The curse of Diff’rent Strokes lives on.
The 1980s sitcom told the heartwarming tale of a rich white guy who takes in two Black kids from Harlem. But the show’s child stars all faced tragedy, from Dana Plato’s drug addiction and suicide to Todd Bridges’ charges of attempted murder to Gary Coleman’s bankruptcy and accidental death.
Now, a sleazy A&E reality series, Lie Detector: Truth or Deception, is questioning just how accidental Coleman’s death was.
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First, some medical background. The child comedy star battled health problems all his life due to congenital kidney disease. In May 2010, he allegedly had a seizure, falling and hitting his head. He was admitted to a Provo, Utah, hospital where he was placed on life support. Two days later, Coleman passed away from complications from his injury.
Tabloids have speculated about that tumble because Coleman’s ex, Shannon Price, was present when he fell. Nothing to see here, concluded investigators, who ruled that there was “absolutely nothing suspicious” about Coleman’s death.
Maybe Price wanted to let people know once and for all she had nothing to do with Coleman’s fall, or maybe A&E was offering up some needed cash. All we know for certain is that Price agreed to answer questions about the incident while hooked up to a lie detector, with a retired FBI agent and polygraph expert leading the made-for-TV investigation.
The episode doesn’t drop until Thursday, but a sneak peek teases some damning conclusions. “I asked you the following relevant questions on this test,” says the retired FBI agent. “‘Did you physically cause Gary’s fall?’ You said, ‘No.’ I also asked you, ‘Did you physically cause Gary to fall that day?’ You said, ‘No.’”
Cue the “wrong answer” buzzer. According to the agent, Price “failed that exam, with deception indicated to those relevant questions.”
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Price doesn’t seem too concerned about the failed test in the teaser, smirking with a shrug when she’s told the results. “That’s false,” she maintains.
The FBI agent isn’t so sure, concluding that Price hadn’t been completely honest with him during the test. He’s also “100 percent certain” that there’s more to the story than the public knows.
Whether or not you believe in lie detector tests, Price has told diff’rent versions of her story on film. For example, notes Entertainment Weekly, Price says she “never laid a hand” on Coleman on the Lie Detector episode. But in last year’s Gary documentary on Peacock, she admitted that she’d “slapped him a couple times.” (She now says Gary producers pressured her into false confessions.) Also of note: Coleman took out a restraining order against Price in February 2010, alleging that she destroyed his belongings when he wasn’t at home.
Because A&E isn’t a court of law, it ultimately won’t matter what its lie detector tests conclude. But if Price appeared on Lie Detector: Truth or Deception to launder her reputation, it looks like all she’s done is muddy the waters.
Content shared from www.cracked.com.