After taking a year off, ABC is bringing back its award winning Live in Front of a Studio Audience special. Premiering Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 8 pm ET, this time it revives ‘80s classics Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life.
Superstar Kevin Hart will play Gary Coleman’s iconic role of Arnold, while Damon Wayans is older brother Willis. Emmy winners John Lithgow and Ann Dowd are Mr. Drummond and Mrs. Garrett.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Jimmy Kimmel announced the news on his late night talk show.
Kimmel is once again joined as executive producer by legendary TV producer Norman Lear, as well as Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux, Jim Burrows and Brent Miller.
“Other than with my family, there’s no place I’d rather be in my 100th year than on a soundstage at Sony with these glorious actors reliving what our company had produced all those years ago and sharing it with the millions of viewers who could use a little laughter,” Lear said in a statement.
The cast for The Facts of Life hasn’t been announced, but may we suggest Marsai Martin as Tootie.
Per TVLine, this is the third Live in Front of a Studio Audience special. The first one in May 2019 featured All in the Family and The Jeffersons. Later that year, a holiday edition included All in the Family and Good Times.
For the kids reading this, Diff’rent Strokes was a sitcom that starred Coleman and Todd Bridges as two young Black brothers who were adopted by a rich white man, thus blending their Diff’rent worlds. It ran for seven seasons from 1978-1985 on NBC, then moved to ABC in 1986 for an eighth season.
“It has been an honor and highlight of my career to collaborate with the legendary Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Sony,” Washington said. “Part of the magic of Norman’s iconic TV series is that they resonate with audiences today just as much as they did decades ago. Reliving and reimagining them feels like pure joy. I keep wondering when this will start to feel like work!”
Now that we’ve gotten the pertinent information out of the way, let’s talk about Kevin Hart and Damon Wayans playing children. Yes, we get what they’re going for. Yes, both actors will be very funny. However, this just feels too weird.
So you’re telling us that instead of casting two of the many talented young actors in Hollywood, ABC chose to go with fully grown men? Again, we get what you’re trying to do ABC, but there’s absolutely no way for the audience to take this seriously.
That being said, of course we’re going to watch, because this is either going to be genius or a trainwreck, and we can’t wait to see which one it is.
At least this event will be paired with a special preview of Quinta Brunson’s new comedy Abbott Elementary at 9:30 pm.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life airs Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 8 pm ET.