Cast surprises and Kevin Hart rescue 'Facts of Life' and 'Diff'rent Strokes' revival
First, an admission: I've never been a huge fan of Jimmy Kimmel's Live In Front of a Studio Audience specials.
The late night host's idea – redoing classic Norman Lear sitcom episodes live with modern stars – is wonderful. But in practice, past outings featuring Woody Harrelson as All in the Family's Archie Bunker, Jamie Foxx as George Jefferson from The Jeffersons and Jay Pharoah as J.J. in Good Times never felt right to me.
Too often, the episodes mostly proved the original success of those classic sitcoms was a unique alchemy, matching indelible characters with performers who could takeBut then, they got to the episode, with a height-challenged, fortysomething Kevin Hart playing 8-year-old Arnold – a role immortalized by the late Gary Coleman. And the magic returned.
