NaN/100 votesLoading...#1 - Willis' Birthday
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 4/13/1979
Willis is hurt when he thinks his family has forgotten his upcoming birthday. After dropping several unsubtle hints he discovers that not only has everyone remembered, but also his fondest wish has been granted -- a birthday party in his old Harlem neighborhood.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#2 - The Girls School (a.k.a.) Garrett's Girls
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 5/4/1979
Mrs. Garrett visits Kimberly's school and takes on its pushy principal with surprising results.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#3 - Arnold Faces Fatality (a.k.a.) The Will (a.k.a.) Drummond's Will
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 3/19/1980
Arnold fears that his loved ones are checking out of his life when he stumbles upon Drummond's will and then uncovers the fact that his goldfish has given up the ghost.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#4 - The Squealer
Season 2 Episode 26 - Aired 3/26/1980
Willis seeks comradeship as a member of the Tarantulas, a street gang, but finds only deceit as he gets caught in a web of misplace loyalties. Willis allows himself to be arrested rather than ""squeal"" on his fellow-gang members by telling the truth.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Ed Jurist
NaN/100 votesLoading...#5 - Room for One More
Season 3 Episode 21 - Aired 5/6/1981
Dudley, fearing his foster father's lost job means he's headed back to the orphanage, cons Arnold into getting Drummond to consider adopting him into their family.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Seaman Jacobs
NaN/100 votesLoading...#6 - The Athlete
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/13/1981
The coach of the city's top high school baseball team is after Willis and is prepared to do anything to make it possible for Willis to attend his school.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#7 - The Boyfriend
Season 6 Episode 24 - Aired 5/12/1984
Blinded by love, Kimberly takes an enormous and deceptive risk when she talks her father into allowing her to move into an apartment, allegedly with her girl friend.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Howard Meyers, Mark Miller
NaN/100 votesLoading...#8 - The Front Page
Season 8 Episode 19 - Aired 3/7/1986
Arnold's feature story about his high school football team threatens to turn into a controversial expose for the school newspaper when he witnesses team members buying steroids.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.0/10104 votesLoading...#9 - Retrospective (1)
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/29/1978
Mr. Drummond and family gather around their Christmas tree and recall the many humorous incidents that the family has shared since Arnold and Willis moved in. This special one-hour episode features highlights from previous shows.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
6.2/1075 votesLoading...#10 - Big Business
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 1/30/1980
Willis and Arnold scheme to make extra ""dough"" by selling brownies, only to discover they can't stand the heat of big business and may soon have to get out of the kitchen.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Ed Jurist
6.2/1084 votesLoading...#11 - Drummond's Fair Lady
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/18/1981
Drummond runs into some stiff competition to the candidate he's chosen to head a new division of his company -- his board members think the attractive young executive's sex disqualifies her -- and his family thinks he's being used.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.2/1064 votesLoading...#12 - B.M.O.C.
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 3/25/1982
Willis' obsession with joining an ""exclusive"" high school club rocks the Drummond household and leaves several victims in its wake, including a shaken Arnold who takes his brother's ""insensitive"" actions to heart.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.3/1074 votesLoading...#13 - So You Want to Be a Rock Star
Season 8 Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1985
A music instructor ""backs up"" Arnold after he claims to be an expert sax player in order to impress a girl.
Director: Mel Ferber
Writer: N/A
6.4/1064 votesLoading...#14 - The Wedding (2)
Season 6 Episode 19 - Aired 2/25/1984
Their family and friends assembled, Phillip and Maggie meet at the altar, only to realize each has made a major mistake, in the concluding part of a special two-part story. Charlotte Rae, Dody Goodman, Janet Jackson and Nedra Volz, each of who had appeared in recurring roles on ""Diff'rent Strokes,"" return as their original characters for the Drummond nuptials.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.5/1091 votesLoading...#15 - Father and Son Day
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 11/14/1979
Willis' cut-throat competitiveness with another boy at his gym leads him to a decision that he will very much regret, especially after it hurts Mr. Drummond and gives Arnold the right to say ""I told you so."" Baseball great Reggie Jackson makes his acting debut playing a key, but unsuspecting role in Willis' questionable scheme.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.5/1067 votesLoading...#16 - Stress? What Stress?
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 4/22/1982
Stress is diagnosed as the cause of hard-working Drummond's frequent attacks of pain, but suddenly young, healthy and ""normal"" Willis learns that he, too, is a prime candidate for the same debilitating ""attacks.""
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.5/1069 votesLoading...#17 - Bully for Arnold
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1985
Guarding the school bully's girlfriend, Ramona, seems like a simple task to Arnold, until his natural Jackson ""charm"" creates some problems, Ramona falls head over heels for him and Herman, the bully, wants to rearrange his face.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.5/1068 votesLoading...#18 - Speak No Evil
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1985
Father and son are feuding over First Amendment rights when an outraged Arnold objects to a white supremacy organization speaking at his high school and a discerning Drummond can't support Arnold's fury on the basis of the American right to free speech.
Director: Gerren Keith, Glenn Padnick
Writer: N/A
6.6/1084 votesLoading...#19 - Feudin' and Fussin' (2)
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 9/28/1979
Arnold's well-intentioned endorsement of Larry Alder's hosting talents to a New York TV big-wig gives Larry the opportunity of a lifetime and brings the family to the big apple. Larry's try-out as a New York television talk-show house may be doomed from the start, one disaster follows another and not everyone on the Alder team may be rooting for him to win the job. **Part two originally aired as an episode of "Hello, Larry".
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.6/1070 votesLoading...#20 - The Loan
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 1/14/1981
Arnold learns the true value of a dollar when Drummond turns down his request to lend $4,000 to the apartment building doorman anxious to take part in an attractive business deal.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.6/1071 votesLoading...#21 - Cyrano De Jackson
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 10/16/1982
Arnold's on the outs with his best friend Dudley after he innocently offers to help his bashful buddy win the heart of a young lady -- who falls for Arnold instead.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.6/1069 votesLoading...#22 - The Van Drummonds
Season 6 Episode 6 - Aired 11/19/1983
A short visit to the United States by Phillip Drummond's Dutch cousin Anna and her son Hans becomes an eternity for Arnold and Willis, who are made scapegoats for cousin Hans' mischief.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: Paul Haggis
6.7/1097 votesLoading...#23 - Mrs. Garrett's Crisis
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/2/1979
When Mrs. Garrett decides her life as a housekeeper is unfulfilling, she ends up being a guest in the Drummond home, and then makes an important decision concerning the future.
Director: Herbert Kenwith
Writer: N/A
6.7/1073 votesLoading...#24 - Crime Story (Part 2) (a.k.a.) Crime in the Schools
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 3/18/1982
Arnold doesn't know when to leave well enough alone after Willis comes to his rescue, he gets himself involved in an ""undercover"" scheme to capture the ""punks"" at school who have been harassing him.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
6.7/1070 votesLoading...#25 - Have I Got a Girl for You
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 4/8/1982
Aunt Sophia's matchmaking unites an unsuspecting Drummond with her ""working-class"" hairdresser, but a slip of Arnold's tongue ignites charges that Drummond is a snob, turning a ""budding romance"" into a roaring feud.
Director: Gerren Keith
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Diff'rent Strokes
Every episode of Diff'rent Strokes ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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
Worst Episodes Summary
"Willis' Birthday" is the worst rated episode of "Diff'rent Strokes". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Herbert Kenwith and written by N/A, it aired on 4/13/1979. This episode scored NaN points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Girls School (a.k.a.) Garrett's Girls".