Diff'rent Strokes (Seasons 1–8)

Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986) is an American sitcom you can watch online on iFILM. After their mother dies, two boys from Harlem — Arnold and Willis Jackson — are taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue widower.

Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) once promised his late housekeeper he'd look after her sons, and he keeps his word. That drops two Black kids from a poor neighborhood into a lavish apartment beside Drummond's daughter Kimberly. Gary Coleman, as pint-sized Arnold, became the face of the show overnight, and his line "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" turned into a national catchphrase.

Across eight seasons on NBC and later ABC, the series used a family-comedy frame to touch race, class and adoption, and it didn't shy away from heavier episodes about drugs and abuse. It also spun off The Facts of Life. Watch it as a capsule of 1980s American television. Stream Diff'rent Strokes online on iFILM.