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

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:

Kim Fields was only nine years old when she started playing Tootie, who was supposed to be twelve. In an effort to make her appear taller (and older) her character was always in roller skates for the first year of the show.

Quotes:

[after Blair goes crashing through the bedroom wall]
Tootie Ramsey: Excuse me, Mrs. Garrett, did Blair come crashing through here?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Running Mates (#2.10)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

The Facts of Life

PURE 80's

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.