More bad news today for Diff’rent Strokes child actor turned late night infomercial spokesman Gary Coleman. Gary has gotten himself embroiled in some new legal drama this week after getting into an altercation with with a guy at a bowling alley in Utah. Apparently, there was an incident with a cameraphone which led to an incident where Coleman allegedly hit a guy with his car before speeding off. Tho Coleman has not been taken into custody, he has since been charged with misdemeanor reckless driving and disorderly conduct and is currently at large:

Gary Coleman was formally charged Wednesday with reckless driving and disorderly conduct following an altercation at a bowling alley in Utah. “Mr. Coleman was notified today of the charges through his attorney,” said Lt. Bill Wright of the Payson, Utah, Police Department. “(Coleman) never spoke to us about what happened, but we gathered evidence after speaking to witnesses and the other party involved.” Both charges are misdemeanors. Coleman, 40, was backing out of a bowling alley around midnight on Sept. 6 when his truck hit Colt Rushton, 24, as well as another car. Rushton was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. Witnesses said Coleman became irritated after Rushton photographed him. The two argued in the bowling alley and then moved outside, Lt. Wright said. Rushton’s attorney, Dustin Lance, said in a statement: “This wasn’t a situation of paparazzi or stalker-razzi, this was a fan snapping two photographs with a cell phone.” Rushton has since filed a lawsuit against Coleman, seeking damages for medical bills, pain and suffering, and punitive damages. A rep for Coleman wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The way I understand it, Gary Coleman really can’t afford to have these sorts of lawsuits brought against him as the poor guy barely has two nickles to rub together. Despite the fact that he was a wildly successful child actor in the ’80s who made a lotta money, his unsavory parents not only worked him to death but they also took all of his money and pilfered it away … leaving the poor kid essentially broke for most of his adult life. These days, Coleman makes money doing commercials and infomercials for the money lending company Cash Call. This isn’t the first time that Gary Coleman freaked out on a fan … but, as far as I know, this was his most severe reaction. Hitting someone with your car is a very bad idea.

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The 6th Annual TV Land Awards took place at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA yesterday and a cavalcade of classic TV stars took to the red carpet for the event. It must be said, tho, that whoever the genius was who decided to make the celebs walk the carpet (and be photographed) in the blinding mid-day SoCal sun should be fired … you could almost see the make-up melting off the faces of some of our most beloved and revered classic TV celebs. Too cruel … too cruel, indeed. Anyways … here are a few photos from the TV Land Awards red carpet and a few golden moments as noted by USA Today:

Photo credit: Wireimage

•Gary Coleman of Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman walked the carpet solo but says that despite reports, he and wife Shannon Price are still together. Their one-year anniversary is Aug. 28, and she is expecting him “to come up with something spectacular,” he says. He wouldn’t comment on reports that he’s still a virgin, but he had plenty to say about Price otherwise: She likes to sell items on eBay, including Coleman autographs. And she wasn’t with him because she was at home, where “she has three dachshunds. She is very much a caregiver to them.”

Um, hello! Clearly the most Golden moment of the whole affair was the arrival of 3 of the Golden Girls on the TV Land red carpet — Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Betty White. Altho all 4 of the Golden Girls are still alive, Estelle Getty suffers from Lewy Body Dementia and is no longer well enough to able to make public appearances (Rue McClanahan revealed in an interview a few years ago that Estelle has deteriorated to the point where she no longer recognizes any of her GG co-stars and, very sadly, has no recollection at all of the show). I know Estelle was there in spirit tho, she is always present in spirit whenever the Golden Girls get together. Despite the fact that we are inundated with a plethora of (oftentimes useless) award shows, I really love the TV Land Awards for the mere fact that all of our favorite classic TV stars have a chance to be featured all together at least once a year. I mean, how else would Barry Williams be able to occupy his days? The TV Land Awards will air on TV Land on June 15th. [Source]