The Facts of Life

This show aired when I was just entering my teens, and I can't think of a better time to have had such a wonderful show to watch. It was as if someone had asked my little-girl imagination what it's dream show would be, and then made it just for me. I've enjoyed the re-runs on USA, but can't quite understand why they never show the earliest episodes from 1979. Observant fans will remember those as the ones with the girls living in the dorm, prior to working in the cafeteria. Those were my favorites, and it seems like they never show them. Please get a clue USA. That's when the show was at it's best!

If you want to see another example of why the 80's were the greatest decade of the 20th century, here's a prime example. Although I was a male, me and my brothers loved this show. I don't why, I guess it was a "what were we thinking" kind of deal. I guess as fans of "Diff'rent Strokes", we would watch the spin-offs. Granted, no one in the cast of females would cause the S Club 7 girls to lose sleep in the beauty department (sorry Lisa), but the character development was superb. Natalie Green, Jo Polnochek, Tootie Ramsey, Blair Warner, and the young girls that would come and go were all so appealing. You cared about them all. Charlotte Rae's Mrs. Garrett was the kind of women we all wish we could have known and befriended. Heck, I even miss Pippa, she was a cute, headstrong kind of girl. The acting was always good, it felt like it was real life instead of an act. I would like to check this show out again, just to see why I watched it. Oh, and Mrs. Garrett, Oingo Boingo's music is still very cool.

I watched "The Facts of Life" Saturday nights on NBC while I was growing up and I looked forward to each and every episode. When the show ended I cried and thought "How will I ever get along without them?" Well, I had totally forgotten the reruns that had been playing in the afternoons for the past four years. So I was happy re-watching the old shows. In 1994 I heard about the "Facts" marathon on USA network and I had to tape it. It was commemorating the 15th anniversary of the shows original starting date (back in 1979-the year I was born). The marathon was hosted by Mindy Cohn (Natalie), Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett) and Lisa Welchel (Blair). All three of them shared memories of what it was like working on the set and what each of them had been doing since the show had ended. It was great seeing how well all three of them had gotten on with their lives. It was too bad that Nancy McKeon (Jo), Kim Fields (Tootie), Sherrie Krenn (Pippa), Cloris Leachman (Beverly Ann), Pamela Segall (Kelly), George Clooney (George) and MacKenzie Astin (Andy) didn't come on the show too. I still watch that video recording every once and a while (about once or twice a year; especially around the holiday season) and I'm so glad that I taped it. My favorite episode (which, unfortunately, wasn't included in the marathon) was the one where they were running a pizza take-out service which was a total disaster...especially when Natalie lost control and got flour all over the room and on everyone else. I am hoping that USA will start re-running the show again soon. They were last year. What happened?

I remember back in 1979 when The Facts Of Life debuted it was a nice show, but lucky it got a second chance when it got retooled and revamped and streamlined. When it first debuted there were about six blond teen girls plus two other, a young black girl played by Kim Fields and a stout young girl who was Mindy Cohn. The rest were a group you could barely tell apart.

The following year this show about a girl's boarding school underwent a huge makeover. All the anonymous blond teens went, save one played by Lisa Whelchel. She stood out somewhat because of her character as a rich teen débutante who avoided serious subjects like the plague and thought her money fixed all. Over the years Whelchel's character grew somewhat.

But the show needed a contrasting bite and it got it when Nancy McKeon joined the cast. When she rode in on that motorcycle, bad girl in the making what it made was the show. Now you had potential for real conflict on the episodes.

Whelchel, Fields, Cohn, and McKeon pulled a real nasty prank on that first episode and were put in some kind of permanent probation living with school counselor Charlotte Rae. She became a strict but loving den mother to the four of them as they went through puberty learning The Facts Of Life.

With a few tight scrapes they learned them well. If the show wasn't completely realistic it wasn't exactly the Fifties either. The kids had some real issues, but it was all done PG.

It was also good entertainment.

I LOVE THE FACTS OF LIFE!!!!!!! It is my favorite show in the whole world! My favorite characters are Blair (Lisa Whelchel) and Jo (Nancy McKeon). I have almost every single episode taped, so that shows you how much I like it! If you are ever having problems, you can watch one of these episodes, and I always feel better right away, because the show covers real life problems that real teenagers would have.