Mrs. Garrett is present for the first 13 episodes of the second season of Diff'rent Strokes, with the character last seen in the episode "The Rivals", after which she leaves, offscreen, to take a permanent position at Eastland, The Facts of Life having by then been picked up for a full series. The final two episodes produced for the third season ("Growing Up" and "The Model") had originally been postponed due to a writer's strike,[citation needed] and the interspersing of these two episodes with the ones without Coleman taped at the start of the fourth season allowed the span of his absence to be broken down onscreen. It was in many respects a standard episode, with no signs that it would be the show's finale due to the cancellation of the series. Other classmates and friends of Arnold seen over time included Robbie Jason (Steven Mond) and snobby Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey), who initially was sweet on Arnold, but later came to despise him, leading to hatred between the pair and many squabbles. Bridges' more high-profile role was as Monk, a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran, conspiracy theorist, and nephew of Chris's boss Doc on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. It turns out Willis had done it to prove a point that everyone is "innocent until proven guilty". Talk:Diff'rent Strokes - Wikipedia Maggie unravels emotionally. Arnold gets reassurance from Kathy when he plays Abraham Lincoln in a school play, but when he tries to get her to use her crutches instead of sitting in a wheelchair, she is furious and blows his confidence before showtime. His name's Abraham. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two Black boys from H. Gary Coleman, who plays the main character, is Arnold Jackson the young 8 year old boy. [28] After years of battling drug addiction, Bridges became sober in the early 1990s. Philip Drummond Because swimming uses all muscle groups, it helps athletes in all sports by strengthening areas of the body that may not otherwise be exercised frequently. A tough guy (Forest Whitaker) wants Arnold to take care of his girlfriend while he is away, but the girl develops feelings for Arnold. Willis Jackson [20] In 2007, Coleman was cited for disorderly conduct in Provo, Utah, for having a "heated discussion" with a woman. When Arnold finds out, he is angry at what Willis did, but it turns out the girl likes Arnold for real.