For reasons I do not know, my local news anchors were singing the theme to Facts of Life. I watched it religiously when it was in it’s first run but now I have only vague, soft focus memories of it. Help me out remembering stuff, please.
The first season was different from all the rest. Molly Ringwald and Patty Duke’s son were on it then. Does anyone remember what reason they gave for Patty Duke’s son (Gah! Cannot remember his first name!) being in the girl’s dorm in the first place and for Molly Ringwald’s character leaving in the second place?
Natalie was the first to lose her virginity. That I remember. I also remember she had a big crush on George Clooney’s character. But I don’t think she lost her virginity to George because I think much more would have been made of it later on in George’s career in interviews if it had been him. Does anyone remember who Natalie lost it to? Also, didn’t Natalie get raped in the show?
Speaking of George Clooney’s character, was he related to Mrs. Garrett? What was his reason for being at the all girl’s school?
Did Jo have a pregnancy scare late in the run of the show?
What was Tootie’s real name? Did they ever mention it?
Did Blair ever do anything but look cute and be a snob?
Was there a spin-off of this show about teenage models? Or was that a spin off of Whose The Boss?
Molly Ringwold was on the first season. Mackenzie Astin didn’t come on until late in the series when the girls were almost grown. He was originally a neighborhood boy who worked in the store to make money for his first date, though later this was retconned to he was a foster child so that Beverly (Mrs. Garrett’s sister- played by Cloris Leachman- who took over when Charlotte Rae left the show) could adopt him.
Trivia: the original plan was for Blair to lose her virginity, but Lisa Whelchel- who is about an 8 on a hyper religious scale in which Kirk Cameron is a 10, refused due to her religious objections to premarital sex and fear it would send the wrong message to girl fans. Mindy Cohn, otoh, grabbed it because she liked the fact that a girl who looked like Natalie could still be sexy even though she wasn’t thin or conventionally attractive.
More Trivia: Mindy Cohn became the voice of Velma in Scooby Doo cartoons and is close friends with Bradgelina. By some accounts she is godmother to some of their kids, but this isn’t confirmed.
Pretty well known: Lisa Whelchel was on SURVIVOR last year. She won $100,000, which she claimed she very much needed as she has no money left from the show due to bad investments, financing being a stay at home mom for the past 20+ years, and a divorce.
I don’t remember a Jo pregnancy scare. I know the show ended with her getting married. However, I wasn’t watching it by then.
George Clooney was a contractor who was hired to remodel the shop when Edna’s Edibles burned. I don’t remember why he hung around afterward- just because I suppose.
Facts was a show I remember really liking in its prime (which I consider the Edna’s Edibles days) but when I watched it on Nick a few years back for the first time since the '80s I was struck by “Dayum! This was really not good.”
The TV Land Reunion a couple of years back where Charlotte Rae opened a can of pc worms by priding herself on how her girls grew up “Straight!”
She didn’t mean in the hetero sense, since at least one- Geri- is openly gay (Mindy Cohn is rumored to be, but I don’t know that- I’d have sworn Nancy McKeon was, but apparently not)- she meant in the “not getting in trouble with the law and tabloids” way, but…
I used to have the hugest t.v. crush on Jo. I thought she was way better looking than Blair. I can’t vouch for the quality of the show, it’s been a damn long time since I’ve seen it.
“Straight” also could mean drug free, and was fairly common usage back then. You were supposed to determine which meaning it was from the context.
But she was wrong in any case. It’s been so long since I’ve seen this show that I don’t remember most of the things people are talking about here. But I do remember when Jo bought home some bongs, which Tootie caught them with. They claimed “you put jellybeans in them”, so Tootie went out and got one with predictably hilarious results.
Here’s the scary thing. I actually know that Natalie’s boyfriend was named Snake.
I also watched Living Dolls. I remember that Michael Learned was the den mother and Halle Berry was the smart one. Also I never understood how Leah Remini could be a model at her height.
You and I don’t share the same definition of hilarious, but we’re okay with predictable. I have no idea why I watched that show as much as I did. I mean, Charlotte Freaking Rae wasn’t even funny! Was there NOTHING else on? (researching) Apparently not.
I remembered his name was Snake but I didn’t know who played him. I looked it up and Snake was played by Robert Romanus who was Mike Damone in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
