FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH - LITTLE WAYNE COLEMAN

Unlike the real soap operas it spoofed, 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' took long summer breaks.  To fill that void in the timeslot, Norman Lear's production company went in a different direction by creating a late night talk show locally broadcast from the TV station in Fernwood, Ohio, and hosted by Barth Gimble.  Barth was relatively new to Fernwood, having come after his twin brother Garth, a wife abuser, had been impaled on an artificial Christmas tree.  

But by the next summer, Barth Gimble felt the pull of Hollywood's allure and headed West to California.  There he got another late night talk show, 'America 2-Night' on the UBS network in Alto Coma, bringing along his Fernwood co-host Jerry Hubbard.

In May of 1978, Barth tried a new gimmick during one of his broadcasts.  He premiered a children's talk show which was entitled 'America After Lunch' and which was hosted by Little Freaking Wayne Coleman, a little boy whom Barth was hoping to adopt.  (There had to be a catch to the deal.)

Like Barth with Jerry, Little Wayne had a sidekick for 'America 2-Night' who played by Corey Feldman.  Feldman was seven years old, three years younger than Gary Coleman playing Little Wayne.  And he was just about as clueless as Jerry Hubbard was.  (One of the guests on that episode was Cindy Williams as herself.)

Just a few years later, Gary Coleman became a sensation in Toobworld with his portrayal of Arnold Jackson Drummond on 'Diff'rent Strokes'.  Eventually he would be inducted into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame for that role, having played it in more than three TV series.  (Sadly, his induction was spurred by his death.)

With his time in the spotlight, the public learned about how Coleman's kidney disease as a child stunted his growth and as Arnold and his older brother Willis (Todd Bridges) grew older on our screens, it became more apparent.

But the general public didn't know that when they first saw Little Wayne Coleman and there was no gauge by which they could eventually realize he was not going to get much taller because his two appearances on 'America 2-Night' were the only times he appeared.

This would be a similar situation as with Peter Falk playing Lt. Columbo.  I think we all knew he had a glass eye, but Columbo apparently did not - at least, not at first.  In the episode "Negative Reaction", Columbo told a driving inspector that he had 20/20 vision.  But in the later run of episodes on ABC, he told somebody else to take a look at what he was seeing in a microscrope.  "Three eyes are better than two," he said.  (This happened in the 25th anniversary episode "A Trace Of Murder".)  It's my theory that at some point during the hiatus from 1978 to 1989, Lt. Co

So even though Gary Coleman had kidney disease, that doesn’t mean Little Wayne Coleman did.  And since Life goes on even after the character is no longer seen on TV, I see no reason why we can’t envision Wayne Coleman eventually being not so little anymore.

Fully grown, he may have continued pursuing a career in television: becoming a news anchor; perhaps hosting a game show; and who knows?  Maybe he got back behind the desk on a late night talk show.

But I also think he’s probably out there in Toobworld, working behind the scenes at some fictional TV network as an executive or producer – at ZNN, CSC, ABX, AMNN, and where he first got started, UBS.  (“Where we put U before the BS.”)

Yes, I think Wayne Coleman is still alive in Toobworld.  On the other hand, I concede that Arnold Jackson has probably passed away as did Gary Coleman.  (Mainly because Gary Coleman was too defined a character to ever be played by some other actor.  Accepting that he’s dead might help keep some unscrupulous producer from trying to reboot the role.) 

One last thought, it could well be – based on their last names and the fact that they resembled each other – that Little Wayne Coleman was related to the televersion of Gary Coleman whose fictional persona could be seen in episodes of ‘The Parkers’, ‘The Parent ‘Hood’, ‘The Hughleys’, and ‘The Jackie Thomas Show’.

If you’re still out there, Little Wayne Coleman, all the best in your endeavors.  And here in the real world, there are those who still remember your first foray into the spotlight, as witnessed by this T-Shirt I’ve seen being sold online: 

BCnU!