The Facts of Life (TV series)
"The Facts of Life" is a sitcom that premiered in 1979 as a summer offering on NBC and was later developed into a regular series in early 1980. A spin-off of the popular show "Diff'rent Strokes," it centers around Edna Garrett, played by Charlotte Rae, who serves as the housemother at Eastland Academy, a private boarding school for girls in upstate New York. Initially featuring a larger cast of seven students, the series streamlined its focus to four main characters by the second season: Blair, the wealthy girl; Natalie, the cheerful girl with a fuller figure; Tootie, the innocent younger African American girl; and Jo, the tough scholarship student.
Throughout its run, the show emphasized themes of self-worth and personal growth amid the characters' experiences, all while showcasing their adventures, including international travels in two made-for-television films. The series also introduced George Clooney in a supporting role in 1985. Ultimately, "The Facts of Life" became a cultural touchstone for adolescent and preteen girls in the 1980s, portraying relatable stories of friendship and empowerment under the guidance of a nurturing adult figure.
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The Facts of Life (TV series)
Identification Television comedy series
Date Aired from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988
The Facts of Life centered on the adolescent experiences of a group of girls attending a private boarding school. It offered archetypes and role models for female teens of the decade.
The Facts of Life began as a summer offering at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1979, and in early 1980 the network decided to bring the program back as a regular series. It was a spin-off of the hit Diff’rent Strokes (1979-1986) and featured that show’s housekeeper, Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae), as the housemother at Eastland Academy, a private boarding school for girls in upstate New York. The first season’s regular cast included seven students, but the cast was too cluttered for a half-hour show, and in the second season only four students were regular characters. (One of the girls written out of the show at the beginning of the second season was Molly Ringwald, who went on to become a top teen film star of the decade.) The sitcom’s setting also shifted slightly in the second season, from the dormitory living room to the campus cafeteria and student lounge, as the focus narrowed to the four Eastland Academy students who lived with and worked for Mrs. Garrett, who became the school’s dietician.
The four featured student roles included Blair, the spoiled rich girl; Natalie, the perky heavy-set girl; Tootie, the naïve younger African American girl; and a new character, Jo, the tough working-class girl on a scholarship. The seasons rolled by, and as the four girls aged and graduated, they continued to live and work with Mrs. Garrett, running a bakery that then became a gift shop. George Clooney, at the time unknown, joined the cast in a supporting role in 1985; Rae left the series in 1986, replaced by Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Garrett’s sister Beverly Ann.
The infectious music of the theme song was lighthearted and welcoming, while the lyrics reminded viewers that “the facts of life are all about you.” Positive self-worth and self-realization were regularly stressed in the characters’ experiences, but the students were also allowed material comforts and some glamorous travel. The Facts of Life girls had international adventures in two feature-length made-for-television movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982) and The Facts of Life Down Under (1987). As the series went on, the young women blossomed: Blair found compassion, Jo developed confidence, Tootie grew shapely, and the bookish Natalie—in a ratings ploy—was the first to lose her virginity.
Impact
The Facts of Life created four memorable characters in Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie. Adolescent and preteen girls in the 1980’s could select any one of the four as the one they most identified with, and through regular viewing of the series, they would see their favorite triumph in positive ways, while learning to live in harmony with other young women under the guidance of an older, wiser matriarch.
Bibliography
Dalton, Mary M., and Laura R. Linder, eds. The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005.
Winzenburg, Stephen M. TV’s Greatest Sitcoms. Frederick, Md.: PublishAmerica, 2004.