mrsticka
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Post by mrsticka on Dec 20, 2023 9:12:07 GMT
Over this past year, "The Facts of Life" has become a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, I'm a guy and it's a girly show, but I don't care. But I've had some what-ifs regarding it.
Such as:
-It's not a spinoff of "Diff'rent Strokes". Instead, "Diff'rent Strokes" is on ABC instead of being on NBC the first 7 seasons, then moving to ABC for its 8th and final season. But "The Facts of Life" is still on NBC.
-Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett) was never on "Diff'rent Strokes".
-"The Facts of Life" premieres on September 15th, 1979, at 8:00/7:00 Central.
-Instead of having 7 girls, there were only 4. Lisa Whelchel (Blair), Mindy Cohn (Natalie) and Kim Fields (Tootie) are still series regulars. But Felice Schacter (Nancy), Julie Anne Haddock (Cindy), Julie Piekarski (Sue Ann) and Molly Ringwald (Molly) are not. Instead, they're just recurring characters.
-Nancy McKeon (Jo) is there during the first season.
-The theme song is different. Instead of having alternate lyrics, it has the more familiar ones "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life…", etc. The musical arrangement is similar to what was used originally. And Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett) doesn't sing it all by herself. The other girls do, too. They each sing a part of the song.
Here's how they sing it:
CHARLOTTE:
You take the good, you take the bad
You take them both and there you have
The facts of life, the facts of life
LISA:
There's a time you gotta go
And show you're growing
Now you know about
The facts of life, the facts of life
KIM:
When the world never seems
To be living up to your dreams
MINDY:
And suddenly you're finding out
The facts of life are all about you
MINDY AND KIM:
Yo-ou
NANCY:
It takes a lot to get them right
When you're learning the facts of life
MINDY AND KIM:
Learning the facts of life
LISA AND NANCY:
Learning the facts of life
MINDY AND KIM:
Learning the facts of life
CHARLOTTE:
Learning the facts of liiiiiiiiiife!
They also sing the closing theme:
LISA:
You'll avoid a lot of damage
And enjoy the fun of managing
The facts of life
They shed a lot of light
NANCY:
If you hear 'em from your brother
Better clear 'em with your mother
Gotta get 'em right
Call her late at night
KIM:
You got the future in the palm of your hands
All you gotta do to get you through is understand
MINDY:
You think you'd rather do without
You'll never make it through without the truth
CHARLOTTE:
The facts of life are all about you
MINDY AND KIM:
Learning the facts of life
LISA AND NANCY:
Learning the facts of life
MINDY AND KIM:
Learning the facts of life
CHARLOTTE:
Learning the facts of liiiiiiiiiife!
-The pilot for "The Facts of Life" is quite different. Because it's not a spinoff of "Diff'rent Strokes", the Drummond family does not appear. However, the episode's main plot is basically the same. The girls get ready for the upcoming Harvest festival where Blair is expected to win Harvest Queen. But the big change is Jo arrives at Eastland on her motorcycle. When she enters the dorm, she is wearing a helmet, denim jeans and a jacket. Blair still mistakes her for a delivery boy. So do Natalie and Tootie. But then Jo takes off her helmet revealing her ponytail. Tootie apologizes to Jo and says they thought she was a boy. Natalie jokes "Well, she's a tomboy. Does that count?" And Jo, who doesn't find that remark funny, raises her arm like she's going to take a swing at Natalie. It's still hate at first sight for Blair and Jo. Blair thinks Jo is classless and crude and lacking in manners while Jo thinks Blair is stuck-up, spoiled and privileged. To make matters worse, Mrs. Garrett tells them they'll be roommates. Neither of them is looking forward to that. Mrs. Garrett tells Blair about Jo's troubled past and encourages her (Blair) to help Jo straighten her life out. Later, Blair and Jo talk. Jo's still kind of ticked off about Blair mistaking her for a delivery boy. Blair apologizes for that. Then she brings up the Harvest festival. Jo says she's been to a couple of those. Blair then mentions the Harvest Queen contest, but Jo doesn't care about that. Blair tells Jo she doesn't have an opponent to run against. Jo's not eager to jump on board to run against her. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't have any nice clothes to wear such as dresses or shoes (high heels). All she has are t-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, jeans and sneakers. She's clearly into sports and asks Blair what kind of athletic programs Eastland has. Blair says they have basketball, soccer, track and field hockey. Of course, Blair doesn't care about sports at all. Later, both Blair and Jo come downstairs and announce that Jo will run against Blair in the Harvest Queen contest. Blair lets Jo borrow one of her dresses and a pair of heels. Then Blair and Jo return from the festival where Blair is wearing a crown and sash and is carrying flowers. She won Harvest Queen. She compliments Jo on being a worthy opponent. Jo didn't care about being Harvest Queen. She just didn't want Blair to run unopposed. The episode ends with everybody celebrating Blair winning Harvest Queen.
-Season 1 has a total of 22 episodes.
-Because Jo is there in season 1, there are moments where she and Blair exchange insults and putdowns. Sometimes Natalie and Tootie are there watching them bicker and enjoy it. Sometimes they (Natalie and Tootie) even courage them (Blair and Jo). And Mrs. Garrett has to put a stop to the bickering.
-There are a couple of small, lighthearted moments between Blair and Jo in a couple episodes such as in the episode where Tootie’s father (Robert Hooks) tries to pull her out of Eastland because he feels it doesn’t provide her the challenge he feels it should, then the headmaster Mr. Bradley (John Lawlor) tells Mr. Ramsey that Eastland is “not a school just for rich, spoiled girls” and then everybody looks at Blair who then asks “Why is everybody looking at me?” to which Jo replies “‘Cause you’re a rich, spoiled girl.” In another episode, Blair is on the phone in the living room and Nancy impatiently waits to use the phone. She then asks Jo who Blair’s on the phone with. Jo then says Roger (Nancy’s unseen boyfriend). Then Nancy becomes wide-eyed, turns her head to Blair and goes “WHAT?!?” Jo chuckles and remarks “That was too easy.” Neither Blair nor Nancy find that funny. Blair is NOT on the phone with Roger. She’s on the phone with a stockbroker. She’s checking to see how the stocks of her dad’s company are doing.
-Later on season 1, Jo is smoking pot along with some of the girls. She even encourages Blair to do it. But Blair’s reluctant to do so. Later on, Blair’s smoking along with Jo and the other girls, except Natalie and Tootie who bought themselves bongs not knowing what they were for. They just wanted them because the other girls had them, which shocks Mrs. Garrett, who then explains to Natalie and Tootie that they’re used for marijuana. Tootie, shocked, is like "Marijuana?" Natalie asks “Like Cheech and Chong?”
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mrsticka
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Post by mrsticka on Dec 20, 2023 9:13:02 GMT
-In season 2, there are some changes to the show. A new version of the theme song was introduced. And it’s not sung by Charlotte and the girls. Now it’s sung by the writer Gloria Loring, who co-wrote it with her then-husband Alan Thicke.
-Season 2 sees the main setting change to the Eastland cafeteria. Jo wants to get out and meet some guys. She learns about a place called the Chug-A-Lug bar and even tries to get Blair to go with her. But Blair points out that they can’t get into the bar because they’re underage and they check IDs at the door. Jo says she can make fake IDs for them. So Blair decides to go along with it. However, Natalie and Tootie overhear them and say they’re coming along. At first, Blair and Jo won’t let them, but then Tootie says that if they don’t, she’ll be obligated to tell Mrs. Garrett what they’re up to. So Blair and Jo reluctantly let them come along. Blair then mentions the bar is 5 miles away from the school and she refuses to ride on Jo’s motorcycle. Jo says they’ll take the school van. Blair asks how they’ll start it because the keys are never in it. Jo says they’ll hotwire it. So later on, the 4 girls all go to the Chug-A-Lug Bar. Blair and Jo go inside while Natalie and Tootie watch from outside. Blair and Jo show the bouncer their fake IDs and the bouncer buys it. They go to the bar and order a couple of beers. There’s a man sitting at the bar and he starts up a conversation with the girls. Meanwhile back at Eastland, Mrs. Garrett is looking for the girls and can’t find them. The other girls, Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann, tell Mrs. Garrett they snuck out, stole the van and went to the Chug-A-Lug Bar. Mrs. Garrett is shocked to learn that. So then she leaves to retrieve the girls. Back at the bar, the man is still chatting with Blair and Jo. He puts a hand one Blair’s shoulder and then Natalie and Tootie, who are still watching from outside, misconstrue his actions, then go into the bar and demand to know what the man is doing to Blair and Jo. The man asks who Natalie and Tootie are. Blair tries to pass them off as her little sisters. Then Mrs. Garrett enters and shrieks “GIRLS!” She demands to know what’s going on. Blair says they were just letting off steam. Then the man reveals a badge to the girls. He’s an undercover cop. He knew all along that Blair and Jo were underage and their IDs were fake. He starts to arrest them, but Mrs. Garrett begs and pleads for him to let them go. The cop points out they made fake IDs and sipped beer, both of which are offenses. Mrs. Garrett inadvertently blurts out that the girls stole the van. She quickly tries to correct herself, but it’s too late. Just then, we hear the sound of a vehicle crashing. Mrs. Garrett asks the girls where the van is. Jo says it’s parked down the street. The cop informs her that’s not a street, it’s a one-way alley. The cop decides to arrest Blair and Jo. Natalie intervenes and barks at the cop to leave them alone and even pushes him. Tootie pours a mug of beer over his head. Enraged, the cop decides to arrest all of the girls. Later on, the girls are all sitting in jail. Blair blames Jo for them getting arrested. Mrs. Garrett comes along and announces to the girls they’ve been bailed out. She says Mr. Parker was able to pull some strings. Mrs. Garrett tells the girls that they’ve been put on probation for 6 months and they’ve been expelled from Eastland. But then Mrs. Garrett says there’s a way they can stay if they agree to 3 conditions; 1. She has to assume responsibility for the girls. 2. They have to work in the cafeteria to pay for the damage to the van. 3. They can’t live in the dorm. They have to move above the cafeteria so Mrs. Garrett can keep an eye of them. Those are the conditions. The girls aren’t too crazy about it at first. Mrs. Garrett reminds them it’s either that or be expelled. So the girls agree to the conditions. They return to the cafeteria where Mrs. Garrett tells the girls what they’ll be doing such as serving food during breakfast, lunch and dinner, bussing tables, sweeping the floor, washing dishes, taking out the trash, etc. Then she takes them upstairs to a storage room filled with a bunch of junk. Needless to say, the girls hate it. Mrs. Garrett also says they’ll have to share the bathroom down the hall. The girls start complaining how much they hate all this, then Mrs. Garrett says they can consider themselves expelled and that they’re welcome to leave and go home. She also reminds them how she went out on a limb for them. So the girls agree to stay. Mrs. Garrett leaves the room. Blair, Natalie and Tootie start yelling at Jo blaming her for ruining their lives. Mrs. Garrett overhears the girls arguing in the hallway. So now the girls are all tending to their duties in the cafeteria. One girl sitting at a table teases them about it. Jo gets mad and is about to hit the girl, but Blair stops her and throws a pie in her face! In the final scene, the girls are up in their new bedroom having furnished and converted it into a bedroom. They try to make the best of it, but frankly, it’s easier said than done.
-Season 2 is mostly unchanged, but there are some episodes that didn’t originally exist. Overall, season 2 has 22 episodes like season 1. In one of them, Jo learns that a boy from Bates has autism. In another, Blair goes out with a guy from there and discovers he has a foot fetish which weirds her out.
-In another episode towards the end of season 2, Blair and Jo get into an argument where they start throwing food at each other. Then it quickly turns into an all-out food fight between not only the 4 girls (Blair, Jo, Natalie and Tootie), but the others as well including Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann. Later on, a furious Mrs. Garrett yells at and reprimands the girls for messing up the cafeteria and tells them to clean it up. While the girls (all 7 of them) are cleaning the cafeteria, Nancy who’s furious with Blair and Jo for getting them in trouble does something childish. She blows a raspberry in Blair’s face. Blair calls Nancy out on her immaturity, but Nancy just blows another raspberry at her. So Blair blows one back. Jo calls Blair out on it, but Blair blows a raspberry at her. Jo blows one back. Soon, Jo, Blair and Nancy are all blowing raspberries in each other’s faces. The other girls try to stop it, but they just get raspberries blown in their faces. Soon, all 7 girls are blowing raspberries in each other’s faces. Mrs. Garrett enters the cafeteria to see the ensuing silliness. She tries to get the girls’ attention to no avail. The girls continue blowing raspberries at each other until Mrs. Garrett blows a raspberry herself. That gets the girls’ attention and they finally stop. Mrs. Garrett reprimands them again. She demands the girls clean the cafeteria and work quietly. Eventually, the girls get the cafeteria all cleaned up.
-Season 3 has a couple of episodes that didn’t originally exist. In one of them, Jo’s birthday is coming up. But she doesn’t feel like celebrating it. But then, her father (Alex Rocco) surprises her by coming up to Eastland to visit her. It’s been a year since he got out of jail and feels so bad for having missed so many of Jo’s birthdays. He wants to make up for that. So he takes the girls and Mrs. Garrett all out for pizza. Later, they come back to Eastland and have birthday cake. Everybody sings Happy Birthday to Jo, she blows out the candles and says this was the best birthday she ever had.
-In another episode, Blair bakes some cookies. Natalie and Tootie like them. So does Mrs. Garrett. They invite Jo to try the cookies. At first, Jo thinks Mrs. Garrett baked them, but when Blair reveals she made them, not Mrs. Garrett, Jo’s like “Ick!” And then Blair responds with “No, not ick, mmm.” Jo again says “Ick!” She won’t even try them because Blair made them. Everyone thinks Jo is being petty. Blair then challenges her to bake her own batch of cookies. Jo agrees. She says she’ll bake better cookies than Blair. So later on, Blair and Jo have a bake-off. They both bake their own batches of cookies. And then, Natalie, Tootie, some other students including the other girls, Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann taste test both batches. Some like Blair’s better, others like Jo’s. In the end, Blair ends up winning the bake-off. Jo finally shows some maturity and admits Blair’s cookies are actually pretty good. Blair admits Jo’s are good, too.
-In another episode, there’s a chili eating contest at Eastland. Jo eagerly enters and cooks up what she thinks will be the hottest spiciest chili in the world. She puts all sorts of things in the chili to make it just that. Blair comes downstairs to the kitchen and sees the chili pot. Unaware of how hot and spicy it is, she samples a little bit of it. Her mouth starts burning. She rushes to the sink for a glass of water. Jo enters and laughs at Blair who clearly can’t handle the chili. Then the others try it. They basically have the same reaction. They rush for water, too. Jo thinks they’re all a bunch of wimps. Later on during the contest, Jo goes against 2 other girls and wins.
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mrsticka
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Post by mrsticka on Dec 20, 2023 9:15:44 GMT
-Season 4 also had a couple of episodes that didn’t originally exist. In one of them, there’s a party in the Eastland cafeteria one night and some Bates boys come to it. One of them brings a tray of brownies to the party. Everything seems to be going pretty well. The girls eat the brownies. Later, they start to act strange. They’re unfocused and feel a bit woozy. Mrs. Garrett realizes they’re stoned. The next day, the girls don’t feel so good. Mrs. Garrett tells them somebody brought pot brownies to the part last night. The girls say they ate some brownies last night. Mrs. Garrett finally puts it together. Those brownies were laced with pot. She says whoever brought them to the party could be suspended. Later, the boy who brought the pot brownies to the party last night confesses. And he gets suspended from Bates for 2 weeks. The girls are off the hook.
-In another episode, a ceramics class starts up at Eastland. And it’s taught by Mrs. Garrett. The girls eagerly sign up for it. That includes the other girls Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann. The girls aren’t very good at the potter’s wheels. Some of them are like Jo and Sue Ann, but the others, not so much. Blair and Nancy can’t seem to keep their clay pieces to stay in the shapes and forms they want. Tootie and Natalie can’t seem to keep their molds of clay centered. In fact, Natalie’s ends up splattering in her face. The girls get frustrated, but Mrs. Garrett encourages them to stick with it.
-In another episode, the girls participate in a bowling tournament against some Bates boys. All 7 of them. Blair, Jo, Natalie, Tootie and the other girls Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann. They go to a bowling alley and are there for several hours. They lose track of time and end up breaking their curfew. So Mrs. Garrett has to go get them. The girls beg her to let them finish the game. So Mrs. Garrett backs down and lets them. One of the Bates boys teases the girls about Mrs. Garrett, calling her Grandma, bringing them home. That makes Mrs. Garrett mad. So she gets a pair of bowling shoes and makes a shot herself. She gets a strike. The girls cheer and applaud. Mrs. Garrett ends up helping the girls beat the Bates boys, then they all go home.
-Season 5 sees the main setting still change from Eastland to Mrs. Garrett’s new gourmet shop Edna’s Edibles.
-Season 5 has an episode that didn’t originally exist. In it, the girls are all at school. Blair and Jo and Langley, Natalie and Tootie still at Eastland. While they are, Mrs. Garrett’s all by herself in her shop when a deer breaks through the front window and runs around the shop aimlessly. Terrified, Mrs. Garrett screams. She tries to chase the deer out of her store, but it doesn’t work. Eventually, the deer leaves. Later, the window is all boarded up. The girls are now there assessing the damage to the shop. Mrs. Garrett’s nerves are still frayed. Later on that night, when the girls are all in bed, she’s still up. Tootie comes downstairs and tells Mrs. Garrett she can’t sleep. She still can’t believe a deer actually broke through the window of the shop. Then Natalie comes down. She also can’t sleep. Blair, same thing. Finally, Jo, who tried to hide her fear with her tough image, comes downstairs and admits she can’t sleep either. So they all talk about how they’re still scared and can’t stop thinking about it. Mrs. Garrett reassures the girls that she’s fine (physically, but maybe not emotionally). She wasn’t hurt. Eventually, the girls all go back to bed.
-Season 6 had an episode that didn’t originally exist. It features a Garrett family reunion in Peekskill. Among them are her 2 sons Raymond (Joel Brooks) and Alex (Tom Fitzsimmons). Also, Mrs. Garrett has a daughter, which she did not originally have! Her name is Gloria and she’s played by Gloria Loring, who also sings the show’s theme song.
-Season 7 doesn’t have any major changes to it. Although Charlotte Rae started to phase herself out of the show by this time. They got that new rock sounding version of their theme song which they would use for the rest of the series’ run.
-Season 8 sees Mrs. Garrett get married and leave for Africa with her new husband who’s in the Peace Corps. So her sister Beverly Ann (Cloris Leachman) is now in charge of the girls.
-Season 8 was mostly unchanged, except that high school reunion episode with Nancy, Cindy and Sue Ann doesn’t happen.
-Season 9 was not the final season. So the writers don’t wrap stuff up real quickly. For example, Jo still meets Rick (Scott Bryce). But they don’t get married by the end of the season. Instead, they get to know each other better before they actually start forming a relationship. They go out on a few dates in various episodes.
-The 9th season finale is not the series finale. And the plot is different. Instead, Blair continues law school. Eastland is not seen.
Originally, Nancy McKeon and Mindy Cohn decided to leave the show, but they didn't do that in this timeline.
-There was a 10th season. It has a total of 24 episodes.
-In season 10, Blair enters her second year of law school.
-Jo and Rick still see each other and go out on some more dates.
-Not only was there a 10th season, but there was an 11th as well. And it sees the main setting change from that house the girls lived at for 6 years to a completely new house where they live all by themselves without any adult supervision. So Cloris Leachman, Mackenzie Astin (Andy) and Sherri Krenn (Pippa) are no longer series regulars. They don’t appear in the opening credits anymore. Instead, they’re recurring cast members.
-The 11th season premiere features the girls boxing stuff up out of their old house and moving into a new one. They’re little sad to be leaving their old home, but they like their new one. The girls now have their own separate bedrooms. Blair has her own room, Jo has hers, Natalie has her own room and Tootie has hers. Jo is delighted to finally have her own room after 10 years. While she and Blair don’t miss sharing a room together, Natalie and Tootie do. There’s a scene at night where the girls are all in bed. Blair and Jo are sound asleep. But Natalie and Tootie are still awake. Natalie feels a little sad and lonely. And Tootie cries herself to sleep.
-Blair enters her third year of law school.
-In an episode of season 11, Natalie and Tootie double date again with their boyfriends Snake (Robert Romanus) and Jeff (Todd Hallowell). And they argue and bicker again much to Natalie and Tootie’s annoyance.
-Jo and Rick are still seeing each other by this time.
-The girls have their very first Christmas in their new house.
-In the penultimate episode of season 11, Mother’s Day is coming up and the girls’ mothers all come to visit. That includes Blair’s mom Monica (Marj Dusay), Jo’s mom Rose (Claire Malis), Natalie’s mom Evie (Mitzi Hoag) and Tootie’s mom Diane (Chip Fields, Kim’s real life mom). So the 4 mothers all finally meet. Of course, Monica and Rose already know each other. But they’ve never met Natalie’s nor Tootie’s mothers. Now they finally do. They all like the new house. The moms all talk, chat and gab about their daughters. Blair then takes everybody out to dinner to celebrate Mother’s Day.
-In the season finale, the 4 girls babysit 2 boys whose parents go to a James Taylor concert. And they’re wild and rambunctious. They run around the house and end up knocking stuff over and breaking some things. They drive the girls crazy. Later on, the boys’ parents arrive to take them home much to the relief of the girls. Natalie remarks that she’ll never have children.
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mrsticka
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Post by mrsticka on Dec 20, 2023 9:19:35 GMT
-“The Facts of Life” not only had a 10th and 11th season, but it had a 12th as well! Of course, the girls were starting to get tired of doing the show, so NBC decided season 12 would be the last. After this, they were calling it quits.
-Season 12 had 26 episodes.
-In the 12th season premiere, a TV technician is at the girls’ house installing cable TV for them. The girls are impressed with the pristine quality of the picture. They don’t have to worry about static or snow anymore. And they’re overwhelmed at all the new channels they now have that they didn’t before.
-Also, Blair enters her 4th and final year of law school.
-Jo and Rick are still seeing each other. They finally get engaged to be married. Jo asks Blair to be her maid of honor in the wedding.
-In another episode of season 12, Blair’s father David dies of a heart attack. She’s saddened over it. But she’s more worried about what might happen to her dad’s company. Blair starts fearing she won’t be getting any more money and therefore will become destitute.
-In another episode of season 12, Tootie is watching “Jeopardy!” and guesses the responses along with the show. But then she falls asleep and dreams she’s a contestant on “Jeopardy!” herself. Alex Trebek guest stars as himself.
-In another episode of season 12, George Wendt (Norm from “Cheers”) guest stars as himself. When the girls see him, they yell “NORM!” He corrects them saying he’s George Wendt and just plays Norm. Of course, that wasn’t the main plot of the episode.
-The girls all celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, of course. In separate episodes.
-In another episode of season 12, Blair has a dream where she lives in a beautiful castle and is queen. The episode mostly centralizes around her dream. Jo, Natalie and Tootie are Blair’s humble servants. Blair has everything she wants, except a husband. She wants one. She spends most of her dream looking for a husband and eventually finds one. They get married and live happily ever after. Then when the dream’s over, Blair’s still a little happy. Even Jo’s insults don’t get to her.
-Later on in the season, Jo and Rick finally get married. Her parents are there. So are Rick’s. Blair is indeed maid of honor.
-Afterwards, Rick goes on tour to Europe with his rock band.
-While Rick’s away, Jo, who’s feeling lonely, goes to a motorcycle rally. She thinks it will be lots of fun, but when she gets there, it isn’t. She’s a little sad actually. She realizes how much she’s changed in the last 12 years, how things like motorcycle rallies no longer interest her. Jo returns home at the end to return to the girls.
-In another episode of season 12, which is a 2-parter, at the community center, Jo meets a boy, Sammy and his mother Debbie and Debbie introduces Jo to her new boyfriend/fiance Mark. When Jo sees Mark, she forms an immediate dislike toward him. Everybody is confused why. Jo is suspicious of Mark. She doesn’t trust him. She thinks Mark should be in jail. Blair points out that he hasn’t done anything wrong. But Jo believes he has. Of course, she doesn’t have any proof that he did. So she gets proof. She goes to the police station to do some investigating on Mark. It turns out Jo was right all along. So she goes back to the community center with the cop who exposes his violent/abusive history. Mark has a restraining order filed against him by his ex-wife. He used to hit her. And he’s currently on probation for violating that restraining order. The cop tells Mark to stay away from Debbie and Sammy. He also warns Mark not to write, call or go over to their house or he’ll come after him. Blair gives Mark a number to call if he feels he’s on the verge of losing his temper and can get some help. Then Mark leaves. Debbie and Sammy are stunned and relieved Jo saved them. After the episode, Lisa Whelchel and Nancy McKeon do a little PSA on domestic violence, then give a number to call on how to stop it.
-In another episode of season 12 near the show’s end, Blair learns that her mom Monica slept with Jo’s father Charlie! At first, she regretted it, but then Monica reveals that she might actually be falling in love with Charlie.
-In another episode of season 12 near the show’s end, Blair’s little sister Bailey has a birthday party and all of her friends are there. The girls all go to the party. Now by this time, Blair and Jo have gotten along pretty well and are practically like sisters. But there were times when they reverted to their old ways by exchanging insults and putdowns. This episode was one of those times. While in some large inflatable bouncy house at Bailey’s birthday party, they get into an argument over something. Then Blair does something childish. She jumps in the bounce house causing Jo to fall down. But then Jo does it back. And again and again and again. To the point where the bouncy house deflates. Soon the other kids start complaining and some cry. Blair and Jo finally realize what they’ve done and apologize to Bailey.
-In the 1-hour series finale (divided into 2 parts in syndication), the girls all start new chapters in their lives. Blair finally graduates from law school and gets a job at a prestigious law firm. Her new boss is played by Keene Curtis (who also played John Allen Hill on “Cheers”, the owner of Melville’s Fine Seafood restaurant above Cheers). Jo and Rick (who returns from Europe) finally start their married lives together. Natalie and Tootie also get married. Natalie to Snake and Tootie to Jeff. Natalie prepares to move to SoHo while Tootie prepares to leave for LA for a job writing in Hollywood. Beverly Ann, Andy and Pippa all return as well. Pippa graduates from Eastland. But the big surprises is Mrs. Garrett returns! She’s so proud of the girls, how they’ve all grown up, etc. Nancy (Felice Schacter), Cindy (Julie Anne Haddock) and Sue Ann (Julie Piekarski) even return! So the 7 girls all reminisce about their years at Eastland. There are flashbacks from previous episodes over the past 12 years. The final scene features the girls and Mrs. Garrett together one last time. Tears are shed, of course. And stuff gets said like “I guess this is it”, “It’s the end of an era”, “I can’t believe this is happening”, etc. Then Blair asks if anyone seriously expected the 4 of them to just live together forever to which Natalie and Tootie eagerly reply “Yes!” Jo cringes at the thought of still living with Blair 40 years later. Then Blair makes a speech about how life’s not like that, things change, nothing stays the same forever, etc. Afterwards, Mrs. Garrett (in tears) is like “Oh, my girls!” Then they all share a group hug. The episode and series end at that point.
-The series finale of “The Facts of Life” aired on NBC on May 18th, 1991. It had a viewership of over 15 million people.
After “The Facts of Life” ends, reruns are shown in syndication on local TV stations until 1997. The show is also on USA network from 1993 to 1999. Then on Nick at Nite from 1999 to 2002. It's on TV Land from 2002 to 2006. Then on WGN from 2011 to 2014.
In 2001, there's a “Facts of Life” reunion movie. The cast all reunite for it, except Nancy McKeon (Jo) who's busy with another show.
-In December 2021, “Live In Front Of A Studio Audience” on ABC recreated “The Facts of Life” episode “Kids Can Be Cruel” where there’s a dinner auction in the cafeteria and Natalie’s vengeful act against Blair for humiliating her earlier puts an innocent person in the middle. In it, Ann Douwd played Mrs. Garrett, Jennifer Aniston played Blair, Gabrielle Union played Tootie, Alison Tolman played Natalie and Kathyrn Hahn played Jo. Jon Stewart played Carl Price, the guy who pays to have dinner with Blair. Lisa Whelchel, who originally played Blair, sung the show’s theme song and wore her Eastland uniform. Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields (the original Natalie and Tootie respectively) were also there. Nancy McKeon, who originally played Jo, was absent.
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