Diff'rent Strokes (1978)

Comedy · Drama

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 rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.

IMDb rating: 6.7 (13,763 votes)
Episode average: 7.2 ↑ +0.5 vs IMDb
Seasons: 8
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 8 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1978)

7.13 avg 22 episodes 7.2 → 7.0 25 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Movin' In	7.2	205
2	The Social Worker	7.3	156
3	Mother's Last Visit	7.1	153
4	Prep School	6.8	134
5	The Spanking	7.1	146
6	Goodbye Dolly	6.8	135
7	The Trial	7.6	123
8	Retrospective	6.1	118
9	The Fight	7.4	123
10	The Club Meeting	7.1	118
11	The Woman	7.4	120
12	No Time for Arnold	7.6	117
13	The Relative	7.0	119
14	The Tutor	7.2	117
15	The New Landlord	7.2	115
16	Willis' Privacy	7.3	117
17	Mrs. Garrett's Crisis	7.1	105
18	The Job	6.9	111
19	The Trip: Part 1	7.4	122
20	Getting Involved	7.0	106
21	Willis' Birthday	7.2	111
22	The Girls School	7.0	128

Season 2 (1979)

7.20 avg 24 episodes 7.7 → 7.3 29 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Arnold's Girlfriend: Part 1	7.7	108
2	Arnold's Girlfriend: Part 2	7.3	87
3	Feudin' and Fussin': Part 1	7.0	99
4	Mrs. Garrett's Romance	6.8	90
5	Birds and Bees	7.5	88
6	Arnold's Hero	7.6	105
7	The Adoption: Part 1	7.5	100
8	The Adoption: Part 2	7.4	96
9	Father and Son Day	7.1	88
10	Thanksgiving Crossover: Part 1	6.5	99
11	The Rivals	7.5	89
12	Hot Watch	7.2	87
13	The Dog Story	7.3	87
14	The Election	7.1	87
15	Friendly Mate	7.3	88
16	Poor Drummond	7.0	84
17	Big Business	7.1	83
18	Return of the Gooch	7.2	83
19	Valentine's Day Retrospective	6.3	81
20	Skin Deep or True Blue	7.5	107
21	Teacher's Pet	7.2	84
22	The Slumber Party	7.3	93
23	Arnold Faces Fatality	7.2	84
24	The Squealer	7.3	86

Season 3 (1980)

7.26 avg 20 episodes 7.8 → 7.0 27 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Bank Job	7.8	102
2	Small Claims Court	7.4	82
3	Substitute Mother	7.4	83
4	The Accident	7.5	81
5	Little Mother	7.2	89
6	Football Father	7.0	82
7	First Love	7.8	95
8	Count Your Blessings	7.8	98
9	The Loan	6.8	78
10	Roots	7.5	79
11	Junk Food Junkie	6.7	80
12	The Bus	7.5	79
13	The Older Man	7.4	91
14	Where There's Hope	7.6	88
15	The Magician	7.3	82
16	Drummond's Fair Lady	6.9	78
17	The Ancestors	7.0	79
18	Almost American	6.2	93
19	Room for One More	7.3	78
20	The Athlete	7.0	74

Season 4 (1981)

7.24 avg 26 episodes 7.0 → 7.3 25 min avg

Rebound

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Growing Up	7.0	81
2	First Day Blues	7.5	88
3	The Model	7.2	75
4	The Team	7.1	84
5	The Big Heist	7.5	83
6	Double Date	7.4	82
7	The Ski Weekend	7.7	93
8	Health Club	7.7	88
9	Burial Ground	7.1	78
10	Hello Daddy	7.7	88
11	Jilted	7.3	68
12	Dreams	7.2	72
13	Kathy	7.3	83
14	Fire	7.3	76
15	The Squatter	7.2	83
16	The Car	7.4	77
17	Crime Story: Part 1	7.1	84
18	Crime Story: Part 2	6.8	84
19	B.M.O.C.	6.5	74
20	Green Hair	7.4	83
21	Have I Got a Girl for You	6.8	81
22	Lifesavers	7.5	75
23	Stress? What Stress?	6.7	76
24	The Music Man	7.3	86
25	Short But Sweet	7.3	78
26	On Your Toes	7.3	67

Season 5 (1982)

7.30 avg 24 episodes 7.3 → 7.7 26 min avg

Rebound

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Shoot-Out at the O.K. Arcade	7.3	84
2	In the Swim	7.2	86
3	Cyrano De Jackson	6.8	82
4	Big Brother	7.0	84
5	The Peacemaker	7.4	81
6	Substitute Teacher	7.6	85
7	The Older Woman	7.2	79
8	A Case of Overexposure	6.9	77
9	Memories	7.6	78
10	Push Comes to Shove	7.3	77
11	The Executives	6.7	76
12	Santa's Helper	7.0	77
13	A Growing Problem	7.8	84
14	Parents Have Rights, Too	7.4	76
15	Independent Woman	6.9	74
16	The Bicycle Man: Part 1	7.5	168
17	The Bicycle Man: Part 2	7.7	155
18	Family on Ice	7.7	67
19	Hall Monitor	7.4	84
20	The Cricket	7.0	82
21	Roommates	7.3	75
22	The Reporter	7.6	90
23	Romeo and Juliet	7.1	74
24	My Fair Larry	7.7	100

Season 6 (1983)

7.32 avg 23 episodes 7.9 → 6.9 25 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Mr. T and mr. t	7.9	95
2	The Goat	7.0	71
3	Rashomon II	7.1	83
4	The Lie	7.3	74
5	Drafted	7.1	63
6	The Van Drummonds	6.3	79
7	The Moonlighter	7.1	72
8	Coming of Age	7.2	69
9	Assert Yourself	6.8	66
10	Mrs. Z	7.8	77
11	The Senior Class Queen	7.4	70
12	Where There's Smoke	7.6	70
13	Drummond's Lady	7.6	70
14	The Hitchhikers: Part 1	8.0	93
15	The Hitchhikers: Part 2	7.9	88
16	Hooray for Hollywood: Part 1	7.5	78
17	Hooray for Hollywood: Part 2	7.7	77
18	The Wedding	7.8	79
19	The Honeymoon's Over	6.6	69
20	The Bar Mitzvah Boy	7.0	70
21	Kathy's Olympics	7.4	74
22	The Houseguest	7.4	69
23	The Boyfriend	6.9	74

Season 7 (1984)

7.25 avg 24 episodes 7.6 → 7.9 24 min avg

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	A Haunting We Will Go	7.6	98
2	Arnold and Lisa's Mother	7.1	73
3	Bed-Wetting	6.9	72
4	Undercover Lover	7.7	74
5	Arnold's Strike	7.1	74
6	Sam's Father	7.1	72
7	Carmella Meets the Gooch	7.2	72
8	Arnold the Entrepreneur	7.2	68
9	The Honorable Arnold J. Jackson	7.2	66
10	The Gymnasts	7.5	74
11	Tonsils	7.0	72
12	Arnold's Songbird	7.1	72
13	Baseball Blues	7.0	70
14	Arnold Saves the Squirrel	6.9	68
15	Sam Adopts a Grandparent	7.2	68
16	Happy Birthday Drummond	7.7	74
17	Sam's New Pal	7.5	68
18	Russian Embassy	7.2	71
19	Cheers to Arnold	7.3	74
20	A Camping We Will Go	7.1	67
21	Beauty Is in the Eye of Arnold	6.8	72
22	Blue Collar Drummond	6.9	71
23	Street Smarts	7.8	70
24	A Special Friend	7.9	93

Season 8 (1985)

7.03 avg 18 episodes 7.6 → 7.4 24 min avg

Season 8 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Sam's Missing	7.6	101
2	Bully for Arnold	7.3	89
3	Love on the Run	6.7	74
4	Willis Goes to College	7.0	74
5	Arnold's Job	7.0	74
6	A Tale of Two Teachers	7.1	77
7	So You Want to Be a Rock Star?	6.9	74
8	Speak No Evil	6.5	77
9	Arnold's Bad Rep	6.6	71
10	It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To	7.0	67
11	Arnold's Initiation	6.8	68
12	Bulimia	7.4	80
13	Sam's Big Brother	7.2	74
14	Arnold's Tangled Web	6.7	68
15	Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown	6.9	73
16	The Big Bribe	7.1	67
17	The Photo Club	7.4	72
18	The Front Page	7.4	78