By Victor Omondi
‘Diff’rent Strokes’ is returning in style! The beloved sitcom will be now starring some renowned names, a move likely to rekindle their fans’ memories. Set to return next month, the sitcom has the likes of Damon Wayans and Kevin Hart.
To some old fans who got to watch the series back in the days, the sitcom’s return will for sure provoke nostalgia. While the filmmakers haven’t named the whole team of ‘The Facts of Life’ reboot, Wayans and Hart have been announced to be playing different characters. Wayans will take the part of the adopted child, Arnold Jackson, which was initially played by Gary Coleman back in the days, as Hart plays Willis Jackson, who in the film is Arnold’s older brother. Willis was played by Todd Bridges.
The classic series is just one of the films to be revived. Several other actors will join the crew. John Lithgow will play Mr. Drummond, who adopted both Arnold and Willis. The family of Mr. Drummond lived in a penthouse apartment with Mrs. Garrett as Drummond’s maid. The role will still be played by Ann Dowd.
The news about the sitcom’s return was broken by Kimmel during his late-night talk show on Thursday.
Producer Norman Lear wrote in a statement that keeping busy with film production will help her age easily. She feels like nothing apart from that will help her age gracefully.
“Other than with my family, there’s no place I’d rather be in my 100th year than on a soundstage at Sony with these glorious actors reliving what our company had produced all those years ago and sharing it with the millions of viewers who could use a little laughter,” said Lear, in a written statement.
True to that, Lear has been busy recreating her old films. In 2019, Woody Harrelson, Viola Davis, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Bacon, and Martin Short came together to reboot two of Lear’s popular series, All in the Family and The Jeffersons. By the end of 2019, Lear had already begun on the sitcom’s second episode.