The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.
Where to watch
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Tubi TV
see all options Availability data: JustWatch
- Seasons
- 8
- Episodes aired
- 189
- Latest aired
- S08E19
- Total runtime
- 14h 19min
Timeline when each season aired
- Season 1 November 1978 – May 1979 24 episodes
- Season 2 September 1979 – March 1980 26 episodes
- Season 3 November 1980 – May 1981 22 episodes
- Season 4 October 1981 – May 1982 26 episodes
- Season 5 October 1982 – May 1983 24 episodes
- Season 6 October 1983 – May 1984 24 episodes
- Season 7 September 1984 – May 1985 24 episodes
- Season 8 September 1985 – March 1986 19 episodes
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S05E01 Shoot-Out at the O.K. Arcade
October 2 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold is determined to defeat brother Willis at his own game and dethrone him as local video game champ, but in doing so Arnold's passion becomes a destructive ""addiction"" that could have serious consequences.
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S05E02 In the Swim
October 9 find the promo
Show synopsis
Willis is completely supportive of Kimberly's transfer into his public school, until his sister's ""innocent"" actions begin getting him into hot water.
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S05E03 Cyrano De Jackson
October 16 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold's on the outs with his best friend Dudley after he innocently offers to help his bashful buddy win the heart of a young lady -- who falls for Arnold instead.
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S05E04 Big Brother
October 23 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold's got a ""can't lose"" plan for curing a new classmate's loneliness -- sharing big brother Willis -- but his kind of intentions leave Arnold feeling like the lonely, only child.
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S05E05 The Peacemaker
October 30 find the promo
Show synopsis
Willis' personal safety is in jeopardy when his noble attempt to mediate a feud between rival gangs backfires, forcing him to take a drastic step to insure his protection -- purchasing a handgun.
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S05E06 Substitute Teacher
November 6 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold and his buddies fabricate a ""little white lie"" in an attempt to get rid of an overly-conscientious substitute teacher, but their tell tale could result in more than just removing the teacher from the classroom -- it could destroy his entire career.
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S05E07 The Older Woman
November 13 find the promo
Show synopsis
A false I.D. and a false bravado create real problems for Willis and a beautiful ""older"" woman when an evening on the town doesn't go quite as he had planned.
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S05E08 A Case of Overexposure (a.k.a.) Overexposure
November 20 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold must face the bare facts -- his chances of winning a prestigious school election seem desperately slim, thanks to an ""overexposed"" candid campaign photo taken by sister Kimberly.
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S05E09 Memories
November 27 find the promo
Show synopsis
A long lost trunk returned to the boys contains a tape recording of their deceased mother which brings to the surface a previously unrecognized problem that triggers uncharacteristic behavior from a usually happy-go-lucky Arnold.
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S05E10 Push Comes to Shove
December 4 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold's unexpected confrontation with the new building manager's son leads to a chilling series of events that could get the entire Drummond family evicted.
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S05E11 The Executives
December 11 find the promo
Show synopsis
Willis learns that even a little power in the wrong hands can be dangerous when he oversteps the bounds of his authority in his afterschool job at his father's office.
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S05E12 Santa's Helper
December 18 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold falls innocent victim to a beguiling street-corner Santa who has an ulterior financial motive for hiring him as a holiday ""helper.""
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S05E13 A Growing Problem
January 8 find the promo
Show synopsis
At 16, Willis thinks he's man enough and old enough to ""top"" a few drinks with the guys, but Drummond's objections send Willis storming out of the house intent on proving his father wrong.
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S05E14 Parents Have Rights, Too
January 15 find the promo
Show synopsis
Drummond's plans for a quiet and private weekend ""alone"" don't quite work out as he had intended, when a storm sends Arnold, Willis and Kimberly home from a camping trip early -- catching him off guard in a compromising situation.
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S05E15 Independent Woman
January 22 find the promo
Show synopsis
A new job and a handsome new boss add up to trouble for an innocent Kimberly when her new employer starts displaying a more than casual interest in her -- hoping that his ""special attention"" will help land him a position within Drummond's prestigious company.
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S05E16 The Bicycle Man (1)
February 5 find the promo
Show synopsis
Unaware that he's being lured into the carefully crafted trap of a child molester, Arnold eagerly agrees to perform a simple task in return for an overly generous reward from a ""friendly"" neighborhood merchant.
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S05E17 The Bicycle Man (2)
February 12 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold and Dudley's ""friendship"" with a local merchant reaches a dangerous turning point when, unbeknownst to the boys, the man, who is actually a child molester, is about to make his move.
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S05E18 Family on Ice
February 19 find the promo
Show synopsis
Kimberly is overjoyed when Olympic Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill sees great promise in her as a competitive figure skater, but she's even more astounded when Drummond agrees to let her leave the New York ""nest"" to train full time with the award-winning skater -- in Los Angeles.
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S05E19 Hall Monitor
February 26 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold's good intentions backfire when his efforts to help his handicapped friend Kathy adjust to life in public school cost him the esteem of his classmates and the friendship of pals Dudley and Robbie.
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S05E20 The Cricket
March 5 find the promo
Show synopsis
To try to curb Arnold's run of bad luck, Drummond gives him a pet cricket, but the Japanese ""good luck charm"" brings nothing but sleepless nights and dreams of ""pesticide"" to the rest of the household.
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S05E21 Roommates
March 12 find the promo
Show synopsis
The household's turned upside down when Drummond becomes Arnold's roommate for a week.
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S05E22 The Reporter
March 19 find the promo
Show synopsis
Determined to prove he didn't fabricate a story about drug abuse in his grade school just to win a journalism contest, Arnold takes his article to the New York City newspaper sponsoring the competition, and when they run his story on the front page, Arnold receives some unexpected more support from First Lady Nancy Reagan.
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S05E23 Romeo and Juliet
April 30 find the promo
Show synopsis
Arnold's Romeo is steeped in more turmoil than Shakespeare ever intended when he's tricked by his ""best friends"" into playing opposite arch-nemisis Lisa's Juliet.
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S05E24 My Fair Larry (a.k.a.) My Fair Lady
May 7 find the promo
Show synopsis
School ""thug"" Larry coerces Willis into teaching him how to ""make it"" with girls, but things go from bad to worse when Larry's first target is Willis' sister Kimberly.