"The Facts of Life" (1979) TV series 1979-1988

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Creators:

Dick Clair
Jenna McMahon

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

24 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life...

Plot:

A group of girls attending a boarding school experience the joys and the trials of adolescence under the guiding hand of housemother Edna Garrett...

Plot Keywords:

Housemother | Boarding School | Tolerance | Uniform | Bad Girl

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Lisa Whelchel	...	Blair Warner (200 episodes, 1979-1988)
Kim Fields	...	Dorothy 'Tootie' Ramsey (200 episodes, 1979-1988)
Mindy Cohn	...	Natalie Green (200 episodes, 1979-1988)
Nancy McKeon	...	Joanne 'Jo' Polniaczek / ... (186 episodes, 1980-1988)
Charlotte Rae	...	Edna Garrett (145 episodes, 1979-1986)

Also Known As:

"Garrett's Girls" (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (209 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Embassy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

For the second season, the entire concept and plot of the show was changed from a large boarding house of several young girls, to a tighter knit group of older adolescent women. This was done since the producers felt that a plot change from comic relief to serious adult issues would help boost ratings. The cast of girls was reduced to only four, including the new character of "Jo".

Quotes:

Blair: Y-you mean H-harrison asked you out on a d-d-d-d...
Tootie Ramsey: DATE, Blair; we call it a DATE!
Jo Polniaczek: Yeah, to some wing-ding Friday night.
Natalie Green: Could that be YOUR wing-ding, Blair?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jeff Gordon/Avril Lavigne (#28.9)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

The Facts of Life

Sorry, as far as sitcoms go, this show was awful

After reading the many positive comments about this show, I felt obliged to give my opinion. This show was a "sitcom" As such it is supposed to be funny. To me, thats the measure of a good sitcom...whether or not it is actually funny. Yes, I know this show dealt with some serious issues...loss of virginity, etc. To be honest, I hate when sitcoms attempt to do "serious" shows. There's a certain pretentiousness to this. This aside, "Facts of Life" was just was not a funny show. The first season was bearable, but when they brought in Nancy McKeon ("Yeah...I'm from da Bronx")it hit the skids, and continued to go downhill, especially when they brought in Chloris Leachman. I realize not every show can be "Seinfeld", but when a sitcom is produced for TV, the show should be FUNNY, and "Facts of Life just wasn't