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‘What chew talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?’
Todd Bridges (aka Willis Jackson) let about 60 people know what Willis was talking about Saturday night at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown. In addition to introducing screenings of three episodes of the 70’s and 80’s hit show “Diff’rent Strokes,” Bridges fielded questions from the audience.
Bridges regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes stories from the show, in addition to some anecdotes about living the fast and loose Hollywood lifestyle. Apparently the tagline made famous by Gary Coleman came from a typo that Coleman read verbatim, leading to riotous laughter from the show’s staff. After seeing the hilarious effects of the line, writers figured out a way to work the quip into each episode. Apparently Bridges’ diminutive co-star maintains some bitter resentment toward the show and his attachment to the character. He also has some very hard feelings towards Bridges, saying he will work with any actor not named Todd Bridges. Bridges has taken the slight in stride, although he could not refuse the chance to take a shot or two Coleman. “It’s not my fault his mom came on to me when I was 16,” Bridges told the crowd. “I even got the kid a job at Disney World at It’s a Small World.” Oh snap!
Though he joked that his life of drugs and petty crime came from “being raised by a rich white dude,” Bridges admitted that his widely publicized misguided life of drugs was a result of the gluttonous times and that most child stars of the ’70s and ’80s suffered from being taken advantage of by producers. “The secret of the entertainment industry is lifetime money,” he said. Bridges said that while producers and industry executives got rich off of the show’s success, he did not make enough money to last his lifetime. He went on to say that child stars of today have more avenues for making big bucks through parlaying their television work into film work and the like, an opportunity he said was forbidden of him while on “Diff’rent Strokes.”
Although Bridges endured painful times following his fame as a child actor, he also admitted that he got to reap quite a few rewards of stardom, including hanging regularly at the Playboy Mansion and dating Janet Jackson as a teenager. While he was somewhat tight-lipped about the nature of that relationship, he did admit that Janet’s older, much weirder, brother Michael used to try and “intimidate” him and even followed them on a date. Creepy. As Bridges said, “I wouldn’t send my kids over there (to Michael’s house).”
Bridges was gregarious throughout, if not completely coherent in developing arguments. In one such argument, he attempted to explain the difference between TV shows in the ’70s and ’80s versus now. His point seemed to be that comedies back then were situational, whereas now they focus on “jokes;” although he basically relied on the crutch, “Shows were different then, you know?” Um, ok, I’ll go with you on that one, Todd. More than willing to joke about his missteps and proudly speak about his 14 years of sobriety and exciting future in television (he has a small role on Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris” on the WB, for which Rock said he hired Bridges because he knocked out Vanilla Ice on “Celebrity Boxing”) and stand-up comedy, Bridges proved to be a former child star who has come to terms with his past and is loving the present.
Image taken from the Alamo Drafthouse
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