Shared by David Davis on the The Facts Of Life Fans FB Page.
Seasons 1-4 Available On Roku Channel!
Yay! Another on-demand option for those who use it! (Obviously I don’t. 😜) Thanks to listener Karen J for bringing this to my attention!
060 - S4E5 "Different Drummer" with Justin Schneyer
J. G. Wentworth Operatic Commercials!
The Smirk!
This is the still we discuss after Leo knocks over the cookies and leaves. Do you think this is an I-Told-You-So smirk?
Loren Lester!
As Justin stated on the show, he thinks Loren Lester as Roy is “very attractive” in a “gettable cute” kind of way.
Justin even wondered if Mr. Lester had a son, whom Justin could date should the opportunity ever present itself. Sadly, Justin, according to the Internet, while Mr. Lester does have 3 children, they are all girls. Wah, waaaaahhhhh….
Tom Byrd: One Actor, Two Roles!
[ EXTRAS ] Dorothy Zbornak One-Liners
Great TV Guide Article From 1986
A wonderful article from TV Guide, July 5, 1986. It confusingly says the show is "going into its seventh full season," when in fact this was published between seasons 7 and 8 (otherwise it couldn't reference Over Our Heads which didn't happen until S7). Presumably the author isn't counting season 1 because it was a 13-episode half-season. (Though season 2 was technically not a 'full season' either - 16 episodes - due to the writers' strike. But whatever. You know I don't like to nit-pick over things like this. 😉 😂)
It really is a lovely tribute to the show, and it's nice how it credits the many factors responsible for the show's longevity. 😁
(Thanks to our unofficial archivist Bob for finding and uploading this. Read the entire issue at archive.org)
059 - S4E4 "The Oldest Living Graduate" with Brandon Roberts
PB&J Theatre Factory!
A sample of the work Brandon has produced/written/directed/performed. (Now known as Gromalot Theatre Factory)
The Longshoremen at Sea World Orlando!
Margaret Hamilton!
Margaret Hamilton was the original actress cast to play Marie Thornwell in this episode. She had to drop out last-minute due to health issues. So last minute, in fact, that advertisements had already been created and ran in TV Guide and other publications with her image. (Thanks to Andrew W on the Facts Of Life Fans FB Page for posting this! I remember seeing this in TV Guide!)
Here are some of her commercials which were running around the same time.
The Oldest Living Graduate!
It turns out “The Oldest Living Graduate” is a play, and the TV movie I mentioned on this episode was an NBC live broadcast of a stage production. (Think “Little Mermaid Live” but without the music, joy, or appeal.) Henry Fonda starred along with … future “Facts Of Life” star Cloris Leachman! Who knew!?
Here are the TV production credits on IMDb. Here is info on the play on Wikipedia.
Bonkers Candy!
Molly Ringwald Discusses Her Dismissal From "The Facts Of Life"
Thanks, as always, to David Davis and his Facts Of Life Fans FB page for finding so many of the obscure videos and pics I post here. :-)
058 - S4E3 "The Sounds Of Silence" with Natalie Doliner
The Spice Of Life!
Videos from our cabaret celebrating Variety Shows of the 1970s!
The Lockhorns!
The Lockhorns is a current-day Bickersons-esque comic strip that has been running since 1968! Here are some early examples, from the good old days when domestic violence was funny:
[ EXTRAS ] Norelco Razors For Christmas!
Facts Of Life Seasons 4 & 5 Now Available On Sony Crackle!
Thanks to listener Jennifer B for alerting me to this!
I do notice that the episodes are labeled differently, based on Date Of Production vs. Date Of Broadcast.
(Let’s Face The Facts follows the Date Of Broadcast, which is also the order in which the shows are presented in the DVD collections.)
TV Guide Article On Lisa Whelchel From 1982
A somewhat appalling feature on Lisa Whelchel from TV Guide, 7/10/82 (between Seasons 3 and 4). Written by Mark Jonathan Harris.
Four of my *many* thoughts:
(1) The reference to "pilfering extra cookies" in the second paragraph subliminally sets the stage for the weight discussion to come. The author couldn't have come up with a metaphor that didn't involve food?
(2) Mindy Cohn's quote on the last page saying the writers blatantly tell Whelchel, "We can't write romantic stories about you if you're fat. Every week someone mentions it.” OMG!
(3) The author (not Whelchel!) commenting on her letting her roots grow dark…! To exemplify that Blair is theoretically perfect in appearance, but Whelchel is not? So, THAT’s where the writer is inserting his personal thoughts and observations? (Or is it a very unfortunate transition to her dying-her-hair 'prank?') Interesting he didn't have any opinions about #2 above.
(4) In the final column, Whelchel's mother's quote of "I guess that's part of the business," is fairly disturbing. SMH
This was clearly supposed to be a profile story of a young star now facing adulthood, and once again Whelchel's weight is infuriatingly made the focus. Other than Cohn's quote, and the author's blanket statement of "pressures she faces,” this is just another article where a performer's talents are overshadowed by shallow looksism.
(Is it me? Or am I overreacting, even knowing what we all know happened behind the scenes of the show?)
Thanks to my friend Anaheim Bob for finding and scanning and uploading this issue. You can read the entire thing at https://archive.org/details/tvguidejul10161982.
Extra - My Patreon Is Now Online!
You can now become a Patron of the show! For just $3 per month, you will get:
😄A Shout Out On The Show!
📺Members-Only Videos!
🎤LFTF Audio Extras Delivered To Your Podcatcher Each Week!
🎧FIRST ACCESS To A New Monthly Podcast TV Talkaholics with David Almeida & Matthew Arter Delivered To Your Podcatcher Each Month!
If you wish to become a patron, I would be deeply honored and eternally grateful. If you don’t wish to become a patron, that is perfectly fine, too. I’ll be doing the show anyway, and I love that you’ll be listening.
www.patreon.com/facethefactspod
057 - S4E2 "The Source" with Darryl Pickett
Darryl's Novel “The Secret Feast of Father Christmas” (just in time for the holidays!)
Darryl's Storytelling Seminar “Story Magic”
Sweden House!
Darryl did some research after we talked: “I found out it was a chain that started in Duluth, Minnesota, and spread to several locations in Florida, but went under before it expanded much further. The flagship restaurant actually opened as:”
“[They were located in] Tampa/Clearwater, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and from what I read, Orlando may have been the last of them, opening in 1973. Which means they ran that ad enough during my last year here that it stuck in my cranium forever. Alas, that TV ad seems to still be lost to the mists of my mind. Orlando location was on Lee Road, where one post says that a medical building now stands. Original location in Duluth, 2 more in Illinois, fourteen total in Florida, all closed by 1980. Another post on a Florida memories site says that the Lee Road location became a Chuck E. Cheese. What a world.”
[ EXTRAS ] Maude Abortion Episode
It turns out I was wrong… I though it was 1976, but the controversial abortion episode of “Maude” was from Season 1, Episode 9, and its original broadcast date was November of 1972. 1972! A FULL DECADE BEFORE THE “FACTS OF LIFE” EPISODE! It was a 2-part episode, and here it is in its entirety on YouTube. (SIDEBAR: In these early episodes, they aged Rue McClanahan to look more like Maude’s BFF since Rue was about a decade younger than Bea Arthur.)
[ EXTRAS ] “The Show Won't Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage” is available at Amazon. I have the audiobook on Audible, and I look forward to starting to listen to it soon!
“Too Clever By Half”
I researched and found that there doesn’t exist a play called “Too Clever By Half.” BUT there was a revival of Aleksander Ostrevsky’s 1868 play “Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man” ... which was retitled “Too Clever By Half” seemingly only for this revival/translation done in 2013. Otherwise, I can’t find anything else with that title.
056 - S4E1 "Ain't Miss Beholden" with Matthew Arter
Nancy McKeon’s credit in Season 3…
…and Nancy McKeon’s credit in Season 4. ;-)
Just going to leave this here.
055 - S4E0 "The Facts Of Life Goes To Paris" (part 2) with Matthew Arter & Paul Padilla
“How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?”
Here are some performances of the WWI song that the girls all sing as their plane is headed back to the states… (More info on its Wikipedia page)
Charlotte Rae Commercial: "Accent Food Flavor Enhancer," 1966
I couldn’t embed the video, so click the pic below or here to watch!
FOLLOW UP: Thanks to listener Helen M for doing this research. LOVE IT!
054 - S4E0 "The Facts Of Life Goes To Paris" (part 1) with Matthew Arter & Paul Padilla
Matthew and Paul hiding in the kitchen because they don’t like to be photographed. I had no intention of letting that stop me.
The delicious French buffet: French Toast Bake, Quiche, Bacon, and Fruit. Croissants by Archer Farms provided by Paul. Pinot Noir provided by (and drunk by) Paul. LOL
1980s Style!
I can’t think of a better example of bad 1980s style than the upgrades and modernizations they made to the Brady Bunch house/set for the 1988 TV Movie “A Very Brady Christmas:”
Lisa Whelchel Interview From 2014
She does some of her signature Blair moves, she talks about George Clooney, and her Hallmark movie “For Better Or For Worse” in this interview at Us Magazine’s website:
053 - S3E24 "Read No Evil" with Sarah French
Bloodline!
Sissy Spacek as Sally Rayburn
Sarah French as young Sally Rayburn
Sarah French as Squeaky Fromme and me as John Hinckley in the World’s Worst Production of “Assassins,” November 2003
Sarah French as the gorgeous Sarah French
Lite Brite!
Guest Stars!
Check out her credits and videos on her IMDb page
Glasses the size of DINNER PLATES!
[ EXTRAS ] Studs Terkel’s “Working”
From the PBS production on “American Playhouse” in 1982. I incorrectly thought the show was from the early 1970s, when it’s actually from the late 1970s (original Chicago production, 1977; original Broadway production, 1978). Stephen Schwartz isn’t the only composer, it used several (including James Taylor). It was recently revised in the 2010s for the London production, with additional songs furnished by some unknown contemporary composer named Lin-Manuel Miranda. Cast albums are available. I can’t find the whole PBS production streaming. Read more about it on the show's Wikipedia page.
[ EXTRAS ] A passage from “Ragtime” by E.L. Doctorow
“He was clutching in his hands, as if trying to choke it, a rampant penis which, scornful of his intentions, whipped him about the floor, launching to his cries of ecstasy or despair, great filamented spurts of jism that traced the air like bullets and then settled slowly over Evelyn in her bed like falling ticker tape.”
“SEE WHAT YOU MISS OUT ON WHEN YOU DON’T READ?” - Ms. Maria Dounelis, Brockton High School history teacher, ca. 1985
Pussy Bows!
Here is what you get when you Google “pussy bow" … And you can read more about its origins (pussy here is, in fact, short for pussycat), etc. on its Wikipedia page.
Don’t Confuse These Two.
Eliot Janeway
Jane Hathaway from “The Beverly Hillbillies” (played by actress Nancy Kulp)
Cousin Geri Fashion Fail!
WTFFFFFFF is this!?!?
For Your Emmy Consideration…
Charlotte Rae for Best Illogical Rock ‘N Roll Finger Pointing…
and Charlotte Rae again for Best Manicure.
Family Guy Takes On The Facts Of Life
Here is a list of all the times Family Guy has referenced TFOL… but below are a few of my favorites…
Peter, after transforming himself in “Mrs. Garrett’s Giant Rack.”
052 - S3E23 "Jo's Cousin" with Christian Damon
Eating baklava that I stole from work
Here are some of Christian’s roles at Universal Studios Orlando:
Here are some of Christian’s roles at Disney:
Bat Boy The Musical!
Various pics from the Valencia College production where Christian and I met in 2004. I am the ‘Sheriff’ in the black shirt and gray tie (yes, with the longish blond hair), and Christian is ‘Bud’ who is always on the left of every group he appears with.
Missing Scene!
What happened to this scene which was in the end credits but not in the show itself?!? This is why we need a Blu-Ray high def re-release of the series with TONS of deleted material, outtakes, bloopers, interviews, and other special features. SOMEBODY MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
Back Door Pilots!
Here is an article from meTV.com listing all of the failed “Facts Of Life” back door pilots. Why did I think there were 7? Here they list 6, and “The Graduation” really wasn’t a back door pilot. Maybe this list of 6 plus the return of “The Academy” in Season 4? There was also the youth center that Paul Provenza ran in the last season which also seemed like another series attempt. We’ll find out answers over the next 150 episodes.
Grant Cramer!
GOOD GOD HE WAS SO HOT!!
He was voted the #1 guest hunk on “The Facts Of Life” at Logo’s web site (sorry, picture links are broken).
2 years after “Jo’s Cousin,” he starred in the teen sex comedy “Hardbodies.”
You can see the 4 frames of his peen in “Hardbodies” at OMGBlog.
Anne Of Avonlea!
The sequel to “Anne Of Green Gables” was filmed in Canada with very young pre-Kids-In-The-Hall Bruce McCulloch (photos) and Dave Foley (video below). Both films starred Megan “Teri Largo” Follows in the title role, who dances with Dave Foley in the video.
The Fanelli Boys!
In incorrectly thought that this show was about a father and sons running an auto repair garage. The show’s premise, according to Wikipedia, is “Following the death of her husband, Theresa Fanelli (Ann Morgan Guilbert) is prepared to sell the family business (a funeral home) to her son Anthony (Ned Eisenberg) and move from Brooklyn to Florida. Thwarting her plans are the arrival of her younger sons Ronnie (Andy Hirsch), who had just dropped out of school, and Frankie (Chris Meloni), whose engagement has just been broken. Another brother, the slightly disreputable Dom (Joe Pantoliano), is between hustles. Anthony learns that the funeral home is about $25,000 in debt, which he had not counted on. Soon, all of the boys are back at home with their mom, just like the old days. Advising the family, somewhat dubiously, are Theresa's brother, a Catholic priest known as "Father Angelo" (Richard Libertini), and fortune teller Philomena (Vera Lockwood).
The Fanelli Boys showed fairly strong Italian-American ethnic stereotyping; there was even an Italian flag in the program's logo. The series garnered low ratings and was cancelled in February 1991 after airing nineteen episodes.”
If you can think of the show that was about a Dad and Sons running a garage, please send me a message.
Teen Witch!
This is the DISTURBING clip that Christian made me watch from this 1989 cinematic gem…
[ Extras ] Teen Sex Comedies!
I found HaphazardStuff.com which features many reviews of most of the movies from the genre. This is a great comprehensive catalog of this type of movie. Not to be confused with John Hughes films!
[ Extras ] Fast Talking, High Trousers from "Family Guy”
[ Extras ] Power Wheels Commercials!
"Facts Of Life" Cast Reuniting For Lifetime Christmas Movie!
THIS JUST IN! The story just broke today, and I just about peed myself with excitement! According to the exclusive article at People.com by Octavia Akoulitchev:
The Facts of Life Cast Reunites for Lifetime's Holiday Special You Light Up My Christmas
Kim Fields asked Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn, and Nancy McKeon to get involved with the upcoming Christmas movie and they all "enthusiastically jumped on board"
The stars of The Facts of Life are coming back together, just in time for Christmas!
Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon will reunite in the Christmas movie You Light Up My Christmas, premiering Dec. 1 on Lifetime as part of the channel’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” programming.
The holiday movie’s executive producer and star Kim Fields — who describes these cast members as her “sisters” — is the one who invited her fellow child actresses to get on board.
“It’s been amazing to work together again and have the ladies’ input on their characters from their wardrobe to names, as well as provide fun inside jokes for fans,” Fields, 50, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “I also had the production name the ice-skating rink in the movie after our dear friend, Charlotte Rae, who passed away last year (and played Edna Garrett on both The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes). We truly are a family so it was great to work together on something new!”
You Light Up My Christmas, inspired by true events, tells the story of Emma (Fields), who returns to her hometown, built around her family’s pioneer Christmas factory, two weeks before Christmas.
To her horror, she finds that the lights in the once festive town have gone dim — prompting her to reconnect with a former flame (Adrian Holmes) and reignite the town with holiday cheer.
The Facts of Life ran from 1979-1988 and followed a group of girls living at an all-female boarding school: Blair (Whelchel), Tootie (Fields), Natalie (Cohn) and Jo (McKeon).
Lifetime’s annual all-day holiday programming event — “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” — begins on Oct. 25 and continues through Dec. 25.
It features a holiday special and 30 holiday-themed movie premieres.
[ end of article ]
***** UPDATE 10/22/19 *****
Mindy Cohn has set the record straight that the involvement of the FOL girls will only be cameos (read her tweet below).
