The Facts of Life was one of those sitcoms that was actually four or five different programs during its run. In other words, while the format and main characters really didn’t change, everything else did. Locations, supporting characters, fashions — all came and went during the show’s nine year run. The changes had to be made, of course. I mean, they couldn’t have Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie working in the cafeteria at Eastland Academy well into their 20s.
Everyone has their favorite version of the show. Some enjoy the very first season, which was a spin-off of the then-popular Diff’rent Strokes. That season, which put former housekeeper Mrs. Garrett into a housemother role at Eastland Academy, is my least favorite. Probably because it’s so different, with the focus on multiple characters and the extremely high estrogen levels pouring out of the TV screen. Plus, Tootle produced waaayyy too much cuteness!
I enjoyed the later seasons at Eastland after the producers of the show cleared the baffles and reduced the cast to just Blair, Natalie, Tootie, and bad girl Jo, with Mrs. Garrett riding rough shod over them all. But, my favorite seasons are when the girls and Mrs. G. left the ivy halls of Eastland and took up residence in downtown Peekskill. There was definitely something more mature in these episodes then there was while the show took place within the bounds of the Academy(despite the fact the show’s earlier seasons touched on sex, drugs and rock n’ roll numerous times).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GxXRbSFDg
Actually, unlike many viewers, I really took to the show when Charlotte Rae left the program and was replaced by Cloris Leachman (as Edna Garrett’s sister Beverly Ann). That was an interesting time for the program. With ratings beginning to falter, the format of the show was tinkered with a bit. I can recall one particular episode from this era that was a tribute to the Twilight Zone. You may remember it … it featured a Rod Sterling look-a-like who loved to say the word ‘Tootie’. This was also the period of time where a young sitcom actor named George Clooney appeared on the show in a recurring role. I wonder if George looks back at these episodes fondly or is constantly asking the studio for the masters in order to burn them and hide the ashes.
The Facts of Life was a perfect show for the young women of the 1980s. It wasn’t too corny, nor was it that edgy; saving it from the ‘Very Special Episode’ syndrome of that time. It had the right mix of humor and topicality to keep the show in the Top 30 for years. Granted, it could never be transferred into today’s world of television. Teenage girls (hell, even tween girls) are so mature today they make the Eastland girls look like preschoolers. Catch an episode of Gossip Girl if you want an example. Well, we’ll always have Tootie.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on May 06, 2009 @ 01:00 EST5EDT
It was a good show. I was too young to realize (or I just don’t remember) all of the major differences between the seasons that you point out, but I do remember thinking that Tootie was just a little too annoying (was she always on roller skates?) I also remember an episode which gave me nightmares (unless the episode itself was a bad dream of mine) when the main cast is getting killed off, and something with giant furry dice rolling down stairs, and maybe Tootie ended up being the killer? Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s the ‘Twilight Zone’-inspired episode I mentioned in my post. It was a season eight episode entitled ‘Seven Little Indians’.
Ah! Thanks! Memories of that scared me for years. Now the only other TV episode that I’m not sure was real or imagined is a Cosby show one when Bill ends up in a land filled with mushrooms and muppet-like characters. I’ve tried finding it over the years, but I’ve only been able to find one where Cliff has a dream after eating a bad sandwich, and that’s not it… Oh, the things you remember from when you are a little kid…
The first season produced a couple of good episodes. In particular I’m always amused at the anti-marijuana episode. Blair and Sue Ann (?) in the room of the “bad girls”; Sue Ann writing a report on Moby Dick while stoned; Natalie pulling bongs out of her bag, in front of Mrs. Garrett, unaware of what they were. Good stuff.
A bunch of sitcoms did anti-drug episodes during the Nancy Regan “Just Say No” campaign. I’m Canadian and was too young to know about world politics, but that campaign infiltrated me through TV. :)
I quite enjoyed the second season with the introduction of Jo.
The last few episodes of the series, in which Blair takes over Eastland, were cool. They were supposed to do a spin off with the new Eastland girls but it never happened.
(it would have starred a pre-Blossom Mayim Bialik, Meredith Scott Lynn, Seth Green and I think Juliette Lewis- or at least, they were in those episodes.)