When did you first hear about the word " paedophile " ? I'm certain that for me it was in 1987 . Being a massive fan of U2 I was reading an article about the band and their upcoming gig at Edinburgh Murrayfield stadium . In amongst the trivia facts was one that their debut album Boy released in 1980 had an entirely different cover for its American release because of concerns that it might have " paedophiliac connotations " .The word puzzled me so had to look it and found a paedophile was someone who had a sexual attraction to children . It might sound insane now but never thought there was anything amiss about U2s early iconography having a young boy on two of their first three albums . Indeed I actually proudly wore a U2 T-shirt that featured the young boy featured from the albums and that alone made me the coolest teenager on Bute . Nowdays any artist using children as an icon would be decapitated while being burned at the stake . While Bono and the band along with myself thought with some justification they were the coolest thing in history the American sit-com DIFFERENT STROKES was warning the public about child molesters " paedos ? What you talking about Willis ? " .It's only recently I found out this two part story existed . and like the deranged show DEADLIEST WARRIOR with a shoot off between the IRA versus the Taliban I'd have trouble believing it existed until seeing it with my own eyes . I can state for the record it does indeed exist and it's a contender for strangest comedy I've ever seen
The episodes are introduced by Conrad Bain who warns the audience that this weeks episode features an important topic that parents should discuss with their children . I don't doubt there's a genuine heart felt agenda being pushed forward . There is nothing more important than the safety of children especially from the most base elements of the human race but is a comedy show the best way to discuss sexual predators of children ? It possibly is but there's a painful problem in how are you going to make almost an hour's television featuring a child molester grooming a couple of kids funny ? The producers think constant one liners - something the show was very good at - like " you told us about the birds and the bees but that was nothing compared to what those mice were doing " might take some of the sting out of such a heavy theme but to be frank you might be watching this while squirming in your seat . It's interesting I never felt like laughing once but watching the real life show that is TO CATCH A PREDATOR it constantly has me in tears of laughter no matter how often I watch it . Let's not forget however while DIFFERENT STROKES was being produced in America JIM'LL FIX IT was a popular TV show in Britain . Sometimes you have to admit even if it's through gritted teeth America is the best place on Earth in some rare ways . Even better is the fact that in American jails convicted child molesters don't get the same protection awarded to them in countries like Britain . Well done Yanks
