The Facts of life

The show was dubbed "The Fats of Life" in mockery of the girl's increasing weight gain

Lisa Whelchel aged the most ungracefully.

Nancy McKeon's brother Phillip played Tommy in Alice.
Nancy was Michael J. Fox's first Tiger Beat romance.

Im grateful that I can still watch a couple of episodes on youtube, I think that older shows are better than all of the newer shows. Back then all the shows were funnier.

I loved the Facts of Life. I grew up with them. I agree with the other person that TV was funnier back then, they had real hunor.

More Trivial facts on the "facts of Life": The Eastland School for girls was located in a countryside town of Peekskill, NY (a third of the way on up to Albany from NYC). Anytime the girls were on vacation, or wanted to see a movie or go shopping - they always talked about taking a train into the city.

Although formerly addressed as a "Mrs", Mrs. Garret's husband or his memory thereof... was never seen or mentioned. Mrs. Garret was actually not the Eastland School's headmistress. Later episodes revealed her official title as the school's Nutritionist/Dietitian - a rather easy job as she didn't even have to cook! There were some episodes where a man (name not known to me) posed as the cafeteria chef (in full uniform). He was rather quite "chummy" with the already married (or widowed - who knows) "Mrs. Garret". However, when the first season aired, her character was concentrated on a multi-tasked faculty member with such duties as: dormitory "House Mother", cook, seamstress, nurse, even a substitute teacher when in one episode - she taught a sex education class. Generally, the first season (maybe the second as well) portrayed her as a general source of advice, counsel and nurturing for the overcast of adolescent girls in the show (yes, including Molly Ringwald's character). When the girls in the show usually dealt with "growing up" issues such as Innocent crushes, parental disputes, divorce, puberty, etc. she was always there for them. Issues involving boyfriends and sex were always targeted to the older girls in the group, basically Nancy and Blair in the first seasons and then to Jo whenever she came along.

In the first season, the Eastland School actually had a "Headmaster" (Mr. Stephen Bradley) who was kind of hot-looking in a geeky kind of way. He and his administrative assistant (Miss Emily Mahoney) ran the school.

By the time Jo came along in the second season, the show's cast was watered down. Joining Mrs. Garret's flock... All but the fab four group of Natalie, Blair, Tootie and Jo were written out of the show (although they made several appearances in the second and third seasons). The way it was portrayed in the storyline...

The girls (jo, Nat, Blair and Tootie) stole the school van for a joyride, wrecked it and got busted for it as well as landing in jail for fake ID's that they used to get into a bar and buy alcohol. To keep from being expelled, they had a conditional future admission to the school if they agreed to be separated from the other girls, mandated to work in the cafeteria and live together outside of the dorm in a spare store room right across the hall from Mrs. Garrett's bedroom.

From that point on, the entire focus of the show's characters Centered around Mrs. Garret and the four itinerant girls; rather than the entire student body and faculty (which included Mr. Bradley, other teachers, coaches, etc.). The action and setting shifted from to the school and dormitory house to the School's Cafeteria, lounge and bedrooms where Mrs. G. and the Girls stayed.

Lastly, let's not forget how the show came about. It was actually a Spin-off from the successful sitcom "Differrent Strokes" which aired from 1978 to 1986. In short, the cast of Different Strokes consisted of a wealthy NYC, Park Avenue family headed by a widowed Mr. Drummond, Mrs. Garret the housekeeper, Kimberly the oldest and only daughter and Arnold and Willis - two brothers who became Mr. Drummond's adopted addition to the family. Before the Facts of Life pilot show aired... Kimberly (On Different Strokes), attended The Eastlake School in upstate New York, Tootie's character made a couple of appearances on Different Strokes as Kimberly's schoolmate visiting often for sleepovers, schoiol events, etc.

The plotline for the FOL pilot had Kimberly Drummond requesting that Mrs. Garrett (Her housekeeper) help her sew costumes for a student play at "East Lake" School for Girls, the school Kimberly attended in upstate New York, as her dorm's housemother had recently quit. Mrs. Garrett agrees to help, and we then meet more of Tootie, Blair, Molly, Nancy, Sue Ann, Jennifer, Laura, and Mr. Crocker, the school's headmaster. Mrs. Garrett helps put on a successful play, while also solving a problem for Nancy. Totally impressed, the school's authorities that be ask her to stay on as the new housemother.

While Mrs. Garrett states she would rather remain working for the Drummonds at the end of the Pilot, it can be assumed that she later changed her mind (The Drummonds eventually, replace Mrs. garret with Adeline and then Pearl In other Different Strokes Seasons). Following the pilot, the name of the school was changed to Eastland and the characters of Jennifer, Laura, and Mr. Crocker were replaced with Natalie, Cindy, and Mr. Bradley. This episode also features more girls living in the dorm than were seen previously. Although Kimberly Drummond is featured as a student at East Lake, her character did not cross over to the spinoff series with Mrs. Garrett. Instead, she remained with Diff'rent Strokes, and occasionally characters from the Facts of Life would "visit" her.

One more piece of Trivial Reference to the facts of Life for ya... Kim Fields who portrayed Tootie in the Facts of Life, starred in another sitcom "Living Single" which for five seasons, aired from 1993 to 1998 on the FOX network. Her character was Regine Hunter. In one episode, Maxine (Erika Alexander) has an Ex-boyfriend who somehow gets invited to a dinner she is also attending. The ex is bringing his new girlfriend.

Maxine, in desperate competition, unwillingly gets Kyle (T.C. Carter), her pompous, refined, bud/male chauvinistic rival whom she can't stand - to play the role of her rich and powerful boyfriend/successful replacement to her ex. The ex's new hot looking girlfriend, in dinner conversation, is asked by Regine (Kim "Tootie" Fields) what school she attended. She answered that she attended a private school for girls in upstate NY called "Eastland", Regine snubs her off in a sophisticated kind of way replying: "Hmmm, Never heard of it..." The studio audience (if any) gives off a long winded laugh, even Kim fields for a split second - quickly smiles at the end of her sassy reply. FOL buffs I'm pretty sure got it right away and loved the reference.

I love this show. Tootie is my favorite!