Line #8 YMMV/DiffrentStrokes


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: In "Father and Son Day", Kimberly's cheer about Mr. Drummond includes the line "Give me a big fat 'D'", followed by a joke by Arnold about her getting her "big fat 'D'" off the ground. In Arnold's case, "D" probably stood for "derriere", but hearing the line from Kimberly, you get the idea that "D" stands for [[spoiler: "dick"]].
2	* HarsherInHindsight:
3	** "The Bicycle Man" is even tougher to watch once you've learned that: (a) Todd Bridges was preyed upon by a pedophile publicist in RealLife when he was 11; and (b) Shavar Ross, around the same time as the taping of "The Bicycle Man", was being "touched" by a family friend inappropriately while he was asleep.
4	** The live studio audience laughing at the titular Bicycle Man's advances before it was outright revealed he was a pedophile. Not helped since some of the dialogue seems tailor-made to seem uncomfortable in hindsight.
5	-->'''Mr. Horton''': What's the old saying? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours?
6	-->'''Arnold''': You keep coming up with these presents and you can scratch me all over!
7	** Nancy Reagan making a guest appearance to promote her "Just Say No" campaign is much more tragic in hindsight. Not only is "Just Say No" considered a failure in hindsight [[note]]Statistics on drug use amongst youth didn't noticeably increase or decrease during its hey-day[[/note]], but Todd Bridges and Dana Plato would both struggle with drug addiction later in life, with Plato dying from an overdose at the age of 34.
8	** The episode "Little Mother", where Kimberly's childhood friend learns she's pregnant involves a misunderstanding where the boys mistake Kimberly herself for pregnant. Several seasons later, Dana Plato was fired when the writers refused to incorporate her own pregnancy into the show.
9	** Seeing how their actors Gary Coleman and Dana Plato both died at young ages, anytime Arnold or Kimberly contemplate their own deaths is especially tough to watch today. Bizarrely, it occurs a number of times throughout the series. For instance, the episode "Green Hair" had Kimberly upset over how acid rain had turned her hair green and said that if she couldn't get a hair appointment to fix it, she would do the next best thing: [[BlackComedy kill herself.]] That’s exactly how Plato’s life eventually ended. Yikes...
10	* HilariousInHindsight:
11	** In a lot of episodes to get Arnold's attention they yell ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold''.
12	** This isn't the last time Pearl the housekeeper's actress is on a show with a [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants character named Pearl.]] She doesn't play the character in the latter show though.
13	** In the pilot, Mrs. Garrett nearly quits over being told two boys are moving into the household since she prefers girls. Not only would this be ironic when she got her job in ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'', working at an all-girls school, there's a little NegativeContinuity here since she would be revealed to have two sons in the spin-off, too.
14	* MemeticMutation: "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?"
15	* NeverLiveItDown: "The Bicycle Man".
16	* ProductionRelatedPeriodPiece: Averted. The series' crossovers with the short-lived sitcom ''Hello, Larry'' are included in syndication and on DVD.
17	* RetroactiveRecognition:
18	** Howard Leeds wrote or co-wrote 33 episodes and served as producer and executive producer. Leeds co-developed ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' and is also best known for co-creating ''Series/SilverSpoons'' and as creator and executive producer of ''Series/SmallWonder''.
19	** Martin Cohan wrote or co-wrote 32 episodes and also served as producer and executive producer. Cohan is best known as co-creator and co-executive producer of ''Series/WhosTheBoss'' and also co-created ''Series/SilverSpoons''.
20	** Ben Starr wrote or co-wrote 24 episodes. Starr also co-developed ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' and also co-created ''Series/SilverSpoons''.
21	** Blake Hunter wrote or co-wrote 11 episodes and served as executive producer. Hunter also served as co-creator and co-executive producer of ''Series/WhosTheBoss''.
22	** Paul Haggis wrote or co-wrote three episodes. Haggis is best known as creator and executive producer of ''Series/DueSouth'', as co-creator and co-executive producer of ''Series/TheBlackDonnellys'', and for co-creating ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger''.
23	** Jose Rivera also wrote or co-wrote three episodes. Rivera is best known as co-creator and producer of ''Series/EerieIndiana''.
24	** Dick Clair and Jenna [=McMahon=] co-wrote an episode. Both created ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' and are also best known for creating ''Series/MamasFamily'' and co-creating ''Series/ItsALiving''.
25	** Michael G. Moye wrote an episode. Moye is best known as co-creator and co-executive producer of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' and for co-developing ''Series/SilverSpoons'' and co-creating ''Series/TwoTwoSeven''.
26	** David W. Duclon co-wrote an episode. Duclon is best known as creator and executive producer of ''Series/PunkyBrewster'' and also served as co-developer and executive producer of ''Series/SilverSpoons''.
27	** The bully that harasses Arnold in "Bully For Arnold" is none other than future Oscar winner Creator/ForestWhitaker.
28	** Creator/JimWard made his voice acting debut as [[Series/KnightRider K.I.T.T.]] in the "Hooray for Hollywood" 2-parter.
29	** Housekeeper Pearl is portrayed by Creator/MaryJoCatlett, who would go on to voice Mrs. Puff on ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.
30	* {{Squick}}: In "Sam's Father", Pearl is infatuated with Sam's father, Wes. When Maggie jokes that Wes' horse can autograph her copy of Wes' album, Pearl comments "I bet his horse is sexy, too."
31	* TearJerker: The entirety of "Memories", which is kicked off by the family finding an old recording of Arnold and Willis's mother, Lucy. Arnold has an extremely difficult time with this, first hiding the tape and vowing never to hear his mother's voice again, lashing out angrily when it's found, admitting to a hefty case of SurvivorsGuilt over living the life Lucy never got to have for herself, and expressing regret that he never told her how much he appreciated all she did to make ends meet. It ends with Phillip taking him to the cemetery, where he delivers a crusher of a speech to her. When all's said and done, he says goodbye, brushes snow from her grave, and they depart, leaving the credits to roll over the quiet cemetery.
32	* ValuesDissonance:
33	** The whole premise of a couple inner-city black kids being "saved" by a kindly, paternalistic, rich old white guy may well provide this for some viewers.
34	** Certain episode plots or events within the plot may be this for some viewers. "The Spanking" from Season 1 is a biggie, considering today's attitudes regarding corporal punishment. A lighter example occurs late in the show, when Maggie scolds Sam for wetting his bed. The family doctor later explains this was the wrong way to handle the situation, but it's still disconcerting, especially since Phillip reassures Maggie that she technically did nothing wrong. A plethora of similar examples exist.
35	* ValuesResonance: On the opposite token, the scene where everyone discusses the Aesop of ''The Bicycle Man'' has Willis express surprise that Mr. Horton is "[[AllGaysArePedophiles gay]]." The detective who busted Mr. Horton bluntly but politely tells him that there's a major world of difference between gays and pedophiles. In a decade that wasn't particularly gay-friendly, that was a very important lesson for the masses to learn, even if it wasn't the focus of the episode. It also averted the common Stranger Danger tropes by having the titular child molester be someone Arnold and Dudley had been on friendly terms with for some time before making his move, and gradually manipulating them towards having his way rather than come out of nowhere.

Context YMMV / DiffrentStrokes