“Let’s Face The Facts” has completed its analysis every episode (and all 3 TV movies) from “The Facts Of Life!” We are no longer producing new episodes.
My name is David Almeida, and I love the 1980s sitcom “The Facts Of Life.” From 2018 to 2023, I watched and analyzed every episode (and all 3 TV movies!) of this incredible series, joined by my friend/co-host Matthew Arter. All 229 episodes are available here and on all major podcast apps/platforms.
Still want more? From 2023 to 2024 we did 50 episodes of "TV Talkaholics," a Facts-Of-Life-adjacent podcast in which we re-watched and analyzed TV series, specials, and movies featuring cast members from the show. (More info at tvtalkaholics.com.)
Thank you to all of our devoted listeners over the years! And remember: The Facts Of Life Are All About YOU.
Thanks to listener Harvey H for bringing the FOL page at Sitcoms Online to my attention. Not only is a good collection of show information, the Message Board has a lot of interesting stuff. Two of Harvey’s posts:
An exhaustive list of shots in every season’s opening theme
A production guide with broadcast dates AND taping dates with other show info
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Harvey! I am now registered at this site as facethefactspod.
Matthew still won’t let me photograph him. So instead, here is a still from a publicity video where our friends Officer Friskem and Wink Wright made a cameo.
The Jewish superstition of the Evil Eye is further explained in this web article, as well as in the video below:
The Singing Nun (1963 film):
The Flying Nun (1967-1970 TV series):
The excerpt Matthew & I discuss (The whole AMAZING thing is available streaming on HBO):
I couldn’t find the commercial with the “No, No, No!” in the song before “Feed Him Puppy Chow!” … but I know it existed! I do remember seeing it. Anybody have any ideas where I can find it?
We are Mall-Massage-Chair Enthusiasts
Back in my day, they were metal. And this was of course long before the plastic coil-style was invented.
NOT to be confused with the infamous Trapper Keeper to which Dr. Steve referred.
Then she might look like Anne Hathaway as Fantine in “Les Miserables” …
… or (closer to her own time) Helen Slater in “The Legend Of Billie Jean.”
The 1929 book by Lloyd C. Douglas.
The 1935 film adaption:
The 1954 Douglas Sirk remake:
Florida is a BIG STATE. (And Miami is 4 hours away from Orlando.)
As Chad Broxton on “The Facts Of Life”
As Steve in Patrick Swayze’s “Road House”
As himself, present day. Check out his Wikipedia page and imdB page.
I couldn’t find the jingle! I know it exists, just not on YouTube. Here is the same tune, but with different lyrics:
And here is one I’m throwing in because I’ve never seen it before and it is so crazy ADORABLE:
The commercial Darryl recalled and discussed… AND BTW THAT WIZARD IS NIGHTMARE FUEL.
Thanks to listeners Aliza F and Amy M who alerted me to this! Read the full article here.
A local cable story from July 2010 featuring Ali and me:
Facts Of Life Actor turned Atlanta Radio Personality turned Atlanta Realtor.
with Kathryn Shasha in “Sex Drive:”
…and our friend Michele Simms was also in “Sex Drive!” That’s 3 degrees of separation between me and FOL. BAM! (Unlike Ali, who worked with Kim Fields as a director.)
The OG:
My favorite from the many in the series:
NOT from an Oepidus Musical!
LYRICS (reprinted without permission):
When I was boy my mother often said to me
Get married boy and see how happy you will be
I have looked all over but no girly can I find
Who seems to be just like the little girl I have in mind
I will have to look around
Until the right one I have found
I want a girl just like the girl
That married dear old Dad
She was a pearl and the only girl
That Daddy ever had
A good old-fashioned girl
With heart so true
One that loves nobody else but you
I want a girl just like the girl
That married dear old Dad
I want a girl just like the girl
That married dear old Dad
She was a pearl and the only girl
That Daddy ever had
A good old-fashioned girl
With heart so true
One that loves nobody else but you
I want a girl just like the girl
That married dear old Dad
According the Oedipus Rex Wikipedia page, “Composer Igor Stravinsky wrote an opera/oratorio version of Oedipus Rex, premiered in 1927 by the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris. It is scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin; the narration, however, is performed in the language of the audience. The work was written towards the beginning of Stravinsky's neoclassical period, and is considered one of the finest works from this phase of the composer's career. He had considered setting the work in Ancient Greek, but decided ultimately on Latin: in his words "a medium not dead but turned to stone."”
There seem to be other workshop productions of Oedipus musicals out there.
music by Kurt Weill
lyrics by Maxwell Anderson
reprinted without permission
(Chorus)
“But it's a long, long while
From May to December
And the days grow short
When you reach September
And I have lost one tooth
And I walk a little lame
And I haven't got time
For the waiting game
And the days turn to gold
As they grow few
September, November
And these few golden days
I'd spend with you
These golden days I'd spend with you
(Verse)
When you meet with a young man early in spring
They court you in song and rhyme
They woo you with words and a clover ring
But if you examine the goods they bring
They have little to offer but the songs they sing
And a plentiful waste of time of day
A plentiful waste of time
(Chorus 2)
But it's a long, long while
From May to December
Will the clovering last
Till you reach September?
And I'm not quite equipped
For the waiting game
But I have a little money
And I have a little fame
And the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I'd spend with you
These precious days I'd spend with you.”
This is definitely alluding to a May-December Romance, though where Mrs. Garrett and Henry fit into that concept, nobody is really certain. LOL
The song is from the 1938 Broadway show “Knickerbocker Holiday” which was made into a film in 1944. And here it is in its entirety! “September Song” happens around 49 minutes in:
Kathy and I remember this commercial and this song on the show. Here is one such ad from the late 1970s. This has no relevance to modern times, does it?
Here is the article where E! apologized for its Golden Globe gaffe involving Michael J. Fox.
I checked with our resident expert, David Davis, Admin of the Facts Of Life Fans group on Facebook, and he confirmed that we never learn Mrs. Garrett’s maiden name during the series. :-(
Here is an article about the first department store Santa in my home town of Brockton, Massachusetts.
If there is any question as to the relevance and longevity of “The Facts Of Life,” JUST THIS WEEK the Today Show website posted this article and interview with Lisa Whelchel about her role and the show. (And of course they ALWAYS have to include the Clooney kiss. *eye roll*) The video is lovely, and the text article does also plug season 2 of Lisa’s show “Collector’s Call” on meTV, which just premiered on January 12th.
Find out more about Sarah Hanchar’s podcast here!
Note the difference in the positioning of the brick wall in this episode…
and in S3E7 “Sweet Sorrow:”
And don’t get me STARTED on the idea that this whole set is on the second floor! Nope. Sorry, Facts Of Life Reunion, you are just wrong.
Our little Ben in this episode would go on to be a “Head Of The Class” hunk, and later a big-time TV producer! Read about his latest position in this article at cartoonbrew.com.
From the comic strip “Li’l Abner,” here is an interesting article from 2015 at womenyoushouldknow.net called “The Ugly Truth Behind Sadie Hawkins Day.”
While Sadie was not a character depicted in the 1956 Broadway musical adaptation of “Li’l Abner,” Mammy Yokum was portrayed by … Charlotte Rae!
Sadly, Charlotte did not get to play the role in the 1959 film version. (It was played by Billie Hayes, future ‘Witchiepoo’ on “H.R. Pufnstuf.”) But there were two other future TV stars in the film… Valerie Harper (at left, future “Rhoda”) and Beth Howland (at right, future ‘Vera’ on “Alice”)!
(I also posted some others on an earlier episode with Paul Padilla)
Thanks to Carmen V on the Facts Of Life Fan Page for bringing this to my attention.
Actor Robert Conrad in an Eveready battery commercial
Robert Conrad in the 1960s. Um… YUMMY
This is WILLIAM Conrad … easy to confuse the two. William starred in “Cannon” (1971-1976)…
… and “Jake And The Fatman” (1987-1992). Dana Gould always joked that when his agent called, the conversation probably went like, “They want you for a series called ‘Jake and the Fatman’… and they don’t want you to play Jake.” LOL
I talked about Cannon being in a wheelchair in the show. I was mistaken, and confused “Cannon” with Cannon’s contemporary “Ironside” (1967-1975). Here he is, played by Raymond “Perry Mason” Burr.
from Wikipedia: “Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk; March 1, 1935) is a retired American film and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–69 television series The Wild Wild West, playing the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West.”
He will be 85 on March 1, 2020, and he has hosted a weekly two-hour national radio show (The PM Show with Robert Conrad) on CRN Digital Talk Radio since 2008.
Facts Of Life Wine Glass Charms!! Thanks again, James! <3
God Bless YouTube User MacTonight8, who has compiled ALL of the McDonaldLand commercials into one video!
WOW those early ones are such a blatant ripoff of H.R. Pufnstuf.
And here are the ‘Mac Tonight’ ads that James was remembering:
And here is the actual Ronald McDonald theme I was trying to remember:
Thanks to listener Deej H for bringing this to my attention!
Our tax man Mr. Garfield has appeared in films as recently as 2012 in “The Avengers:”
Then…
Now…
And as Matthew fantasizes about him.
Oh. Em. Gee. Did I make a discovery. I had suspected that canned chow mein was a La Choy product (I was right), but looking for old commercials I happened on this amazing piece on how a pre-Sesame-Street Jim Henson was at one time in charge of the ad campaign. I think these are HILARIOUS!
And here are some other traditional ones that I grew up with. (Since the above Jim Henson spots are actually before my time. For reals.)
In the Sea Life Aquarium Shark Tank
1993 a month or two after we met
1997 “About The Authors”
probably late 90s…?
2018 in Australia with a koala named Noah
As Doug…
As Jim Beam…
In other roles…
You can read Robert Browning’s original 1855 poem here … and you can see the 1975 TV movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier here:
And here is the reaction shot that Steve loved so much. LOL
Here is a failed TV Pilot for an American version of “Are You Being Served?” With Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Slocombe. We guess that she filmed this in 1978 before she started on “Diff’rent Strokes” even though this pilot wasn’t broadcast on CBS until May 5, 1979 — the night after the final episode of Season 1 of “Diff’rent Strokes” — which was the back door pilot for “The Facts Of Life!”
This episode drops on Christmas and we wore green & red — totally unplanned!
Dancing Child Prodigy and Future Star
I have done 2 shows with Eric at Mad Cow Theatre: “Urinetown” in 2005…
…and “The Explorers Club” in 2015
Yes, Eric actually did get married on the ice before a hockey game.
Souvenir PinderSmoot Sunglasses were provided!
And keepsake hockey pucks. <3
Eric’s Hubby (& my former roommate) Dwayne
Performing together at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theatre!
Hosting the Fringe Fundraiser
She’s a real staaaaahhhhhh!
Her “wedge” hairdo was ALL THE EVERYTHINGS during the late 1970s.
Even Carol Burnett wore her hair like Dorothy!
Original Broadway Cast of “Company”
Barney Miller’s wife on “Barney Miller”
Brooke Shields’ grandmother on “Suddenly Susan”
Original Broadway Cast of “Sunday In The Park With George”
Original Broadway Cast of “Into The Woods”
Frau Weber (Mozart’s Mother-In-Law) in “Amadeus”
I need to do some research to see if I can find her in the many, many episodes (56!) that appear in her imdB credits. I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of her sooner.
One of the campiest bitch-fests ever to grace the (gay) silver screen! Patty Duke and Susan Hayward lay it on thick, and it is GLORIOUS! Susan Hayward, by the way, was 50 years old when she made this.
This is the pay TV service that Eric was talking about he grew up with. We had a similar thing based out of Boston called Starcase, but my parents didn’t actually subscribe.