Inconsistencies On The "Facts of Life"

Natalie has almost as many middle names as Ethel Mertz. On a [italic]Diff'rent Strokes[/italic] crossover her middle name was Leticia, then in the reunion it was Sage.

Sometimes they were really fat, and sometimes they were a little thinner.

They never saw their parents. Or talked about them. Or called them. Or visited them. Or had pictures of them anywhere. I thought it was creepy as a kid. It's like they were abandoned and unloved or something. It worried me.

The parents were on occasionally. I can remember Blairs mother (Marj Dusay), Jo's father (Alex Rocco, before he nailed Dorothy Zbornak), Natalie's grandmother, etc.

Cindy was a dyke tyke in the beginning, who (it was later revealed in S8) went on to become a huge fashion/cover model. I mean, really, can you imagine?

Beverly Ann was mentioned by name by Mrs. Garrett on Diff'rent Strokes in a 1979 episode, years before Beverly Ann, in the form of Cloris Leachman joined Facts in 1986.

That's actually pretty good consistency.

Blair's mother gave birth to her sister and George Clooney provided the voice of the baby.

The first episode was the weirdest because Blair, being a total bitch, goes on at Cindy about touching and hugging other girls, yet in pretty much every episode of the first season she is touching and hugging the others.

Kimberly from Diff'rent Strokes was a student there and then suddenly, gone...

And no one noticed that Nancy, Sueann, Cindy, and Molly (or Kimberly, for that matter) are gone when the next term starts.

In season three, Blair accused Jo of having a rap sheet, which Jo vehemently denies. Yet, in season one Jo admits to having been sent to juvie after being arrested after she and her gal pal, Bonnie Mace got caught shoplifting some latex gloves and Crisco.

In Season 1 Blair's mother is a slut and in Season two she is a whore and in Season 6 she's pregnant.

Sluts and whores don't get pregnant.

After season 1, next time you saw a headmaster it was Mr. Parker. No mention of the changing of the guard. It could've still been Mr. Bradley, though I'm sure the actor was probably pissed he was written off and wouldn't have come back.

Does this mediocre old show really deserve to be analyzed? Surely, you have better things to do.

I'm home sick with pneumonia and am supposed to be resting in bed, so no I don't have anything better to do.

Proceed.

R13 aside from the dreadful first season, Facts wasn't THAT bad. In fact it was pretty decent for an 80s sitcom.

The show got extremely funny around seasons 6 & 7, there's also some great psychical comedy going on.

They never explained why they took Tootie off her roller skates.

She got too tall for them, and she only wore them because she was so much shorter than all the other girls it solved a lot of logistical problems for the camera crew.

[quote]They never saw their parents. Or talked about them

Blair name-dropped her daddy in every other episode.

One glaring inconsistency was in "The Little Chill." They acted like Sue Ann, Cindy and Nancy didn't know Jo. But in the second season, they had all shared several scenes together. In fact, Jo and Nancy had been hanging out, and Blair accused Jo of telling Nancy that she was planning on hooking up with Roger.

There were cookies for sale in the kitschy gift shop they opened, but there was never a mention of Mrs Garrett baking them (and where), and nobody ever was seen selling them. All you saw was neon clocks and crap like that. I never understood how Mrs Garrett was so easily convinced that Edna's Edibles should become Over Our Heads after the fire.

She said she was tired of it, and this time the girls were all equal partners. They still had a kitchen in the house, and after Beverly Ann came on they started to show it more.

In the final season, Over Our Heads was not even mentioned or seen except in one single episode. Everyone suddenly decided they were too busy to fool with the store anymore, so they closed it and converted the space into bedrooms for Andy and Pippa.

The Eastland from the reunion (which should have been called [italic]The Facts of Life Goes to Toronto[/italic]) looked nothing like the Eastland of the series.

I did t watch that last season then, I don't remember that. Once it became very Andy-heavy I bailed because I couldn't stand him. So what was the premise then, how were they supporting themselves? Natalie was working odd jobs for life experiences as a writer, that I remember.

Tootie was trying to get acting work, Blair was in law school, and Jo got burned on a computer company start-up that went bust in Malibu, California, so she was busy with the community center after she returned to Peekskill. Beverly Ann lived off alimony from Frank.

There was never a tampon shortage....totally unrealistic.

There was never a food shortage either, R25.

Thanks to Natalie's ass

I'm a writer and huge fan of classic sitcoms and I'm just gonna put this out there, FOL had some REALLY well written episodes, especially wehen future Oscar winner Paul Haggis was a writer during seasons 6 & 7

The Cruisong episode from season 6, which DOESN'T have the laugh track, is beautifully written sitcom from start to finish. Pure CHARACTER DRIVEN writing without any cheap jokes, slapstick or other gimmicks. Also goid acting from the cast as well in that episode and every word spoken stays TRUE to the character they're playing

That episode should be used as a text book example of how to write, funny, intelligent, character driven sitcom

But because it's FOL and it's considered a "kids show", the good writing wemt unnoticed by critics and EMMY voters

If the Mary Tyler Moore show did the SAME EXACT EPISODE with the same script, with Mary going cruising in Minneapolis with Sue Ann, Rhoda, and Phyllis, it would of been lavished with praise and definitely Emmy nominated for Best Writing

I think there were some funny episodes, the Blair character interacting with Jo was usually good for laughs.

The 1994-95 and 1995-96 years were written by Paul Haggis I think. Awesome scripts and dialogue.

Blair being the hot and popular one when she was almost as fat as Natalie by Season 4.

How was Jo's tuition being paid again? Was she given a scholarship? Is that even a thing in real life for boarding high school?

[quote] And no one noticed that Nancy, Sueann, Cindy, and Molly (or Kimberly, for that matter) are gone when the next term starts.

They were all killed in a school shooting massacre. Nancy was asked by the killers if she believed in God, and when she said "yes," BLAM!

Those Who Remained were too traumatized to ever mention them again to one another.

That Natalie lost her virginity first despite being the ugliest girl in their coterie.

R30 you mean 1984-1985 and 1985-1986 seasons (seasons 6 & 7) and you're right.

Another great episode is the "Doo wah" episode from season 7, which I believe Paul Haggis also wrote, Andy enters the girls in a competition for the chance to sing with El Debarge, the girls of course don't know about it until they've been selected as finalists and have to go to NYC for the finals.

This episode is HILARIOUS, even George Clooney has a couple of funny lines

My favorite is when the girls think they lost because a group called "Sexy Lingerie" won and they're all like "We lost lets go home" and Andy's like "Not so fast, YOU guys are Sexy Lingerie, that's the name I picked for the group" and Jo's face of disgust and her saying "I will not be known as a member of Sexy Lingerie!" was hilarious.

Not to mention Blair singing earlier in the episode like Julie Andrews and Andy telling Blair that she needs to "put more street in her voice" and Jo goes "street? this is Blair we're talking about here" and then Natalie goes "well a very nice, clean suburban street!"

I think the one where the girls try to prevent an Australian theme park opening in Peekskill was superbly written. It included Natalie running for public office by uttering these classic lines at a press conference ti remain "vague and non committal": ("Generally speaking, under the circumstances, it would depend on the context"). The "You with the nose" reporter was cute too.

Also love the ones with Tootie getting her comedian boyfriend a gig, George taking Jo to his reunion dance to impress an old flame and the trip to Atlantic City.

You're a writer, r28? Your post reminds us of the importance of a good editor.

r37 speaks the truth...

Jo's tuition was supposed to be paid by scholarship. I don't know much about boarding school, but I'm guessing that isn't a real thing. I also can't imagine she wouldn't have been promptly tossed out when she stole the school van in the first episode and then shoplifted, and then punched Blair in the face, and then made up a story that got a teacher fired etc. etc

The headmaster thing was weird. They changed three times without any real comment from anyone. It was like the job was the Eastland version of the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. That frumpy teacher from season one disappeared with the rest of season 1 cast also. Mrs. G's chef or kitchen helper or whatever he was was there one episode and gone the next as well. They were also constantly having issues with not being able to afford basic stuff for the school, even though it was supposed to be a boarding school for uber rich kids.

[quote]Jo's tuition was supposed to be paid by scholarship. I don't know much about boarding school, but I'm guessing that isn't a real thing.

It is a real thing, though it's not a scholarship in the sense like in college, it's more like "charity care" that a hospital gives to poor people. These rich fancy schools give free tuition and board to underprivileged students.

It appears in the beginning Jo's mother is paying for it by working many jobs, but in the later seasons, Jo is going to have to leave and they have an episode where the Warner Textile company has a scholarship and Jo refuses to apply for it, but Blair does for her. It's the first time the girl's admit they actually like each other, when Blair says "I can admit we're friends even if you can't."

R28 is a writer?! "Would of been". Dumb shit.

Mrs Garrett is a RN, then a dietitian and then she gets a job as hostess at Denny's (Or something like that) to make money and finds she can make more money as a full time hostess than at Eastland??? How crappy is this job and why is she working there?

Inconsistency: Eastland is a school for female, HUMAN girls and Natalie is a Bigfoot, Jabba the Hut beast.

Over our Heads had cookies in a display case but no one ever mentions them or the process of baking them, or where. Presumably the kitchen was destroyed in the fire.

It was the last gasp of Edna's Edibles, R44! They were baked in the same suspiciously large kitchen that Jo made her "fresh" frozen pizza business in.

Edna has two sons, one husband and only one is a Jew

I thought it was inconsistent that all these snobby rich bitches would hang around with a tard like cousin Gerry.

[R] We got to see Tootie's mom on there a couple of times and her father in season 1.

At the start Natalie is fat, then she gets fatter and fatter and still fatter but by the end she's ugly too

Natalie begins to blend in with the other girls after Season 2 when the entire cast begins to pork out.

Interesting how the architectural details of the Eastland housing matched those of the off campus house they moved into where Edna’s Edibles/Over Our Heads was located. I’m referring specifically to the wainscoting and paneled doors which were identical. I’m sure the set pieces were recycled for budget purposes, but as a design conscious tween I found it implausible.

In a Season 3 episode Jo mentions that all her grandparents are dead, but in Season 8 her grandfather travels from Poland to attend her college graduation.

[quote] Does this mediocre old show really deserve to be analyzed? Surely, you have better things to do.

You take the good; you take the bad; you take them both, and then you have...

Miss Mahoney disappears after 4 episodes. She was a good foil for Mr. Bradley, who was called Mr. Crocker in the backdoor pilot and played by a completely different actor.

I'm sure there were inconsistencies in The Facts of Life Goes to Australia but since they never reran it, I wouldn't know.

Only one what ? One ear ?

Maybe her sister was too old to be adopted. Or maybe her sister was really her real mother.

R10, was it ever explained why Jo stole latex gloves and Crisco?!?!? Those are two odd things to steal together.

The fact that anyone thought Tootie was a good actress always bothered me. Last night she was doing the "quality of mercy" speech and it was painful.

What happened to the girls for the first season?

Why did Tootie give up her skates?

Were Natalie and Tootie the same age or was Tootie a year younger?

Oh!!! The episode where Tootie gets the lead in SOUTH PACIFIC when Natalie wanted it...a major plot point of SOUTH PACIFIC deals with the female lead being a racist from Arkansas. I don’t think they’d cast a black actress as Nellie. Tootie would probably be cast as Liat.

The girls cut from the main cast after the first season did make occasional appearances in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. Here's one of Nancy in the above-mentioned South Pacific episode. Oh jeez, Tootie and Natalie both suck as singers.

[quote] was it ever explained why Jo stole latex gloves and Crisco?!?!? Those are two odd things to steal together.

Eastland was doing for its fall play a special all-girl version of Terrence McNally's "The Ritz," and Jo was of course playing "Crisco Patron," the same part played by Ryan Idol in the Broadway revival ten years back.

Tootie, naturally, was "Patron on Roller Skates."

Cousin Geri was "Googie Gomez."

Further to my comment, season 1 had 13 episodes, here are the credited episodes for the four girls that were cut:

Felice Schachter - Nancy Olson (19 episodes), Julie Piekarski - Sue Ann Weaver (17 episodes), Julie Anne Haddock - Cindy Webster (17 episodes), Molly Ringwald - Molly Parker (15 episodes).

Molly was the only one of the four not to show up for the reunion episode "The Little Chill" in 1986.

Alternate version of opening credits season 2

r60

South Pacific has a "high school" script, and so does "Grease" and quite a few others. They take out any controversial parts , tone down the language and highlight the music more in those type of "high school" adaptations.

Well I live in Peekskill and I’m still looking for Edna’s Edibles

Was Miko kidnapped? Was Kelly? Did they wind up in that teen prostitution ring run by teen jezebel Tammy Lauren?

In earlier seasons Natalie had HUGE milk did tits

Mrs Garrett lost her pension and was worried she would be out on the street, eating cat food. She had a successful lawyer son. No way he would not take care of her.

How did Mrs. Garrett get a job as school dietician when she had no college degree, and her previous experience was as a maid? Last I checked Florida Evans didn't become a nurse practioner on her spinoff series.

Was she the dietician or the cafeteria lady?

Colored people being able to afford to send their daughter to boarding school.

Tootie's parents were both lawyers, R72.

R73 I thought Tootie's mother was an actress (or singer)?

Wasn’t Tootie’s mom also Penny’s biological mom from Good Times?

Going to back to the girls who disappeared from the first couple of seasons, didn't some have identical characteristics to the girls who remained (snobby rich girl - an extra Blair; sporty girls - extra Jo) while the others were just fillers with no real stand-out personalities?

Wasn't Molly supposed to be a sort of young Joan Baez...none of the girls who remained had those characteristics.

They really did a crappy job on character development during that first season. But if you think about it, at a girls boarding school in Westchester County (even in crappy Peekskill) may not have had much diversity in their student body in the 1970s.

They should have given Miko more to do.

[R73] That dumb racist is on my ignore list.

I am inconsistent because I hated MacKenzie Astin on the show, and now I want to marry him.

We can be brothers-in-law, r81. I want his brother Sean!

R76, they morphed Sue Ann (Blair foil) and Cindy (tomboy) into Jo and slapped her with a blue collar Bronx background. And cast a brunette for diversity.

That Blair looked too fucking old to be rooming with the younger girls. Isn't she always talking about how much money she has??? Bitch MOVE OUT. Grandma Blair.

I have friends who are friends with Felice Schacter (they all went to Brown). I see a lot of her comments on my friends FB pages. She seems to be a big libertarian and thinks she's a lot smarter than she is.

Lisa Whelchel is a first class bitch.

But she loves me, r86.

The biggest inconsistency was making Jo straight. Really? lol......

Why didn't Tootie become a prostitute?

She did, r89. An actress is basically a prostitute. She sells her body to fulfill a fantasy for her audience.

r59, Tootie was the youngest of the girls. Their high school graduation years were:

Blair and Jo: Class of 1983

Natalie: Class of 1985

Tootie: Class of 1986

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I want you all to know that Tootie was my favorite on "The Facts of Life".

Very true, [R90]. In the end, aren't we all just whores in some capacity?

R92 and she's eight years younger than my mom and I'm eight years younger then Kim Fields. But you know, they often get started on the procreation bandwagon rather early....

[quote]How did Mrs. Garrett get a job as school dietician when she had no college degree, and her previous experience was as a maid?

She was a registered nurse. They may or may not have college degrees depending on the state and time. It was first mentioned in first season where Mrs Garrett teaches the sex education class and says "If you're worried about my qualifications I am a registered nurse."

It's a bit farfetched that an RN would be working as a maid, but not impossible. I know two RNs who work for wealthy family. One takes care of an elderly parent and the other of a disabled child. And that is all they do. So I suppose you could have her do something else. Kind of like Daphne on Frasier was supposed to be a physical therapist, but also functioned as the housekeeper.

It was a nice bit of continuity they remembered that years later and had Mrs Garrett marry a doctor so she could be a nurse to him and go off to Africa.

But where can you stream these. I only see season 3 on amazon.

This is amazing reconstruction of the set:

That's amazing r98. But will they tackle that huge kitchen that appeared out of nowhere in the final season of the show?

R82, where did that picture of Sean Astin come from? He looks very fit-fat. He’s definitely got a Dad-bod.

Wasn't there an episode that addressed Mrs Garrett's drinking problem, which was supposed to explain why she behaved the way she did? I feel like there was an episode where the girls led a 'carefrontation', but then it wasn't mentioned again, but she still behaved the same.

The lady in R92's pic doesn't look like Mizz Gordon of Good Times to me

No, Mrs Garrett was a habitual shoplifter, going so far as to blame Jo for it. Then she got a job at the pancake house to repay the debts.

You'd have thought Tootie's mother would have raised her to have better taste in music than Jermaine Jackson.

Wasn't there an episode where Tootie sculpted a bust of Jermaine Jackson, and Natalie or somebody accidentally broke it? Or am I thinking of the Lionel Richie "Hello" video with the blind woman?

You're probably thinking of the episode where Blair plagiarizes a Jermaine Jackson lyric and it wins a prize in a poetry contest.

I don't intend reading this thread, but I am glad it exists.

I've been watching every episode, in order, since MeTV started running it a few months ago.

We're up to season four, and I find it consistently entertaining, plus I often learn (or re-learn) a little lefe lesson almost every episode.

It's unusual to find a sitcom that it "about" something but The Facts of Life pulls it off...

[quote]You'd have thought Tootie's mother would have raised her to have better taste in music than Jermaine Jackson.

Tootie never liked Jermaine, she was always going on about Michael Jackson, they just switched it to Jermaine for this one episode because he was available to guest star.

[quote]Wasn't there an episode where Tootie sculpted a bust of Jermaine Jackson, and Natalie or somebody accidentally broke it?

Tootie did make a bust of Jermaine but you've added the Brady Bunch plot of Carol sculpting Mike's head and the kids tried to scare Alice who wound up breaking the bust.

Natalie accidentally pulled the nose off the Jermaine Jackson bust.

No, Natalie put on her Charlie Chaplin costume to attract potential dates, but wound up getting raped.

Apparently Lisa Whelchel is a heavy duty Christian and objected to a storyline where the cafe diversified into 'Edna's Edable panties'.

The Sean Astin speedo photo is from the Adam Sandler movie CLICK.

One of my favorite FOL episodes was the “New York, New York” episode, which aired on “Logo”yesterday. Blair and Jo travel to the city to meet up with their respective best friends. Blair’s friend is (of course) another spoiled rich girl. Jo’s friend is (naturally) another tough street chick.

During the visit, Blair finds herself appalled by her old friend’s snobbishness—and the friend is horrified that Blair has become so “common” (You’re cooking something? Like a servant?”)

Jo, meanwhile, is horrified by how her old friend treats old people and the Latinos at the community center where they used to hang out. When Jo stops her from vandalizing a mural painted by the Latino kids, the friend accuses Jo of becoming “soft” and “too good”for her old neighborhood.

At the end of the episode, Blair and Jo each realize that they’ve matured and outgrown their old friends. It was a memorable and bittersweet moment. Both actress did a fine job conveying their shared sense of regret at the loss of their old lives.

PS, Jo’s old friend was played by Alexa Kenin, an actress who also appeared in the movie “Pretty in Pink” and died under mysterious circumstances in 1985.

Kenin's death was never explained, but an old DL thread had a poster who claimed to be friends with Kenin, and said she died of a heroin overdose. Take that for what it's worth...

r114, that's a great episode. Here's Blair and Jo with their old friends.

I liked the Blair part much more than the Jo part. Her stories were always so heavy handed. That Alexa Kenin was also in DL fave Little Darlings, as was Felice Schacter's ugly sister Simone (their mother was a talent manager from Lawngisland)

I liked the Paul Haggis years the best. A lot of those episodes were actually funny - and I like how Tootie kind of became self-aware of her own dramatics (she was pretty unbearable before that).

Pippa is an Australian exchange student. Why didn't they ever mention their trip to Australia?

Damn, you guys really remember this show. I can barely remember it. Charlotte Rae always struck me as a victim of early senility. Blair was way too fat to be the popular "hot" chick. I remember one episode where Tootie acts like a crazy loon because she can't go see some singer. The hysterics were cringeworthy and way over the top, By the later seasons I had totally quit watching it.

I mean, as long as we're nitpicking:

- who has a handyman come around that often, even one as hot as George Clooney? And who supplied these much needed services in prior seasons?

- Nobody has mentioned the Blair virginity issue! In season 1 or 2, it is clear that Blair has gotten a taste of the D but in a much later season, there is much hand wringing over Blair's decision to let a boy deflower her

[quote]During the visit, Blair finds herself appalled by her old friend’s snobbishness—and the friend is horrified that Blair has become so “common” (You’re cooking something? Like a servant?”)

Wrong, Dina Becker says "There's nothing wrong with doings something for yourself IF you HAVE to. But WE don't HAVE to."

Correcting someone, even if in a lower class, is so low class, r121.

Turn blue.

No, R101. Mrs. Garrett had her eyes dilated.....and Tootie (supposedly) learned a lesson about a gossiping.

The Jermaine statue (made of papier mache?) was destroyed when his security turned the dressing room shower on it.

r114, isn't that the same episode where the teenage hooker and her pimp tried to recruit Tootie?

Darrell Fatty who played Mike, the pimp, was hot in that episode but ugly, really ugly in everything else he did.

The girls didn't seem to realize that the music teacher in the "South Pacific" episode also worked part-time in the department store where Jo stole the scarf for Mrs. Garrett's birthday present.

I watched two Christmas episodes last Sunday on MeTV, and they were both so well done, I was crying by the end of each episode.

The initial premise made no sense.

Eastland was supposedly Kimberly's school on Diff'rent Strokes, but it was in Peekskill, an hour outside Manhattan. So she commuted two-plus hours a day to a boarding school as a day student?

She must have been drummed out of every private school in the city and banned from the Eastland dorms, that crack whore.

Actually, I think during the first season of "Diff'rent Strokes" it was somewhere in the storyline that Kimberly was away at school during the week and came home on weekends. Of course, I think there was only one other cross-over episode after the pilot. Maybe two...I remember Tootie coming to the Drummond apartment.

R130 I'm sure she used daddy's helicopter, silly.

i'm enjoying watching the girls grow up and learn lessons along the way...

Peekskill is about an hour and a half via car or train, so you're right it makes no real sense, especially since NYC is full of good, elite, private schools. Of course in real life Peekskill is sort of a dump so it makes no sense to put the school there anyway. It's like putting a school in Camden or East St Louis, well it's not that bad but you get my point.

It's funny how much times have changed in Manhattan since the 70s when NYC lost more than 900,000 in a decade (since has gained it all back) and to hear Mr Drummond saying how bad neighborhoods, Greenwich Village and Chelsea are.

But again it's just sitcom convenient that Peekskill has a top private school and a top notch level university too. Like Alex P Keaton going to a great university in Columbus OH, instead of Princeton or one of other East Coast Ivies he would've desired to and have been able to get into

Blair is no Alex and doesn't need a top school, just a top-drawer one...

Remember all the backdoor pilots they tried to launch on TFOL? None of them got picked up.. I always skipped those episodes.

R126, no. The pimp episode was one where Tootie followed the others to NYC without them knowing. I think they went to a Broadway show and Tootie was trying to meet up with them but couldn't get into the show, or something like that. She's waiting in a diner near the theater to find them after when the pimp sics one of his girls on her.

Forgot to add, I remember that episode well because I was so scared for that girl after Tootie refuses them. It was pretty obvious the pimp was furious and going to punish her somehow.

I live in Peekskill and it’s steadily changing for the better. Lively restaurant scene, artists, and gays buying up old historic houses. Train to Grand Central is 55 minutes. In a few years it will be fully gentrified and no longer affordable.

Edna's Edibles has been replaced by a Starbucks...

Didn’t they try to launch a new Asian character (during the on-campus days) and it was a big fail?

R139 home of Mel Gibson!!

I heard Mackenzie Astin got many backdoor pilots during his years on the show. They just didn't get taped.

I'm starting a band called Backdoor Pilots.

Speaking of Chip and Kim Fields, do you think there was any truth to the rumor that I'm actually gave birth underage during the show's run but that they covered it up by claiming it was Chip's?

Also, in case you didn't know, Chip occasionally worked as one of Mary Wilson's fake Supremes.

I'm surprised at how many scheming Natalie vs. Blair episodes there were.

What's up with that fucking face that Kim Fields makes in the S3 opening credits? Someone else on DL noted this and I want to know.

R146......It's from the first scene of Season 3, the girls are talking about their summer vacations.

Natalie says something like, "Now I know why God invented summer vacations. So my family could drive cross-country, and I could meet boys." Camera cuts to Tootie brushing the ends of her hair, smiling goofily, and staring into space, and she says (sorta dreamily), "Yeah....I know." Blair comments that she didn't meet any boys in Paris -- just men. Again, the camera cuts to Tootie -- with the same goofy/dreamy expression -- and she repeats, "Yeah....I know." (at which point Jo jumps "What's with this 'I know' like you know? You spent the summer at a girls' camp")

R86, THANK YOU, waited on her twice, and she was horrible. Her assistant still called her an A LIST celebrity in 2006!!!!!!!!!!

Ugly, R127? Really?

And by the way, the name is Fetty.

Thank you, R147! I just went and watched that episode.

I liked the Christmas episode when Jo can't go home and stays in Peekskill. Didn't care for others, especially that awful Charles Dickens one with Beverly Ann.

Not the one where the girls perform a string of Christmas melodies at a men’s prison, r151?

Beverly Ann is much worse than I had remembered.

I liked that episode, R152.

I really liked the first season. I liked that there were so many characters and I really liked Molly's character. Sadly, I was hoping Cindy would end up as a dyke.

The parents of Blair, Jo, Natalie and Tootsie were horrible, shipping them girls off, not looking after them, leaving Mrs Garrett to rear them and not even being there on the major holidays.

R155 who do you think was supposed to be considered the prettier one of S1, Blair or Nancy?

I always felt like they couldn't keep both, so they kept the pretty girl with (much) more personality.

Blair was really very pretty the first season. She was also a much sluttier character.

Blair's retard was so cute. I so would have manipulated him into bed. Maybe slipped the tard a roofie.

I thought I was Blair’s tard!

I don't know who shook more. Edna or Gerri.

No, R152, I didn't care for that one. I'd rather watch The Golden Girls Christmas episode at the homeless shelter

I liked the episode when the fat girl was throwing coconuts on the stage because the colored girl stole(so typical) her role.

I loved that episode too, R162

The holiday prison episode would never get made today. What all male prison would allow four preteen girls perform for the inmates? Nevermind Tootie shaking her stuff to Jingle Bell Rock.

It was a FUNNY episode, R150! Natalie's gleeful, "We've got Wine!".....Jo's hilariously deadpan, repetitive,"I got beer" ....Tootie's drunken antics.

r156, I had no idea Tootsie attended Eastland School!

Dorothy "Tootsie" Ramsey: "Thank you, Mrs. Garrett. Well, I cannot tell y'all how deeply moved I am. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be the object of so much genuine affection. (long pause) It makes it all the more difficult for me to say what I'm now going to say. Yes; I do feel it's time to set the record straight. You see, I didn't come here just as a student, Mr. Bradley; I came to Eastland to settle an old score. Now you all know that my father was a brilliant man - he built Eastland; what you don't know is that to his family, he was an unmerciful tyrant - an absolute dodo bird. He drove my mother, his wife, to - to drink; in fact, she - uh, she - she went riding one time and lost all her teeth. The son Edward became a recluse, and the oldest daughter - the pretty one, the charming one - became pregnant when she was fifteen years old and was driven out of the house. In fact, she was so terrified that she would, uh, that, uh, that, that, that the baby daughter would bear the stigma of illegitimacy that she, she - she decided to change her name and she contracted a disfiguring disease.

(A beat as Dorothy mentally regroups; the guests are stunned)

Tootsie: After moving to Tangiers, which is where she raised the, the, the little girl as her sister; but her one ambition in life......was to become a nurse, so she returned to the States and joined the nursing school right here at Eastland. Well, she worked here, she knew she had to speak up wherever she saw injustice and inhumanity, God save us! You do understand that, don't you, Mr. Bradley?

Mr. Bradley:: I never laid a hand on her!

Tootsie: Yes, you did! And she was shunned by all you classmates, too! ...... But she was deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply loved by her brother. It was this brother who, on the day of her death, swore to the good Lord above that he would follow in her footsteps, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just owe it all up to her! But on her terms! As a woman, and just as proud to be a woman as she ever was! (removes her glasses and eyelashes) For I am not Dorothy Ramsey, the daughter of Dwayne and Alma Ramsey. No, I'm not. (Dorothy rips off wig, revealing "herself")

Dorothy: I am Edward Ramsey, the recluse brother of my sister Dorothy! Edward Ramsey, who has finally vindicated his sister's good name! I am Edward Ramsey - and I'm not mentally ill, but proud and lucky and strong enough to be the woman that was the best part of my manhood - the best part of myself!

R147/R165, I love Natalie's "... and wine!" line. Natalie (and Mindy) hit her stride in S3. "I got beer" is another great bit. Drunk Tootie staggering down the stairs reminded me of drunk Sue Ellen staggering down the Southfork stairs on Dallas.

I watched first run in the 80s and haven't seen most of this since then, when I was in grade school. Funnier than I remembered and I can see where it made me like female ensemble shows. Enjoying my re-watch.

and they don't buy their shoes at a grocery store.

Watching "The Christmas Show" from S5 and Blair just came back from her skiing trip to be with Jo and Mrs. G on Christmas Eve.

A little verklempt when Lisa says: "I decided I wanted to be here."

R157, I thought Nancy was much prettier than Blair, but Nancy was stuck on Roggeerrrr. Blair's character was sluttier which was why I was surprised to find out the actress didn't want her to lose her virginity due to the actress being a Christian. Yet, I never once considered Blair a virgin. I remember in the first season where she was trying to pressure a guy into having sex with her when he didn't want to have sex with her while they were in his van. She kept pushing him until finally he was like 'alright, let's do it' and started being forceful with her too-so she went home screaming assault. That episode rubbed me the wrong way.

Watching Jo as Scrooge and Natalie dressed as an elf, performing "We Need a Little Christmas" for the prison inmates.

Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, and Mame. It's Christmas.

That Christmas prison episode is one of my favorites, with a nice selection of carols and hymns, and the five of them singing and dancing with enthusiasm and good cheer, and ending on a poignant "I'll be Home for Christmas."

Tootie: What kind of Christmas is THAT? Being stuck here with Mrs. Garrett?

I liked the Christmas episode where Mr Drummond said to Mrs Garrett, "the help eats in the kitchen," and then added, "Don't look so sad, it's Christmas, now go eat in the kitchen with my black children."

Nancy McKeon was so awkward singing in that Xmas prison episode.

I like when Mrs. G worries about having neither rehearsed nor vocalized and starts making hilarious warbling noises.

Now, I do not care for "Christmas Baby." That cutesy narration by the dreaded adenoidal 1980s TV child voice.

"It's a Wonderful Christmas" from S9 only reminded me how many episodes revolved around Beverly Ann's self pity and awareness that she was a pain in the ass (although I thought Cloris was funny).

[quote]They never saw their parents.

Kim Fields’s real life mom Chip Fields played Tootie’s Mom in a couple of episodes.

R158, that cutie is Tom Byrd. He’s was in two episodes, the first one in which he played a mentally challenged guy Blair likes, and the second one in a later season episode where he was Blair’s cokehead boyfriend. I’m friends with him on Twitter and he is extremely nice and very liberal.

Tootie’s mom beat Janet Jackson on ‘Good Times’ and showed her titties off in the b-movie ‘The Lady In Red’.

Many of them had great hair in season one, but Felice Schachter’s was the bounciest and the prettiest.

Felice always reminded me a little of Katherine Wentworth on Dallas.

It's so weird because the actress who played Nancy is very conservative on her Twitter yet Molly Ringwald is so liberal on hers. In fact, it would seem Molly Ringwald's character in the Facts of Life is just like her in real life.

Tom Byrd had the opposite of "butterface." His face was hot but his body was flabby

[quote]Many of them had great hair in season one, but Felice Schachter’s was the bounciest and the prettiest.

Felice was the original Kimberly, but at the last minute the producers changed their mind and hired Dana Plato, which was indeed a better choice.

This is why Felice was the first girl of the "Facts of Life" to be hired, as they already had her under contract. Ironically she was the first to be let go when the cast was remade over. Which again, is right, 'cause all the girls had a "thing" except her. Natalie was the fat/funny one, Tootie was the black/gossipy one, Molly was the women's libber, Sue Ann the smart one, Cindy was the Tom Boy and Blair was the sexy one.

All Nancy had was obsessed with Roger.

If Felice had gotten cast on DS, would Dana be alive today? Or was her appearance in The Exorcist 2 the beginning of her undoing?

r186

Perhaps, because she likely wouldn't have had the opportunities to obtain drugs. But then Dana Plato seemed to be depressed and have an actual mental illness, which she was likely self medicating with drugs, (her son did too), so it's also probable that she would've had those mental issues regardless of what career she landed in.

R183 more libertarian than conservative. She also went to Brown and is a Jew from Long Island, so politics are skittle surprising .

How Blair calls Jan her sister when she's her step sister

I like Grant Wilson who tried to date rape Jo. Can you imagine that episode today?

I liked Tom Byrd's body. Especially when he showed it all in "Out Cold" with Teri Garr.

r191

He has a pretty face but his body was never that great. He wasn't horrible but kind of doughy.

r190

That guy was like 10 years older than Nancy McKeon in real life which makes the episode even more unsettling in real life.

I like how in the olden days no one cared about that stuff. I was watching Keeping Up Appearances and the Major is literally attacking Hyacinth with hugs and kisses.

Remember that episode where Blair wants to become a model but the photographer/agent wants To tie instead. Then at the photo shoot Tootie is dressed like one of the Mary aJabe Girls with slutty make up and cornrows.

Then the photographer says she going to be photographed tastefully nude. Mrs. Garret says that's one step away from child pron and takes Tootie away.

I don't know why, but that episode stuck with me. Along with Natalie's Chaplin rape and that Bike shop guy touching Dudley.,

I totally remember that r194 and Tootie's little speech, "how am I supposed to make love to the camera, when I've never even kissed a boy yet? I think I am too young for this!" to Mrs. Garrett's approving nod and the studio audience applauding.

Geri Reischl (better known as "Fake Jan" from The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" was originally hired to be Blair for the show's backdoor pilot on Diff'rent Strokes. She was was at the first table read, but she already had a five-year contract to do commercials for a cereal company, and after the first table read, she learned that there were filming conflicts and she couldn't do both, and that is when Lisa Whelchel was hired and took over as Blair.

Was Tootie the only one who wasn't almost raped? Natalie was almost raped. Blair was almost raped. Jo was almost raped. But was Tootie?

Blair was the one who did the date raping....She asked for it

R180 which is funny cause Janet and Kim look alike

Who's the cro-magnon in the middle of r199?

R200 had to look it up... it's Al B. Sure

I liked it when Jo told Blair to "suck my dick," and Natalie said "You have a dick?"

The relationship between Jo and Blair was so sapphic lol

So, what was the creative reason why they replaced Edna's Edibles with Over Our Heads? Other than the episode where the store got in trouble with Langley College for selling the men's swim team's "risque" calendar, the new store didn't jumpstart any new plots or stories.

R204, Over Our Heads was a result of NBC deciding that they wanted all their shows - particularly their Saturday night sitcoms - to have a brighter, multi-colored Miami Vice feel to them. On FOL, they got rid of any dark furniture and all the dark wood grain, and replaced it with white space, candy colors and very, very bright lighting. It brought the series into the late '80s.

I like Cloris Leachman, but the character of Beverly Ann was such a dud. It was sometimes as if she had dropped in from an entirely different show. I remember reading NBC spent a lot of money on Cloris, but they would've been better off if they had used that money to hire better writers.

Before they hired Cloris Leachman, the Enquirer or some other tabloid said that Marion Ross had been hired. I like Marion Ross, but at that point, the girls didn't need a mother-type anymore, and that's what Marion would have provided. In order to refresh the show, they needed someone different, and someone who was funny in their own right, and Cloris certainly fit that bill.

I don't think the character of Beverly Ann worked that great, but I wouldn't blame that on Cloris.

The other thing that worked to the show's benefit with Cloris is that even if they didn't write anything funny for her, she was still funny. Even with a dud script, she'd still figure out some funny business to do, or she'd have an off-center take on it. She could always do something with nothing, and if there was one thing that FOL had to burn, it was nothing -- so infinite fuel for La Leachman.

Bev worked better her 1st year when she was written as a zany next door neighbor-type. During her 2nd year, she was mostly stuck playing mom to Andy and Pippa.

I remember Lisa Whelchel on the 1977 revival of "The New Mickey Mouse Club".

Julie Piekarski (Sue Ann from FOL, Season 1) was also in the cast.

^^ That Mindy Feldman is Corey's older sister.

Oh no shit r211! Is she dead or does she just wish she were? I wonder what she thinks of that creepy fucking brother of hers.

The 1977 Mouseketeers. Lisa is on the far right.

Oh wow, so Lisa and Mindy knew each other way back when uh

As a young gayling, I begged my parents to buy me the soundtrack album:

R212 She apparently works as an agent now.

R213 who's the hottie on the left with the long sleeve white and red stripped shirt with the long blonde hair?

Even back then, Blair was the center of attention!

r202

LOL...So funny because you can actually visualize this conversation and hear Natalie saying it.

r206

Correct, she was totally unnecessary for four college age girls. One had to stretch it, that Blair a rich heiress could not afford her own place, so you could plausably have four girls living together at that young age, but Beverly Ann was totally unneeded as were Pippa and Andy. There were still so many unexplored themes for the girls to be involved in you didn't need to bring in extra characters if the writers had any talent and forethought.

r210 Gotta love the token black, latins and Asian

r216

Not for her brother obviously.

R213 it was a surprisingly diverse cast!

R200, you don’t know who Al B Sure! is????

r224 I am embarrassed to say I didn't. I was more of a punk rock person. He certainly was very uni-browed.

r224

How many 80s one hit wonders do you know of?

Fuck it all, I cannot stand Tootie.

Her meltdown in "Starstruck" is truly disturbing and I was glad when she ended up in a headlock. Jo was also a neurotic mess in that episode ("I told you something would go wrong!").

Tootsie knew Janet, freaked over Jermaine and sang a song about Michael...

Remember when Tootie asked Cuzin' Jeri, "Does it hurt being retarded?"

r97, you asked if Tootie was almost sexually assaulted...did you even watch the show? In a season 2 episode, Tootie is lured into doing a photo shoot for a child pornographer. And in a later season, as was discussed above, Tootie followed the gang to NYC without permission but couldn't find them and was on her own in the big city. A pimp assigned one of his teen prostitutes the task of recruiting Tootie. The plan was to take her to their apartment, drug her, and then whatever. The show was pretty damn dark sometimes. (You have to take the bad as well as the good to have the facts of life.)

R230...yeah I did watch the show. Also I don't know what your definition of rape is but those scenarios aren't rape. Rape is when you're forced to have sex against your will with someone. What your describing is sexual solicitation of a minor.. Blair, Natalie, and Jo all were almost raped so I'm asking if I missed an episode where Tootie was almost raped. So...was Tootie almost raped like the other girls?

Yeah...Tootie was more implied. Jo, Natalie and Blair literally were almost raped. Tootie was just kind of..."almost lured" or as R231 solicited.

Molly Ringwald also appeared in an episode of that Mickey Mouse Club. I want to say she sang "I Wanna Be Loved By You."

Well Blair was in the van begging for it, I don't call that rape.

Yeah you keep saying that R234...we get it.

Mouseketeer Lisa playing guitar and singing a duet. The song is "Jambalaya" and Lisa is singing her heart out!

Blair leads the girls on "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

From the Season 6 episode "Christmas in the Big House" (aired December 19, 1984).

Were there ever any gay characters or storylines? Like, did one of the girls like a guy who turned out gay?

Don’t look at me.

[R27] "would of"...and you're a writer?? Tsk.

Tootie's boyfriend Jeff looked like he was coming out today, but since he comes back in a couple of years for a few episodes I guess he won't be gay.

Happy new years, girls! We're all pretty. Download this, I watch all my loved old shows on it and just watched "I, Tonya" too. It's the only thing I do on my firestick.

R233, Molly Ringwald sang “This Is My Country” on a Disney album (vinyl) I had as a kid. “Yankee Doodle Mickey”. Jesus Christ.

I don’t care what anyone says. I knew Jo was a dyke, same way I knew Jodie Foster and Kristy MacNichol were.

[quote]La Leachman

R208=Pussy.

You have BOTH???????

That Christmas episode excerpted at r237 is one of my favorites. The medley of Christmas carols is performed without cloying or saccharine and is truly heartfelt and loving. The girls at their best.

Here's the whole episode, worth a look. (I cried throughout...!)

R238 in the pilot episode, Blair implies Cindy/Sue Ann one of those two could be a lesbian because she likes touching on girls. By the end of the episode, Cindy or Sue Ann realizes she likes boys.

R243, the actress who plays Jo is married to a man and has a child; they live in Austin.

i CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

WHY is this even a subject here???

whoever watched this stupid show??

are you all 12??

R249, click that ignore button and you'll no longer have to see this post.

It's full of gentle life lessons that we aren't amiss to hear again...

My sister is friends with Nancy McKeon. She is definitely living her life as a happily married straight woman. I've posted about it before, but don't much anymore, because anyone convinced that she's a lesbian would just start to f&f me and say I was full of crap.

I couldn't see the video at r236, so I'm re-posting it here.

It's kinda funny the way Lisa is shouting some of her vocals. She's drowning out that poor other girl. Typical Blair Warner behavior!

Lisa is SCREAMING the lyrics, not singing them. Feel sorry for the other gal, Kenya Hernandez.

It's difficult to dislike Mindy Cohn.....teen star/cancer survivor..........

r255, is she 13 or 50? I feel like that is something a tween would do and post.

The most astounding transformation of all the girls was Jo’s transformation from a butch lesbian to a rather girlie girl in the last season complete with big ‘80s hair, long painted fingernails, make-up, and she even wore skirts!

They did so many "Beverly Ann thinks no one likes or needs her" stories.

I swear I saw the same damn story in an especially bad episode of My Three Sons, except instead of Beverly Ann, it was the weiner boy with the glasses and the teeth.

Why was Natalie the one who was raped, who lost her virginity, who all the girls thought was a slut?

R257, Jo/Nancy McKeon had girly/fake/long nails even in the early seasons -- even when everything else about Jo screamed "Butch". Jeans, flannel shirts, Nikes, pony tail...and NAILS.

r260, she was a girl from the Bronx in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The nails were a weapon.

Natalie was the 'ho, that's why her fat, ugly, unfunny self got dates. In real life there's only one reason why someone that literally looks like a gargoyle would get dates. Natalie put out and men found her available, not attractive, and that ain't no complement.

Last night Logo showed the episode where Tootie almost got fucked in the backseat of a car. I think I remember TV Guide describing the episode that exact same way.

R252, I can deal with Nancy McKeon being straight. Just do not tell me she is a Trumpster. That would break my heart.

R263, I remember that episode, and though I didn't find the show to be particularly funny, ever, I did find the moment where Tootie and her boyfried are about to go 'all the way' in the backseat and as the car radio plays and the lyric, 'that's why the lady is a TRAMP!' comes on and Tootie springs up and the look on her face is hilarious.

Nancy McKeon dated Michael J Fox for a long time. Pretty sure she's straight and I feel bad that they broke up bec he seems like a great catch.

Still remember the episodes where Jo and Blair went back to their old neighborhoods and they had changed. Also the one where Blair's sister (Jan!) became a nun. Made such an impression. I was a tiny kid and like....she's giving EVERYTHING away??

I did like the episodes with all the girls esp sue Ellen who was Blair's nemesis. And I loved the dark hair on the other one. So beautiful! But really the role was a one-note plot point - her boyfriend. Natalie seemed the most authentic. Tootie the funniest. Blair and Jo were good foils. Edna was the heart of the show. Cloris Leachman couldn't stand her. Surprising based on her outstanding performance as Phyllis on MTM. How many Emmys and noms?

And I read that Natalie is a god mother to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's kids....that's a shocker.

I was just washing this morning's episode on MeTV and I couldn't take my eyes off Jo's nails...

Thanks a lot, DL.

R266 Great catch? Sure, if you can get past the constant shaking.

Norman Lear produced this show and Different Strokes through his productions companies, which is why he himself wasn't credited on the show as his production companies got credited. Roger Corman would do the same thing with many of his movies.

In 1987 interview with Variety producer Al Burton said that Lear netted about $30 million off the syndication sales of FOL as it was a big success in syndication

Pity that the FOL actresses probably don’t see any of those millions.

I get defensive over Blair. People always remember her character as a bitch, but in reality she was really just kind of vain, she was actually very generous and empathetic. It always seemed like she tried to do the right thing. In "The Christmas Show", when Jo finds out she won't see her mother for Christmas, Blair knows that Jo won't accept money from her, so she concocts this whole scheme with a fake raffle so that Jo "wins" a free trip to Florida where her mother is. When Jo finds out she freaks out at Blair...like, really Jo? She wasn't doing this for brownie points, you literally wouldn't have ever known it was Blair who got you the plane ticket. And then Blair goes to Aspen but comes back to Peekskill to spend Christmas with Jo. Jo was a bitch, she didn't deserve Blair. God that episode is so gay.

Blair was codependent, look how quickly she forgave Jo for punching her in the face, how much she tried to control Jo's life (preventing her from marrying Eddie, pushing her into jobs...she meant well and was genuinely concerned for Jo's future). My take on her continuing to live with the girls for so long is that it's the closest to family she ever had.

R271 Blair wasn't the bitch. If people re-watched the show and paid enough attention, Jo was actually the one that was a raging cunt.

[quote]Nancy McKeon dated Michael J Fox for a long time. Pretty sure she's straight

Dating MJ Fox makes you straight??? No... just no.

They were bearding for each other.

MJ Fox is a pocket gay

r270

That "profit" didn't even cover half of Mindy Cohn's lunch bill

R274 difficult to keep him in your pocket with all that damn shaking

[quote]Inconsistencies On The "Facts of Life"

I was going to start a thread on "Consistencies on the 'Facts of Life'" but I couldn't think of any.

Did Kevin die in the Edna's Edibles fire?

R271, I concur. One episode that really made me pissed at Jo while taking Blair’s side was the episode when Jo breaks Blair’s expensive watch and is flippant about it, even though she was clearly in the wrong.

I had a crush on Jo growing up. She does seem much bitchier looking at the show as an adult.

r279 Yes! I recently saw that again and Jo was such a cavalier bitch about it, like so what? you can buy ten new ones! And Blair gave her a chance to apologize before taking her to court or whatever.

[quote]about to go 'all the way' in the backseat and as the car radio plays and the lyric, 'that's why the lady is a TRAMP!' comes on and Tootie springs up and the look on her face is hilarious.

Tootsie gave great face.

Madonna even sang about it in "Vogue".

R280 yeah I agree; I thought she was the hottest thing until rewatching it and yeah, she's still hot but a total bitch to Blair. Blair was so sweet...I mean sarcastic in the beginning but towards the end...nice.

Anyone else watching the Facts of Life marathon on Decades TV? At the moment, they're showing "Shoplifting."

I wonder if someone's gonna reboot Facts of Life lol. I think they should and Molly Ringwald should be the head mistress or something.

I'm not watching the decades marathon because I've been watching the entire series from the beginning on meTv.

They're just starting season eight on Monday morning, where Edna leaves and Beverly Ann comes in.

Tootie is having her Jermaine Jackson meltdown as we speak.

They should have purged the backdoor pilots. The second attempt at a "Bates Academy" spinoff with Scott Baio's cuter cousin, Jimmy Baio, is on now.

Jimmy Baio was like 35 when he was in that pilot.

When Blair shunned Kimberly for posing nude in playboy, then the next day she was asking Kimberly if she could be in her soft core porn with Jo.

Mrs. Garrett got married this morning on MeTV, and her parting words to the girls left me in tears.

After seven seasons you could really grow fond of the character.

I hope Beverly Ann can fill her shoes.

She doesn't

The show lost some heart when Mrs. Garrett left, but Beverly Ann brought more laughs. I don't think Mrs. Garrett ever had a big laugh in the entire run of the series. Sure, you smiled when she made her dad jokes or when she put a rose in her teeth, you felt affection for her, like you would a favorite aunt (okay, favorite great aunt), but did you ever really LAUGH at anything she said or did?

I think Beverly Ann worked well for the show in those last two years. There wasn't much left to say, so they did all those high-concept episodes, and although they'd kind of started doing that in her last season, Mrs. G never really fit into those episodes well. Her character was more grounded. Beverly Ann's wackiness was a better match for "62 Pick-Up", "Seven Little Indians" and "Golden Oldies". And it also helped the show that the girls could be more adult in front of Beverly Ann than they were able to be in front of Mrs. Garrett.

Nice analysis, r293.

I look forward to watching these last two seasons with fresh eyes.

Mrs Garrett got a lot of laughs when she told her deadbeat son to get off his ass and get a job.

Maybe they can do another FACTS OF LIFE reunion movie, since SATC III is officially dead.

The rockin' Christian rock of Lisa Welchel

There was a legal case in the 80's where a nude photo of a heavily madeup 10-year-old Brooke Shields (shot by Gary Gross for a Playboy supplement/booklet) (?) (called SUGAR AND SPICE) was requested to be withdrawn from circulation. The court decided Shields and her mother were not entitled to the rights to the picture....and one of the photos has since been incorporated into a work by Richard Prince called SPIRITUAL AMERICA.

[italic]Anyway, [/italic] when I first heard about this case on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, I thought they mentioned that another child model in the series was Lisa Welchel (!) I guess I am misremembering that, though...or it would be referenced somewhere on the Internet in regards to Welchel, and I've never seen it discussed.

Wow, r298/r299! Times have changed. I’d like to think Garry Gross would be in jail if he tried that now.

And maybe Terri Shields as well.

The original photos are shocking, but some of them are sordidly artistic. They're very schizophrenic, which is why I imagine the later artist, Richard Prince, repurposed one (which has hung in the Tate Gallery.). Brooke Shields is presented with a very adult face (I mean, for a 10-year-old), on a contrastingly stick-like, child's body. It very much sums up the professional (and cultural) sexualization of children. I mean, Brooke Shields was on the cover of Vogue magazine at age 14. Did she really belong there, either?

The court ruled Gross' photos were not pornographic. But they are certainly....uncomfortable.

I mean, is there a significant difference between the two images and how the young girl is being presented? One image is clothed and the other is naked, one is by a shoddy photographer and the other is by Richard Avedon...but it could be argued we're essentially dealing with the same conflict.

R290....wait what....she wanted to do a porno with Jo...yeah, that's no gay at all....

Kimberly was bisexual because Drummond cut her off when Wilis knocked her up.

Me-TV showed "Broadway Baby" yesterday. That "audition" end scene, with Tootie and Beverly Ann peering solemnly in from the fire escape, was entirely too much.

R305, Me-Tv or FeTv because FeTV shows shows like Matlock and Murder She Wrote...

People, people...the purpose of Mrs. G wasn't for laughs. She was the eye candy for the mature straight men tuning in. While teens found Blair to be sexy, the adults were more aroused by Mrs. G's cascading locks and voluptuous figure.

I suspect her hair was dyed.

Remember when Tootsie told off Charline from Designing Women?

Nope, r309. But I do remember when Tootie told off Charlene from Designing Women.

Speaking of Charlene do you remember when this happened?

I do, r311, and I was among the few who enjoyed it.

No, r309 and r310. I'm quite ashamed of myself too.

Was Jean a guest star on TFOL or something?

Yes, she played a single mother who left her kid at home alone for long hours while she worked. Something happened and the kid could have died. Tootie delivered an angry lecture. It was decided that the Eastland girls would help keep an eye on the kid. However, we never saw him again.

I think he traded blond tv moms and became Suzanne Somer's kid on "She's the Sheriff,." He was also Teri Garr's kid in "Mr. Mom."

MeTV is soon running the last few episodes of the series, and will start again from episode one. And I have watched every single one, including the two movies Facts of Life Goes to Paris and The Facts of Life Down Under, but they didn't show The Facts of Life Reunion (2001).

While it would be impractical to reboot the series, I do think it's time for another Facts of Life movie. Everyone is still alive, including Charlotte Rae and Cloris Leachman.

Let's get it going...!

I'm with R271 and R272. A couple years ago they had the cast (Except Mindy) on some home show to celebrate Mrs. Garrett (even George Clooney video'd a message). AGAIN EVERYONE EXCEPT THAT MINDY. Anyway, the hostess of the show described Blair as the "girl you love to hate". She was never that.

Has anyone else ever noticed the energy shift halfway through S9? Is it just me, or does Beverly Ann get written as more shrewish and impatient towards the very end?

They close the store because she throws a fit about no one working their shifts anymore. If she'd have pulled that a year before, the girls would have shut her down.

Seasons 2-4 are the best and stand out as part of that odd early 80s period where the 70s look carried over and began to over lap with the coming 80s look by season 4 (82-83).

From season 5 (1983)onwards, the show was straight up 80s and by season 7 (1985) onwards was EXTREMELY 80s and not in a good way

R320, I like seasons 3-5 of Knots Landing (1981-84) for the same reason, that carryover early 80s look.

The last episode is on Monday morning at 6am.

Tuesday morning it starts all over again.

The two-part finale was lackluster; too much focus on new characters (for a possible spin-off that never materialized?) and not enough focus on the core group.

A bit of a disappointment after investing my time in watching all 201 episodes plus the two telemovies.

One and done. But thanks, MeTV, for making it all available.

How about the time Tootie says her uncled is cleverer than MacGyver?

Now it's time to watch the reunion movie on YouTube.

A dear friend knows that I keep a TV/VCR combo near a small dinette back in my kitchen. The other day, he dropped by with two old video tapes of The Facts of Life (once he converts the old tapes to DVD, I get them). The weepalicious "I'll Be Home For Christmas" episode was on there, along with the interview episode and the one where Natalie wrote at the truck stop. I think they had all been recorded off the USA Network.

He doesn't know how much I enjoy these old tapes of Facts, Mama's Family, The Lucy Show, DOOL, etc.

Sometimes, it's just nice to see them on videotape on an old-school TV in the kitchen.

"I'll be Home for Christmas" is one of my favorite episodes, well-written, well-performed and touches the heart. The girls and Mrs. G at their best.

In the episode (which I will just flat-out label as excruciating) where Molly's parents are getting a divorce, Natalie says her parents divorced, but have reconciled and moved back in together: "Maybe someday they'll get married!". I don't think that bit of info carried through to later stories with Natalie's parents.

Happy Birthday Charlotte Rae!!

92 years old today

Cloris Leachman will be 92 on April 30th.

I had a rotten day and came home and put on one of the compilation tapes a friend brings me.

Half of it is Golden Girls and half is Facts ("Rough Housing," "Like Mother, Like Daughter," "The Return of Mr. Garrett," and both parts of "The New Girl"). It's going to be a good night.

No, I'm not a shut-in!

I didn't get it when Natalie repeated the same grade but Blair and Jo advanced

[quote]The two-part finale was lackluster;

It was one of the shittiest series finales ever. A backdoor pilot with brief cameos by Jo, Tootie and Natalie. Boo.

A real disappointment after nine years invested.

I wonder if the reunion movie made up for it.

OP, I thought all the girls (except Jo) came from wealthy backgrounds. It doesn't make sense to me that Natalie's sister would then be a flight attendant.

Blair's family has money, Tootie's parents a are lawyers, and Natalie's father is a doctor.

I made it ten minutes into the 2001 reunion. Very, very bad.

On the show, they had Lisa Whelchel as a spoiled yet charming girl.

There is not a single person who ever interviewed or who has met her that shares your assessment, R339. Shut the fuck up.

Me-TV had a good one the other morning. Edna's irresponsible musician son came to visit and caused problems. He made Natalie lazy and she wasn't going to take an exam but didn't want Edna to get upset. I love seeing Mrs. G. lose her shit. "IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT! Get your tail upstairs and put on your uniform and take that exam!"

I also love in "The Halloween Show" when she hauls off and screams at the girls to get to work and get their asses into the kitchen to make the bratwurst. BTW, why does she act so nuts in that episode if she isn't possessed or in on Natalie and Roy's prank?

That episode (with Alex) has one of my favorite lines of the series. Blair sniffed out Alex's bullshit immediately, and wanted to say something to Mrs. G., but of course, Jo wouldn't allow her. It was a family issue, and where she (Jo) was from.....you don't meddle in other people's family business. They squabbled back & forth (as they do), and then....Natalie was found asleep in the cafeteria NOT studying for her Spanish exam. Mrs. G. screamed at Natalite to go upstairs & change for school....and then began ranting about Alex messing up Natalie's life, just like his life.

Jo: What do you mean he's messing up his life? Alex is doing great! Mrs. Garrett: Great? He's a 28 year-old struggling musician who is still being supported by his mother! You call that "great"? Blair: That's exactly what I've been saying! Jo: Cool it, Blair, you're out of line. Blair: Mrs. Garrett says we can discuss *anything* with her, and we don't have to be embarrassed, or afraid. Jo: She was talkin' about sex! THIS is personal!

(allow me to re-format)

Jo: What do you mean he's messing up his life? Alex is doing great!

Mrs. Garrett: Great? He's a 28 year-old struggling musician who is still being supported by his mother! You call that "great"?

Blair: That's exactly what I've been saying!

Jo: Cool it, Blair, you're out of line.

Blair: Mrs. Garrett says we can discuss *anything* with her, and we don't have to be embarrassed, or afraid.

Jo: She was talkin' about sex! THIS is personal!

Is that when Jo grabbed Blair and kissed her?

[quote]Me-TV had a good one the other morning. Edna's irresponsible musician son came to visit and caused problems.

Oooohhh, original sitcom storylines!