If you can sing along to one of the catchiest TV theme songs, then this blog post is meant for you! “You take the good, you take the bad / You take them both, and there you have / The facts of life.”
Set against the backdrop of a private girls’ school in Peekskill, New York, "The Facts of Life" premiered on August 24, 1979, and quickly established itself as a groundbreaking series. With an all-female lead cast, it became the longest-running sitcom on the network, carving out a unique niche among its contemporaries. What distinguished the show from other sitcoms of its time was its fearless approach to serious topics. Yes, it was a comedy, but it didn’t shy away from tackling controversial issues like racism, abortion, adoption, drug abuse, alcoholism, rape, and suicide. By engaging with these subjects, the series encouraged viewers of all ages to have honest discussions that resonated far beyond the TV screen.
In celebration of my recent interview with former child actor Mackenzie Astin, who portrayed the beloved character Andy Moffett during the show's final four seasons, I have compiled an exciting list of facts and trivia about this iconic sitcom. Get ready to be reminded of why "The Facts of Life" continues to hold a cherished place in the hearts of fans and remains one of the most beloved shows of the 1980s!
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The series was created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon. It was a spin-off of “Diff'rent Strokes” that originally aired on NBC from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s.
The pilot for the show was originally aired as the last episode of the first season of “Diff'rent Strokes” and was called "The Girls' School (a.k.a. Garrett's Girls)."
Although Kimberly Drummond never ended up at Eastland as the original plot of the series had planned, the show still was connected to the "Diff’rent Strokes" universe, with Mr. Drummond and Arnold making a few guest appearances. However, some Facts of Life characters, mostly Tootie, made crossover appearances on Diff'rent Strokes visiting Kimberly.
Longest running show to feature an all-female lead cast, although there were several recurring male characters and John Lawlor was a regular during the first season.
Although “The Facts of Life” was a Norman Lear production and a popular and successful show, the longest-running program featuring an all-female cast, Norman Lear never put his name on the credits, opting for the more generic "Tandem Productions," and he also never mentions it in interviews.
Kim Fields was only ten years old when she started playing Tootie, who was supposed to be 12. However, to make her appear taller and older, the character was always on roller skates for the show's first year.
The show's theme song was composed by Al Burton, Gloria Loring, and her then-husband, Alan Thicke
The first season lyrics began "There's a place you gotta go / For learnin' all you ought to know / About the facts of life," performed by Charlotte Rae. She later appeared on Alan Thicke's talk show "Thicke of the Night," where she performed the song and forgot the words.
Later seasons opened with "You take the good, you take the bad / You take them both, and there you have / The facts of life," sung by Loring. The original lyrics shifted to the closing credits before being dropped entirely. Burton, Loring, and Thicke had previously composed the theme to “Diff'rent Strokes”, which was sung by Thicke.
The building used as the establishing shot of Eastland is Harewood Court dormitory of Pomona College, located at 170 East Bonita Drive in Claremont, California
Actor Mindy Cohn did not audition for the show. However, the producers visited a girls' school to see how they interacted. She was a social magnet just being herself, and they created Natalie based on Cohn. She then tested in the role.
The producers felt that there were too many characters given the limitations of the half-hour sitcom format and that the plotlines should be more focused to give the remaining girls more room for character development. Four of the original actresses—Julie Anne Haddock (Cindy), Julie Piekarski (Sue Ann), Felice Schachter (Nancy) and Molly Ringwald (Molly)—were written out of the show, although the four did make periodic guest appearances in the second and third seasons, and all but Molly Ringwald appeared in one "reunion" episode in the eighth season.
Jo was the only of the girls not to make any crossover appearances on parent series “Diff'rent Strokes.”
According to an Entertainment Weekly article on “The Facts of Life”, there was at one point an anti-gay joke in the script, where one of the male characters was slammed for being effeminate. But Charlotte Rae vetoed the joke, saying, "We do not make fun of people's sexuality on this show."
Charlotte Rae said there was a scale on the set of “The Facts of Life”, and all the girls had to weigh in weekly. However, this is ironic because, in the "Dieting" episode, they weighed themselves on camera also!
Geri Jewell was the first actress on television with a physical disability: cerebral palsy.
At the show's beginning, Blair is the "bad girl" of the series. However, when the show went through a retool for the second season, and Nancy McKeon joined the cast, Jo took over the "bad girl" persona. At the same time, Blair transitioned into her more familiar, vain, spoiled rich girl image.
In an attempt to refresh the "ratings work horse" and increase ratings, George Clooney was added to the regular cast and Mrs. Garrett's store was gutted by fire in the season seven premiere "Out of the Fire". The follow-up episodes "Into the Frying Pan" and "Grand Opening" had the girls join together to rebuild the store with a pop culture-influenced gift shop, called Over Our Heads. The changes proved successful as all three episodes placed in the top ten ratings each week.
Mackenzie Astin, who played Andy Moffett from 1985 to 1988, is the son of Academy Award winning actress Patty Duke (“The Miracle Worker”) and actor John Astin (“The Addams Family”). His brother is actor Sean Astin (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy).
Charlotte Rae had missed several episodes during the sixth and seventh seasons due to her health problems. Unfortunately, this led her to leave the show at the end of the seventh season, although she did make two more guest appearances at the beginning of the eighth season.
After leaving the show in the seventh season, Charlotte Rae recommended Cloris Leachman replace her. Rae and Leachman were classmates at Northwestern University and were roommates when they were young struggling actors in New York City.
Edna and Beverly Ann were sisters on the show. In real life, Charlotte Rae was older than Cloris Leachman by only 8 days.
The character of Beverly Ann had a similar personality to Leachman's previous Emmy-winning role as Phyllis Lindstrom on two 1970s CBS sitcoms–“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Phyllis”. Beverly Ann later legally adopted Over Our Heads worker Andy Moffett (Mackenzie Astin) in the episode "A Boy About the House".
Geri Jewell, George Clooney and Molly Ringwald all played characters named after them.
Nancy McKeon admits the male characters (Andy, George, Mr. Bradley) were not used very well since the show is so female-centric.
Famous guest stars who appeared on the show include Helen Hunt, Juliette Lewis, Mayim Bialik, Seth Green, Richard Dean Anderson, Richard Grieco, Dennis Haysbert, Crispin Glover, David Spade, and Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.
One decision made by the producers was to have one of the girls lose their virginity during the final season. At first, Blair was the character, but Lisa Whelchel protested it as the idea went against her deep-seated Christian beliefs. Furthermore, Whelchel explained she didn't want her character to be seen as an improper role model for the show's young viewers. Mindy volunteered to have her character lose her virginity instead because the writers felt it was time for one of the characters to experience this, and Natalie was in a long-term relationship. Hence, Mindy thought it made sense to be her, and the writers agreed.
NBC had made plans for a tenth season, but Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon decided that they did not want to continue after the ninth season.
The series finale had Blair buying Eastland, making it co-ed, and essentially starting over as the new Mrs. Garrett, in the hopes that NBC would greenlight “The Facts of Life: The Next Generation.”
“The Facts of Life Down Under” TV movie occurred during the continuity of the original series. It originally aired on NBC on February 15, 1987, between the 17th and 18th episodes of season eight. Beverly Ann, Blair, Jo, Natalie, Tootie and Andy fly together to Sydney, Australia to meet up with Miss Carstairs (Barbara-Jane Cole) and the female students of the Koolunga School, their sister school establishment, where they will participate in a cultural exchange program. The film was later split into four individual half-hour episodes when the series entered syndication
The 2001 ABC “Facts of Life Reunion” movie reunited original cast members Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields. In a TV Guide magazine article in March 2001, Mackenzie Astin, who played Andy Moffett on “The Facts of Life” from 1985-88, was asked about the reunion and said, "I keep hearing about that too. I hope it's not happening because nobody's called me! If it does, I hope they do call." Ultimately, Astin did not appear in the movie, nor did series regulars Cloris Leachman, George Clooney, or Sherrie Krenn.
Some facts are taken from IMDB & Wikipedia.
Don't miss the chance to listen to my captivating interview with actor Mackenzie Astin who played Andy Moffett on the classic sitcom “The Facts of Life” - on the two latest episodes of Hollywood Obsessed podcast!
Click the links below to listen now!
Episode 103 - HERE
Episode 104 - HERE
