Nerdy Facts of The Day: Different Strokes

• Gary Coleman got $1 million a year when the show went into syndication.


• Dana Plato was making as much as $22,000 per episode on Diff'rent Strokes.


• Dana Plato was training in ice skating for the Olympics when she got the role of Kimberly on "Diff'rent Strokes." She had to give up hope for the Olympics, but she still skated for fun.


• Dana Plato got the role of Kimberly on Diff'rent Strokes after a producer spotted her on The Gong Show.


• Todd Bridges got the role of Willis Jackson without an audition, the producers had known him from the Abe Vigoda series "Fish".


• Friday, the 19th of May 1978, Tandem Productions executives pitched the idea to NBC. 26 episodes were ordered.


• Ben Starr wrote the first episode of Diff'rent Strokes.


• On paper, Gary Coleman's famous line read "what are you talking about?". It was Gary Coleman who said it like "whatchoo talkin' 'bout?"