Diff'rent Strokes

His friends' stories of their sexual exploits convince Willis it's time he "became a man" -- now he must convince his steady girl friend Charlene.

On his first day at high school, Willis struggles to fit in. However, when pressed to buy some popularity with marijuana, he faces a difficult choice between being "accepted" or being shut out.

Kimberly hopes a summer job will make her more independent, but when it becomes an undreamed chance at international modeling, it may be more independence than her father will agree to.

Drummond faces a lawsuit when he hires a black man from outside his company for a prized executive position and Willis seeks justice when told his color is the only thing preventing him from making the school's predominantly black basketball team.

Arnold's desire to gain admission to the Gooch's club lands him in trouble with the law. And even though Drummond and the rest of the family rally to help, a shopkeeper's loss of patience is sending Arnold to court - and maybe to jail.

When the parents object because of their age, Arnold's prospects of a first date with classmate Diane Wilson look bleak. But after Mr. Drummond and the Wilsons agree to have a chaperone, it's left up to Kimberly and Willis to make their little brother's dream date come true.

After Kimberly gets permission to go on a ski weekend with a girlfriend, she learns that Michelle invited some boys along, too. Will Kimberly go anyway? And can she keep her dad from learning the truth?

Hoping to see their father win the race that will make him their Athlete of the Year, Willis and Arnold arrive at the Riverside Athletic Club, only to be turned away because they are black. Will the boys expose the club's racist policies and thereby risk raining on their father's parade? Or will they sit still for injustice in order to allow their dad to have his day in the sun?

Arnold finds a prized Native American artifact that ignites controversy over Drummond's latest construction project. And just when Drummond needs their support the most, Arnold and Willis join an angry tribal chief in a hunger strike.

A visitor claiming to be Phillip's son from a Korean War love affair rocks the Drummond clan. However, even though plays along, only Phillip - and the woman he left for dead at the end of the war thirty years ago - knows the real truth.

A Canadian business trip that has forced Mr. Drummond to cancel a fishing weekend with him and Willis has Arnold worried. And when his fears turn to nightmares, Drummond enlists a psychologist to help Arnold cope.

When his wheelchair-bound friend, Kathy Gordon, refuses to use her crutches in public, Arnold pitches in to get her to change her mind. And when he gets a bad case of the opening night jitters during a school play, Kathy's own courage inspires Arnold to take the stage.

When a fire breaks outs in the apartment building's lower floors, Drummond and Aunt Sophia agree not to tell the children in order to avoid any panic. However, once the flames threaten the penthouse, worries about their survival lead to some startling - and heartfelt - confessions.

When a new condominium project threatens to put a woman out on the street, the kids convince Mr. Drummond to take her in for the night. And once she has a roof over her head, Mrs. Martinson goes to work in persuading Drummond to find her a new place to live.

News that Charlene is going to a concert with a classmate who can drive upsets Willis. Convinced that he is capable enough to use the family limousine, Willis defies his dad's wishes and sneaks off with the car. But when Aunt Sophia learns that the limo is missing from the garage and calls the police, she unwittingly puts Willis in danger of being arrested.

To avoid a pair of bullies at school, Arnold and his friend Dudley decide that the best solution is to cut class. However, when he and Kimberly get wind of their little brother's problem - and the solution - Willis offers to play the protector, only to end up in the hospital as a result.

After Willis takes a beating from a pair of schoolyard bullies, it's up to Arnold to find the courage to stop them. And when he secretly sets off to catch the two hoods in the act, Arnold risks his own safety.

In hopes of impressing the members of an exclusive campus club, Willis does his best to disassociate himself from Arnold. But after the club members find him to be too conceited and refuse to ask him to join, can Willis find his way back into Arnold's good graces?

On the eve of a big date, an encounter with acid rain turns Kimberly's hair green. But when Sophia urges her to attend a fundraising dinner to help drive home the need for clean air, Kimberly would rather look for a way to keep her date - a handsome Yale student - in the dark about her problem.

In order to find him a more age-appropriate date, Aunt Sophia sets Mr. Drummond up with her friend, a down-to-earth hair stylist named Delores. When Arnold says that his dad is planning to take her to a fancy ball and dinner with the mayor, Delores is delighted. But when she discovers that he has other plans, Delores accuses Drummond of snobbery and walks out - leaving it to Arnold to try...

While he's landing a job at a neighborhood gas station, Willis is in the right place at the right time to save Arnold from being crushed. When Arnold decides he'll do anything to repay his big brother's heroism, his zeal is too much for Willis to take. However, when Willis's plan to even the score backfires, it could get them both killed.

A doctor's relaxation techniques for Mr. Drummond uncover the fact that Willis is the one with too much stress. However, when his dad insists that he give up on his race for Freshman Class President, Willis is reluctant to bow out of the election... until a stress-related illness sends him home from school.

After getting Charlene an audition with his new band, The Afro Dizziacs, Willis persuades his dad to back their demo recording. However, Willis's future in the music business is imperiled when the band chooses Kimberly as their new singer, and leave it to him to break the bad news to Charlene.

Though his twelfth birthday is coming up, Arnold makes it clear he doesn't want a party. Encouraged by Dudley to get over his fear of girls, Arnold invites Teresa, and is stunned when she accepts. However, when Teresa shows up with another date and threatens to ruin his evening and his confidence, Arnold tries to recover with a display of chivalry.