April 27th, 1993. Geraldo Rivera’s namesake talk show remembers the 80s sitcom with its main star.
“..I had hoped that the message we were putting across on the original four seasons of the show was that all races, creeds and colors and religions of people can get along together…”
The segment begins flashing back to interviews with other cast from Different Strokes, before Gary Coleman is introduced. Mr. Coleman talks about the pressures of being the main star and the dynamics of working with his co-stars. He maintains everyone was ready to try new things and that’s why the show stopped, even though he was the highest paid child star ever. The conversation moves to more somber notes such as the lawsuit with his parents, the actual amount of money he made, being proud of the message Different Strokes was sending, and finally what it’s like to live his life relatively smaller in size, due to illness.
Gary Coleman passed away in 2010.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.