1)
Season 6 Episode 14 - Aired 1/28/1984
Kimberly and Arnold break a long-standing family rule and face death when, on their return from a shopping trip, they find themselves short of cash and decide to hitch a ride home rather than call home for assistance.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.8/1079 votesLoading...#4 - The Hitchhikers (2) (a.k.a.) Hitchhiking (2)
Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 2/4/1984
Hitchhiking leads to kidnapping for Arnold and Kimberly, but Arnold escapes and he is so disoriented he is unable to remember the location of the kidnapper's apartment so that the police can rescue Kimberly who's till being held captive.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1092 votesLoading...#5 - The Bank Job (1)
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 11/12/1980
Willis accompanies Arnold as he sets out to withdraw some money from his bank account to pay for his first ""real"" date, but two bank robbers force a change of plans when they attempt their own, very large withdrawal, in the first episode of a special two-part story.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1087 votesLoading...#6 - Football Father
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 12/17/1980
After Arnold fails to measure up to the demands of the basketball, baseball and volleyball teams, Drummond convinces the boy to try football on for size and then pays the coach a clandestine visit to ensure Arnold a place on the team.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Donald Ross
7.7/1082 votesLoading...#7 - The Ski Weekend
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 12/10/1981
Kimberly must face the biggest decision of her life -- whether to spend a ski weekend with a popular boy or turn down the opportunity to get away on her own and remain, in her mind, daddy's ""little girl.""
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1077 votesLoading...#8 - Health Club
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 12/17/1981
Arnold and Willis face a puzzling dilemma -- how to tell Drummond that the award he worked so hard for comes from a health club with a ""restricted membership.""
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/10135 votesLoading...#9 - The Bicycle Man (2)
Season 5 Episode 17 - Aired 2/12/1983
Arnold and Dudley's ""friendship"" with a local merchant reaches a dangerous turning point when, unbeknownst to the boys, the man, who is actually a child molester, is about to make his move.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1059 votesLoading...#10 - Family on Ice
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/19/1983
Kimberly is overjoyed when Olympic Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill sees great promise in her as a competitive figure skater, but she's even more astounded when Drummond agrees to let her leave the New York ""nest"" to train full time with the award-winning skater -- in Los Angeles.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/10149 votesLoading...#11 - My Fair Larry (a.k.a.) My Fair Lady
Season 5 Episode 24 - Aired 5/7/1983
School ""thug"" Larry coerces Willis into teaching him how to ""make it"" with girls, but things go from bad to worse when Larry's first target is Willis' sister Kimberly.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1071 votesLoading...#12 - Mrs. Z
Season 6 Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1983
Drummond's provided with police protection of a most unusual kind after his charitable philanthrophy leads to a $1,000,000 extortion threat against him.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1073 votesLoading...#13 - The Wedding (1)
Season 6 Episode 18 - Aired 2/25/1984
Maggie's reaction to a proposed pre-nuptial agreement threatens to hamper Phillip's happiness -- but could eliminate Arnold's fear about ""inheriting"" a strict new mother and a pesky little brother.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Howard Meyers, Mark Miller
7.7/1067 votesLoading...#14 - Street Smarts
Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 3/23/1985
Although Arnold boasts he held his own in a mugging, Drummond fears the incident goes deeper than Arnold will admit and becomes concerned when he finds Arnold has sought a dangerous method of protection.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.7/1084 votesLoading...#15 - A Special Friend
Season 7 Episode 24 - Aired 5/4/1985
Arnold and Sam's new friendship with a street performer gets mired in fear and confusion when they discover she has epilepsy.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.6/1077 votesLoading...#16 - Hello, Daddy
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 1/14/1982
Does Drummond have a third son, there's a young man at the door who claims he does and that he is.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Donald Ross
7.6/1069 votesLoading...#17 - Memories
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/27/1982
A long lost trunk returned to the boys contains a tape recording of their deceased mother which brings to the surface a previously unrecognized problem that triggers uncharacteristic behavior from a usually happy-go-lucky Arnold.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Howard Meyers, Paul Haggis
7.6/1071 votesLoading...#18 - A Growing Problem
Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 1/8/1983
At 16, Willis thinks he's man enough and old enough to ""top"" a few drinks with the guys, but Drummond's objections send Willis storming out of the house intent on proving his father wrong.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Ed Jurist
7.6/10147 votesLoading...#19 - The Bicycle Man (1)
Season 5 Episode 16 - Aired 2/5/1983
Unaware that he's being lured into the carefully crafted trap of a child molester, Arnold eagerly agrees to perform a simple task in return for an overly generous reward from a ""friendly"" neighborhood merchant.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.6/1063 votesLoading...#20 - Where There's Smoke
Season 6 Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1984
Arnold and Dudley succumb to peer pressure and ignore warnings against cigarette smoking, only to have the harsh realities brought to light by Dudley's father, a chronic smoker.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.6/1088 votesLoading...#21 - A Haunting We Will Go
Season 7 Episode 1 - Aired 9/29/1984
When Arnold and Sam creep through the crevices of the neighborhood's haunted house they find the ghost boasts a bounty of surprises--the biggest being a love for people and contempt for war.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.5/10109 votesLoading...#22 - The Trial
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/15/1978
When Arnold is in trouble for putting his goldfish in Mr. Drummond's hot tub, Willis insists that it is wrong to convict him without a trial. The whole family, with Mrs. Garrett as judge, comes up with an important verdict.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
7.5/10102 votesLoading...#23 - The Woman
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/1979
Mr. Drummond's intention to marry an attractive widow doesn't meet with his children's approval, and Arnold, Willis and Kimberly devise a scheme they hope will turn his ""romantic"" proposal into a disaster.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
7.5/10101 votesLoading...#24 - Arnold's Girlfriend (1)
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1979
Arnold has appendicitis and Drummond has to deal with the bigotry of Fred Tanner, a potential housing project investor whose daughter is the key to getting Arnold to sit still for the operation.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
7.5/1074 votesLoading...#25 - Small Claims Court
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 11/19/1980
Arnold has his day in court when an unfortunate ""train"" of events puts him at odds with a less than understanding merchant.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Ed Jurist, Whitey Mitchell
The Best Episodes of Diff'rent Strokes
Every episode of Diff'rent Strokes ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Diff'rent Strokes!
The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a...
Genres:ComedyFamilyDrama
Best Episodes Summary
"Little Mother" is the best rated episode of "Diff'rent Strokes". It scored 7.9/10 based on 84 votes. Directed by Gerren Keith and written by Ed Jurist, it aired on 12/10/1980. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Mr. T and mr. t".