Facts of Life made it's debut on NBC in August of 1979. FOL aired twice in August and September of 79 and didn't air again until March of 1980. So the ratings must have been horrible for NBC to put the show on Hiatus that long. I always thought once FOL premeired, Charlotte Rae no longer appeared on Diffrent Strokes.

SOLOMON, "Facts" was on for a trail run in 1979. It was a four ep summer show from what I heard. There is more to it, but that is all I know for right now.

SOLOMON, "Facts" was on for a trail run in 1979. It was a four ep summer show from what I heard. There is more to it, but that is all I know for right now.


Ok that makes sense. And I see that FOL was added to the NBC schedule in the 2nd season of the 79-80 season. Premiered in March of 1980

yea, I've seen Mrs. G on a number of season 2 episodes, not sure what point she left for good for Facts though

yea, I've seen Mrs. G on a number of season 2 episodes, not sure what point she left for good for Facts though


I'm glad she did though, otherwise we wouldn't have this brilliant show! ;) ;)

I'm glad she did though, otherwise we wouldn't have this brilliant show! ;) ;)



Well atleast Ms. Garrett was nice enough to return to Diffrent Strokes for Mr. Drummond's Wedding

Well atleast Ms. Garrett was nice enough to return to Diffrent Strokes for Mr. Drummond's Wedding

True, True! :)

Well atleast Ms. Garrett was nice enough to return to Diffrent Strokes for Mr. Drummond's Wedding

Yeah, that was a nice touch.

Interesting. I always noticed that Kim Fields looks so much younger in the first four episodes than the remaining nine in Season One.
(And in the Diffrent Strokes "pilot" she looks even tinier)

Interesting. I always noticed that Kim Fields looks so much younger in the first four episodes than the remaining nine in Season One.
(And in the Diffrent Strokes "pilot" she looks even tinier)


Kim Fields wasn't in the Diffrent Strokes pilot, i think you mean the Facts of Life Pilot. And I think Kim looked younger in the first 4 eps because it was filmed in 1979, so it was like a year difference

I think maryfan meant the FOL pilot that aired as a Diff'rent Strokes episode with Mrs. G visiting the school with Kimberly. Tootie WAS in that one but Natalie and Cindy weren't. I heard that Tootie made several appearances on DS (not including the ones with the FOL girls) for the first few years of FOL.

I think maryfan meant the FOL pilot that aired as a Diff'rent Strokes episode with Mrs. G visiting the school with Kimberly. Tootie WAS in that one but Natalie and Cindy weren't. I heard that Tootie made several appearances on DS (not including the ones with the FOL girls) for the first few years of FOL.

Exactly! Thanks

Anyone see Kim's hilarious cameo on Lisa Kudrow's new HBO series "The Comeback?"

It appears that Mrs. G. was never officially written out of Diff'rent Strokes. Charlotte Rae's name appears in the credits through Episode 214 when Nedra Volz makes her first appearance as Housekeeper #2 - Adelaide Brubaker). No mention of Mrs. G. is made in this episode, however she is said to be away helping out at Kimberly's school (Eastland) in prior episodes. They never say that she has left for good. (Remember that in the "pilot" from DS, she is offered a job at Eastland but turns it down to remain with the Drummonds.) I guess they wanted to give a chance to come back to DS if FOL had flopped.

P.S. Has anyone else ever wondered why Kimberly didn't live at Eastland llike the rest of the girls? Even rich Blair Warner lived there after all.

It appears that Mrs. G. was never officially written out of Diff'rent Strokes. Charlotte Rae's name appears in the credits through Episode 214 when Nedra Volz makes her first appearance as Housekeeper #2 - Adelaide Brubaker). No mention of Mrs. G. is made in this episode, however she is said to be away helping out at Kimberly's school (Eastland) in prior episodes. They never say that she has left for good. (Remember that in the "pilot" from DS, she is offered a job at Eastland but turns it down to remain with the Drummonds.) I guess they wanted to give a chance to come back to DS if FOL had flopped.

P.S. Has anyone else ever wondered why Kimberly didn't live at Eastland llike the rest of the girls? Even rich Blair Warner lived there after all.





I guess Mrs. Garret or Kimberly could have been a cast member on Facts of Life-lol

In one episode of DS called The Woman where Mr. D almost gets married again to the woman who wants to send the kids off to boarding school in other countries like her own kids Kimberly tells the woman that she is away at boarding school but that she visits often and talks to Mr. D everyday. Then in the episode "The Girls School" Kimberly needs Mrs. G's help cuz her housemother quit. This makes it sound like Kimberly lives at Eastland.

I also heard that they were planning on moving Kimberly over to FOL along with Mrs. G but then decided to leave her on DS.

For the record, Kimberly did live at Eastland the first season of DS. So when she said her housemother quit, that did make sense. In the first episode, it was stated that Kimberly lived at school but came home on the weekends. I guess in the next season, Kim lived at home full time and commuted back and forth to Peekskill. Can you imagine the traffic in the limo coming back into Manhattan? LOL. Prayerfully, she left school around 3pm to be back in NYC around 4pm or something. LOL.

I also heard that they were planning on moving Kimberly over to FOL along with Mrs. G but then decided to leave her on DS.


That would have made DS a lot better-lol