Melanie Watson as Kathy Gordon on "Diff'rent Strokes"

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Does anyone remember her but me? She appeared four times on "Diff'rent Strokes": she is a daughter of Mr. Drummond's business associate whom Mr. Drummond first introduces to Arnold (Gary Coleman) because Arnold is feeling sorry for himself since he will never grow any taller. (Though the series creators of this and "The Facts of Life" had good intentions working with disability issues, they often had awful taste when working it into their shows.) In one memorable moment in that episode, Arnold accidentally refers to her as "handicapped" (already a bad word by 1980), and she shouts back, "I'M HANDI-CAPABLE, TURKEY!"

She actually had tons and tons of personality, and was quite a bright spot on the show in her appearances (though it was hard to write around her). And, unlike Gary Coleman, she's still alive, and even got married.

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by Anonymousreply 11May 17, 2021 4:48 AM

I hope the hubby is a tinymeater.

by Anonymousreply 1May 17, 2021 3:23 AM

I remember her and Jo's cousin Geri and just thinking "I'm glad I'm the way I am." 🤷‍♂️

The only awareness these episodes raised was about myself, strangely.

by Anonymousreply 2May 17, 2021 3:28 AM

It was like someone put an adult human head on a cabbage patch doll body.

by Anonymousreply 3May 17, 2021 3:31 AM

And not just that, r3: it's as if they put Tootsie's head on the CB doll body.

by Anonymousreply 4May 17, 2021 3:36 AM

Oh please. Gary Coleman was thrilled there was someone shorter than him on the show.

by Anonymousreply 5May 17, 2021 3:53 AM

[quote] She's still alive.

Is there an echo in here??

by Anonymousreply 7May 17, 2021 4:13 AM

R7 Well, it looks like R6 clicked your link and then clicked the IMDB link of her name and found this out.

RESEARCH!

by Anonymousreply 8May 17, 2021 4:16 AM

Didn’t she pose for Playboy?

by Anonymousreply 10May 17, 2021 4:38 AM

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