Trivia / Webster

• Channel Hop: From ABC to first-run syndication for seasons five and six.
• Dawson Casting: Emmanuel Lewis was 12 years old when the series began, and 17 when it ended. However, his short height meant that he could pass for much younger, with Webster portrayed as 5 to 6 years old during the first season and was 12 at series end.
• Executive Meddling/What Could Have Been: The show was originally going to be called Another Ballgame ^note  Which ended up being the name of the pilot episode and center around the romantic relationship between George and Katherine. But when ABC execs decided they wanted their own version of Diff'rent Strokes, the show was reworked into a vehicle for Emmanuel Lewis.
• Hostility on the Set: The first season or two were marked by this as costars Clark and Karras feuded, sometimes with each other but more often with executives of Paramount and ABC, both of whom had reneged on early promises that the show's storylines would focus on all three of its main characters in favor of all Webster all the time, trying to capitalize on child star Emmanuel Lewis's sudden fame. While Lewis was often quickly hustled off set as soon as the shouting started, he heard enough of it to start internalizing and believing it was his fault. By the third season, however, everyone's differences had been worked out and they got along for the rest of the series' run.
• Real-Life Relative: Susan Clark and Alex Karras, who played Katherine and George, are husband and wife.
• Troubled Production: In the beginning especially; see The Other Wiki article on the show or the Executive Meddling and Hostility on the Set tab above for more details.
• Coincidentally, the very show that Webster was often compared to, Diff'rent Strokes, joined the ABC prime time schedule in the 1985-86 season (airing on Friday nights at 9pm ET/PT, after Mr. Belvedere).