@Butterflygal said:

I know the show dealt with social issues like race on a subtle level, but decades later I was surprised when I saw these clips on YT. One featured the youngest siblings telling big brother Keith they wanted to be Black. To be honest they used a term that is now considered offensive. Does anyone recall why they wanted to be a different race?

Chris and Tracy didn't really - as a career choice - want to be someone of a different race. They were just saying that to mess with Keith's head.

The coach had told Keith that because his mother was a widow, he - 'the eldest male in the family' - should show leadership and be a guide to the lives of his brothers and sisters. So Keith decided to become more responsible and use his good influence on them. Instead of the beach, he took Danny, Chris and Tracy to a classical concert in the park, then to the museum and so forth. He also gave the third degree to Laurie's date.

They didn't like all this 'good influence' type of meddling, so they, well Danny, hatched a plan to let Keith 'lead them until he begs for mercy'. They went to him asking for advice on career choice, dating boys and the facts of life. You can guess how it ended.

The second one involves Danny thinking he is adopted, and when he knocks on the door of the home he thinks is his birth family, a black guy answers. The actor was Sid McCoy, the announcer from vintage dance show"Soul Train". Has anyone seen the full episodes? I ordered the first season DVD from the library.

In that episode they couldn't find Danny's birth certificate, so he thought that he was adopted. At the hospital, where the other kids were born, he found out that there was only one boy born on his birthday and the mother's name was Mrs M. Young. He didn't have her new address, so he looked up every M. Young in the phone book. There were many: a construction worker, a priest, one buried in the cemetery, a 10-year old boy, an old man with an ear trumpet and a black man. Shirley and Reuben caught up with Danny at the latter's house, just when he was about to ring the door bell.

Thanks, regarding the first show , the entire episode is on YT. I have to check it out. I can only find clips regarding the other one. I plan to get DVDs from the library.