Diff'rent Strokes: The Trip, Part 1

Diff'rent Strokes: The Trip, Part 1
NBC
March 30, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
B

Although Hello, Larry had premiered only a couple months before, I recall it as a ratings bomb from early on, although it would limp along for another thirteen months after this, while DS of course lasted into '86.  The MAD Magazine satire "Diff'rent Jokes" (http://www.madmagazine.com/sites/default/files/MAD-Magazine-Diffrent-Jokes-Splash.jpg) would in fact appear that same Spring of '80 and mock both shows for the cross-promotion.   The idea of a cross-over isn't too contrived though, and I totally buy that Phil and Larry are old chums.  (Their kids remark they both tell bad jokes.)  And somehow, cross-breeding the corniness improves things.

Phil's corporation has bought Larry's Portland, Oregon radio station, and unfortunately "the computer" thinks the station should be automated.  Never mind that Phil dismissed what the social worker's computer said about inter-racial adoption, this time Phil's going along with it and wants to break the bad news to his friend in person.  The whole family goes along, although Mrs. Garrett is taking a side trip to Seattle to see her sister Beverly.  (Years before Cloris Leachman showed up in the role on Facts of Life.)

Considering that Colonel Blake isn't too appealing a character (I definitely prefer Potter), I'm not sure why I'm so fond of McLean Stevenson, but I think it's actually these loser roles he played post-M*A*S*H, a bunch of guys who weren't succeeding, on shows that weren't succeeding.  By this point he has the slumped shoulders (definitely in the MAD satire) and weariness that I equate with McLean.  As for his onscreen daughters, you can see that Kim Richards, playing Ruthie, was an old pro at the age of 14 (about eight years after The Nanny & the Professor), while Donna Wilkes, as Diane, is pleasant but forgettable enough that the role would be recast in the Fall (in time for the Thanksgiving cross-over).

Note that the script is by Howard Leeds (his second for DS), Ben Starr (his third), and Martin Cohan (his first for this show, although he'd done some for The Bob Newhart Show among others).  I don't know about Part 2, which is technically a Hello, Larry episode, although thankfully packaged on the DS DVD set, so I'll get to it next.