SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Breaking: Gary Coleman Passes Away at 42; ION Television June 2010 Highlights; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 31, 2010)

3PM ET: Breaking News!
Actor Gary Coleman (Diff'rent Strokes) has passed away this afternoon. Gary Coleman was in a coma earlier today and was put on life support. Gary died after suffering an intercranial hemorrhage. His wife Shannon Price and her father were at the hospital Friday and decided to pull the plug. Coleman suffered the hemorrhage on Wednesday after taking a fall at his Santaquin home, 55 miles south of Salt Lake City. He has also battled kidney disease for nearly his entire life and had heart surgery last fall. He was also in the hospital twice this year after suffering seizures.
Gary has had many troubles over the years. Besides his health problems, he has had marriage problems (he even appeared on Divorce Court), financial problems, and was in trouble with the law for multiple items including assault and domestic abuse. We won't go much into detail of his problems, but you can read that on RadarOnline. Gary also ran for governor of California in 2003's infamous recall election, coming in 8th place out of 135 candidates.
Gary was of course best known for his role of Arnold Jackson-Drummond on the hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, that ran from 1978-86 on NBC/ABC. He made his mark on this sitcom and became one of the most well-known faces on all of television at the time. Coleman became the most popular fixture of the show, enhanced by his character's catchphrase "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" At the height of his fame on Diff'rent Strokes, he earned as much as $100,000 per episode. Gary's death is the second major death for a Strokes cast member. In 1999, Dana Plato (Kimberly) committed suicide. Conrad Bain (Mr. Drummond), Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett), Mary Jo Catlett (Pearl), Danny Cooksey (Sam), and Todd Bridges (Willis Jackson) are all still living, but Nedra Volz (Adelaide) and Dixie Carter (Maggie) have passed away. Arnold's friend on the show, Dudley, played by Shavar Ross is on Twitter and has a website. So feel free to let him know your thoughts.
Before he was on Diff'rent Strokes, Gary guest starred with memorable appearances on The Jeffersons and Good Times. His other guest appearances include Medical Center, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Simon & Simon, Amazing Stories, 227, Married with Children, Martin, Unhappily Ever Ater, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Homeboys in Outer Space, The Jamie Foxx Show, Parent'hood, The Naked Truth, Wayans Bros., Shasta McNasty, The Simpsons, The Hughleys, The Drew Carey Show, The Rerun Show, Son of the Beach, My Wife & Kids, Baby Bob, The Parkers, and more.
Gary also starred on his own short-lived animated series The Gary Coleman Show in 1982. He starred in many TV movies in the early '80s including The Kid from Left Field, Scout's Honor, The Kid with the Broken Halo, Jimmy the Kid, The Kid with the 200 I.Q., and Playing with Fire.
We will let you know if there are any plans from any cable network to play a Diff'rent Strokes marathon (or anything else he was in, such as those classic TV movies) in honor of Gary. So please check back with us because we will be the first to know. UPDATE: Bio TV will remember Gary by airing a block of Biography episodes on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. Biography: Dana Plato airs at 8pm, Biography: Diff'rent Strokes airs at 9pm, Biography Remembers: Gary Coleman airs at 10pm and The Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals: Gilligan's Island & Diff'rent Strokes airs at 11pm. And if you're in Chicago, Me-TV will pay tribute to Gary by airing a Diff'rent Strokes marathon from 11am-7pm CT on Me-TV Chicago. View the schedule. Stay tuned for further updates.
Mr. Coleman was only 42 and will be deeply missed by many, including the sitcom world. R.I.P. Gary.

Watch Gary Coleman on ABC News' 20/20 feature story from May 1999:


It's a quiet June 2010 for ION Television, as the schedule will remain the same as it is now. Among the changes made last month were The Guard being removed (Saturdays 9-11pm) by more Ghost Whisperer and The Emeril Lagasse Show moving to Sundays at 5pm now instead of 8pm, due to low ratings. As a result, now M*A*S*H airs regularly on Sundays from 3-5pm, in addition to its weekday airings from 4-6pm and filler airings on Saturday afternoons. My Name is Earl will continue to air Sundays in the 1pm hour, or sometimes just 11:30pm if a movie runs long.
ION will continue to air movies on weekends. Movies airing in June on ION are Shanghai Noon, Blood Work, Entrapment, Field of Dreams, The Fugitive, The Godfather, and The Outlaw Josey Wales.
View the full ION Television June 2010 schedule and highlights. Hopefully July will be more interesting, so stay with us in the coming weeks for that.


It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of May 31-June 4, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, May 31, 2010

• Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show) - Drew stops by Lopez Tonight at 11pm on TBS.
• Sarah Silverman (Sarah Silverman Program) - Sarah heads to see the ladies of The View, at 11am ET/10am CT/PT on ABC. You can also catch her on a repeat of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35am.
• The Game cast - Catch the cast of the sitcom on The Mo'nique Show on BET at 11pm. This is a repeat, though.
• Jenna Fischer (The Office) - This is a repeat from a few weeks back, but catch Jenna on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

• Terry Crews (Are We There Yet?) - Catch Terry on Lopez Tonight at 11pm on TBS promoting his new TBS sitcom.
• Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Catch Susie on CBS's Early Show sometime between 7-9am. And that's not all, she will also be on NBC's Today at 10am and also on HLN's The Joy Behar Show at 9pm.
• Neil Flynn (The Middle/[scrubs]) - This is a repeat, so if you need to see Neil on The Bonnie Hunt Show, check your local listings.
• Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/The Golden Girls/Mary Tyler Moore) - This is a repeat, but catch Betty again on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:35am on NBC.
• Carol Burnett (Carol Burnett Show/Mama's Family) - This is also a repeat, but catch Carol again on Tavis Smiley on PBS. Check your local listings.
• Ellie Kemper (The Office) - This is a repeat, but catch Ellie again on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:35am on CBS.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

• Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/Golden Girls/Mary Tyler Moore) - This is a repeat from March, but catch Betty again on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, check your local listings.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

• Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) - Sean will be on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT/PT.
• Lisa Kudrow (Friends) - This is a repeat, but catch Lisa on The Martha Stewart Show again, so check your listings.
• Ed Helms (The Office) - This is a repeat of him on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, airing 11:35pm on NBC!
• Holly Robinson-Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper) - Catch a repeat of Holly on The Wendy Williams Show either on BET at 12am or your local station.

Friday, June 4, 2010

• Jay Mohr (Gary Unmarried) - Jay stops by CBS's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:35am.
• Jennie Garth (What I Like About You) - The lovely Jennie stops by The View, at 11am ET/10am CT/PT on ABC.

Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!