From reading the posts here, it seems the first and last seasons are the two least favorite. Which do you think was worse? For me it was season 9 as at least with season 1 the show was new, but season 9 should have been a big farewell season especially the finale, the rushed wedding and lame spinoff attempts. It started out good enough with the Richard Moll two parter and Less Than Perfect was great and there was the notable First Time, both of which were ratings grabbing attempts as they were against the Winter Olympics, but other than that it seemed so flat as lots of the actors, Nncy and Kim seemed ready to move on.
As for season 1, I didn't mind the bigger cast as Saved By The Bell and Boy Meets World had larger casts and made it work, although some of the cast could have been used better like Nancy, whose only real feature episode was IQ, instead of just droning on about Roger.

Well neither was great for me, but I'd say worse was Season 1 only because I like the regular FOL cast better and we still had all the staple girls in Season 9.

I do think all of the cast was ready to move on by then but I do think it's cool that they all stuck it out and rode the show out to its conclusion.

I don't think S1 is bad. Actually, after watching all the episodes on DVD-- I kind of miss the other girls. :\

It started out good enough with the Richard Moll two parter and Less Than Perfect was great and there was the notable First Time, both of which were ratings grabbing attempts as they were against the Winter Olympics, but other than that it seemed so flat.

Some other strong S9 eps were More The Marrier (When we finally meet Snake, and Tootie gets engaged), and Golden Oldies. I'm not a fan of S9, but think it beats S1 by a mile.

I LOVE SEASON ONE!:rock:

I didn't like either, but season 9 just wasn't the same FOL.

Season 2 is when The FOL comes into powerplay.:)

I did not care for season 1 much.

Season 2 is wher the real FOL began. And hence, this is where all the fun begins. Season 1 was just finding its identity back then. In season 2, they found it. Don't you all forget. Season 1 was their worst rated season ever and was almost canceled.

season 9 was pretty bad especially the way it ended so I'll say that was the worst season.

Season 1, for all its faults, was still a work in progess. The best was yet to come, as we know. By the time Season 9 rolled around, it was a tired, old series that had long seen its best episodes.

When Charlotte Rae left, the writing was already on the wall. And of course, like with any series, the writers run out of worthwhile storylines. The girls were much older, which meant more "mature" storylines that didn't the same appeal.

Really now, Blair as a lawyer doesn't have the same appeal to the audience as when she copied the Emily Dickison poem in Season 1!

Season 1 is the only one that I find even remotely watchable. After they get rid of just about all of the pretty girls except for Lisa Whelchel the show became unwatchable. It was never great to begin with but at least you had quite a few hotties in the first year.

The worst thing about Season 9 to me is that the series didn't get a proper ending. That I hate. I can deal with the mediocre episodes, but I hate that there wasn't a proper sendoff for the show.

Oddly the last episode of Season 8 seems more like a final episode to me than the spinoff attempt at the end of Season 9. I always wondered if at the time of filming if they weren't sure if they were coming back for another season yet.

But well, since the hottie factor ain't on my list of top reasons for watching, I guess I'll still take Season 9 over Season 1.

It is still my show and I am willing to get the complete 1st and 2nd season of FOL.

season 9 was worse the whole cast just seemed to be getting tired of it by then

I think season 9 was a bomb shell, the show was starting to pull of some crazy crazy story lines, trying to a do a lot more "slap-stick" and "dream-sequence" comedy, which just was NOT fol's classic reputation. It was obviously not the same without Mrs. G as well. For me, the series was just not the same without her. So i will always say season 9 was worse than the first. At least with the corny story lines and the plunge into all of the serious topics around the tv waves, they kept up with what girls were battling with. I mean yea, the first time was a pretty epic episode... but i dont think that topic was handled as well as it should have been. It was very random, like all of a sudden natalie comes back and she's not a virgin and there was no pre-discussion or anything. And then, it just seemed not right to have EVERYONE find out about it and for beverly ann to freak out the way she did. I believe natalie was what, 22/23? Mrs. G left knowing they were grown girls, and yea... it was just kind of out there with the whole andy pippa and beverly ann thing.

Oh yea, that's another reason you knew season 9 was getting to be too long of a stretch. Bringing in pippa and making andy such a main character, ugh. It was annoying. Becuase then they were trying to take all of the story lines that they used on the girl earlier in seasons 2 and 3 and put them towards andy and pippa. I hate when series do that because they need the people to be at that young age, that just means they need to cancel the show! haha!

I think season 9 was a bomb shell, the show was starting to pull of some crazy crazy story lines, trying to a do a lot more "slap-stick" and "dream-sequence" comedy, which just was NOT fol's classic reputation. It was obviously not the same without Mrs. G as well. For me, the series was just not the same without her. So i will always say season 9 was worse than the first. At least with the corny story lines and the plunge into all of the serious topics around the tv waves, they kept up with what girls were battling with. I mean yea, the first time was a pretty epic episode... but i dont think that topic was handled as well as it should have been. It was very random, like all of a sudden natalie comes back and she's not a virgin and there was no pre-discussion or anything. And then, it just seemed not right to have EVERYONE find out about it and for beverly ann to freak out the way she did. I believe natalie was what, 22/23? Mrs. G left knowing they were grown girls, and yea... it was just kind of out there with the whole andy pippa and beverly ann thing.

Oh yea, that's another reason you knew season 9 was getting to be too long of a stretch. Bringing in pippa and making andy such a main character, ugh. It was annoying. Becuase then they were trying to take all of the story lines that they used on the girl earlier in seasons 2 and 3 and put them towards andy and pippa. I hate when series do that because they need the people to be at that young age, that just means they need to cancel the show! haha!

I agree with some of that. I do think there are some good Beverly Ann eps. and there are some classic eps. that Mrs. G wasn't in but I hated the whole Pippa and Andy thing in Season 9. You're right. They knew the girls were all in their twenties so they needed teens. It didn't work because the audience wasn't going to be invested in them at that point.

Most of the dream sequences were a bit much too. Especially in the episode where they have that fundraiser at the center where Jo has the blonde hair and pretends to be Blair. Just yeah...

Though I might be the only one on the planet who actually liked the Richard Moll episodes as outlandish as they were.

Though I might be the only one on the planet who actually liked the Richard Moll episodes as outlandish as they were.
"That's BULL!"
"No, really." :lol:

Oddly the last episode of Season 8 seems more like a final episode to me than the spinoff attempt at the end of Season 9. I always wondered if at the time of filming if they weren't sure if they were coming back for another season yet.

I always wondered the exact same thing. The finale of season 8 couldve been the last episode and when I first saw it I wondered if it was. Does anyone have any info on whether the cast knew there was even going to be a season 9?

I always wondered the exact same thing. The finale of season 8 couldve been the last episode and when I first saw it I wondered if it was. Does anyone have any info on whether the cast knew there was even going to be a season 9?

I actually just asked something else that and truth is, I don't know. Though I would guess yes and that it was written as a just in case.

I also wondered if they also maybe weren't sure if all the girls would be back if they did have a ninth season. The reason I say that is we get two goodbye scenes. One at the beginning with Tootie leaving for the summer to work on her acting and spend the summer with Jeff and another one at the end with Jo leaving for California. Particularly the Jo one, which seemed rather final in some ways just with the sappy music and hugs and tears and the final delivered "good-bye" as she's walking out the door, made me think that it was written that way in case Nancy (or even maybe Kim) didn't return for a ninth season. It seemed as if it could have been a goodbye for the character if it needed to be.

I always wondered the exact same thing. The finale of season 8 couldve been the last episode and when I first saw it I wondered if it was. Does anyone have any info on whether the cast knew there was even going to be a season 9?
I watched it back then and their was no talk of it being canceled then. I do remember early in the 9th season that Nancy Mckeon announced that it would be her last year so I think they all knew that season 9 was the end. That's when they started having the pilots for possible spin-off shows.

I think there are quite a few good episodes during seasons eight and nine such as "Seven Little Indians", "This Is Only a Test" and "Less Than Perfect".

I like season 1, but season 9 is one of my favorite seasons. I just really like it.

season 1 was my favorite :)

Season 9 was it's worse season because I felt the storylines and what were happening to the characters were rushed or almost out of character and they deserved a heck of a better ending than the one they did have.

offtopic: :rant: :confused: IMHO I believe season 9 was the worst because the writing sucked too many dream sequences ,too many characters and there wasnt a series finale for a proper goodbye iI work for the Nielsen Ratings and the numbers for season 9 did decline but it could have ended wanting more . the show ended with spin-off possibilities that did not happen and for a show that started off shaky at best it could have ended better. I love FOL and am currently writing fan fiction on the show but the last season did not do this grat show justice

Season 1 was scattered too many girls too many different stories how many people could relate to them? But it introduced a graet idea that people at the time did not relate too I associate Season 2 as the real FOL but w/o Season 1 ultimatly there would not be a season 9 .

SEASON 1 was definitely fantastic compare to SEASON 9 & i ll explain why:
In the 1st season they had 7 girls in their early teens who were refreshing, the writers had good stories who were poignants too ("rough housing" + "like mother like daughter"), the kids were cute & full of innocence, the late 70ies were great times & the Sitcom was kind of unique (a housemother who was confidante to a bunch of girls with different personalities, a hyper headmaster etc....).
By the season 9 the cast had lost their "innocence" almost adults, the writers had run out of ideas, they had brought an absurd character BEVERLY ANN who was always on everybody s way, they added ANDY & PIPPA (who were a pale comparison to the girls in their younger years) + the last teenage generation at "EASTLAND" were really bad actors!
COMMENTS?

SEASON 1 was definitely fantastic compare to SEASON 9 & i ll explain why:
In the 1st season they had 7 girls in their early teens who were refreshing, the writers had good stories who were poignants too ("rough housing" + "like mother like daughter"), the kids were cute & full of innocence, the late 70ies were great times & the Sitcom was kind of unique (a housemother who was confidante to a bunch of girls with different personalities, a hyper headmaster etc....).
By the season 9 the cast had lost their "innocence" almost adults, the writers had run out of ideas, they had brought an absurd character BEVERLY ANN who was always on everybody s way, they added ANDY & PIPPA (who were a pale comparison to the girls in their younger years) + the last teenage generation at "EASTLAND" were really bad actors!
COMMENTS?

Andy joined in late 1984/early 1985 so I would not blame him for the downfall of the show. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that season nine was a little off. I will always support the show no matter what season. Season one was better for me. I loved it!