Mr. Horton and his Ernie cookie jar in "The Bicycle Man" part 1.
Arnold in front of Ernie in "The Bicycle Man" part 2.
Diff'rent Strokes is a sitcom which ran from 1978 to 1986, focusing on two black boys adopted by a middle-aged white businessman. The Facts of Life was a spin-off.
Muppet Mentions[]
- In the second season episode "Arnold's Hero," when Arnold's adopted father Mr. Drummond informs Arnold that he won't be able to meet Muhammad Ali as promised, he says that he'll make it up to him by taking him "to see the Muppet film, for the twelfth time."
- In the second season episode “The Adoption, Part 2”, a Junk dealer named Jethro (played by Whitman Mayo) is caught pretending to be a cousin of Willis and Arnold, he says “I ain’t your cousin. I’m no more relative than Miss Piggy”.
- In the fourth season episode "The Health Club," Arnold and Willis are refused entry into Drummond's health club by one of the several bigoted employees who uses their ages as an excuse. When they see a young white boy leave, Arnold sarcastically asks "What was that, a Muppet?"
- In the fifth season two-parter "The Bicycle Man," an Ernie cookie jar can be seen in Mr. Horton's apartment during both episodes.
- In the eighth season episode "The Big Bribe," Arnold tells his friend Charlie to shut up or he'll tell everyone he has Muppet underwear.
References[]
- Elmo has occasionally quoted Arnold's "What'chu talkin' 'bout" catchphrase. Examples include Sesame Street episodes 3814, 4191, 4308, and Elmo's Green Thumb.
- Cousin Bear quotes Arnold's "What'chu talkin' 'bout" catchphrase in Sesame Street Episode 3927 when Telly Monster (dressed as a bear) tells him that the "Wubba Wubba Up and Down Song" is a monster song.
- "Diff'rent Jokes" is one of several shows Fozzie Bear pitches to Scooter in the Muppets Now episode "Fever Pitch."
Connections[]
- Mary Jo Catlett played Pearl Gallagher (1982-1986)
- Lee Chamberlin played Dr. Chadway in "Roots" (1981) and Dr. Tucker in "Dreams" (1982)
- Rosalind Chao played Miss Chung (1982-1983) and Ming Li in "Almost American" (1981)
- Dabney Coleman played Fred Tanner in "Arnold's Girlfriend" (1979)
- Mindy Cohn played Natalie Green in “The Slumber Party” and “The Older Man”.
- Kim Fields played Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsay in a few episodes.
- David Hasselhoff played himself in "Hooray for Hollywood" (1984)
- Whitman Mayo played Jethro Simpson "The Adoption" (1979)
- Edie McClurg played Betty in "Arnold the Entrepreneur" (1984)
- Charlotte Rae played Mrs. Edna Garrett (1978-1979, guest in 1984)
- Lisa Whelchel played Blair Warner in 2 episodes.
- Forest Whitaker played Herman in "Bully for Arnold" (1985)