I haven't seen an episode since I was a kid and that was in the 80's so my memory is certainly questionable but I thought this show tackled real issues and controversial subjects a lot of the time. Maybe not to the extent of Maude or anything but everything I read now seems to put it in the "throwaway fluff" category (ala "Full House"). Am I remembering this all wrong?

Ugh, I hate it when people put FOL in the fluff category. I feel like this show had a lot more substance to it than most, and the actors on it were actually talented. It was realistic in that it had normal sized girls with normal problems and issues that kids and adults go through.

I haven't seen an episode since I was a kid and that was in the 80's so my memory is certainly questionable but I thought this show tackled real issues and controversial a lot of time. Maybe not to the extent of Maude or anything but everything I read now seems to put it in the "throwaway fluff" category (ala "Full House"). Am I remembering this all wrong?

This series did address some controversial issues, but with more of a moral approach to them. When it came to the comedy, the comedy was, in my opinion, mostly lighthearted, but in many instances, was pretty corny.

I do think that "Full House" was ridiculously more corny than this show. But that's just me.

I haven't seen an episode since I was a kid and that was in the 80's so my memory is certainly questionable but I thought this show tackled real issues and controversial a lot of time. Maybe not to the extent of Maude or anything but everything I read now seems to put it in the "throwaway fluff" category (ala "Full House"). Am I remembering this all wrong?

In some ways the series was ahead of it's time in terms of reaching the demographic that it did in the way that it did. As RWCTV stated the series did broach some controversial issues, issues that would've been inconceivable to be addressed towards an audience of teenagers as late as the early seventies.

However, the flaws of FOL can been seen clear as day when you compare how several of the same issues raised on FOL were tackled on shows like "Beverly Hills: 90210" which for me at least till this day remains the gold standard in addressing controversial issues facing adolescents of the day effectively.

I think a lot of the stories, and especially the writing, was ahead of its time. There are so many episodes where I still laugh out loud watching them today, and I rarely laugh out loud at t.v. shows. They had a lot of clever lines.

In some ways the series was ahead of it's time in terms of reaching the demographic that it did in the way that it did. As RWCTV stated the series did broach some controversial issues, issues that would've been inconceivable to be addressed towards an audience of teenagers as late as the early seventies.

However, the flaws of FOL can been seen clear as day when you compare how several of the same issues raised on FOL were tackled on shows like "Beverly Hills: 90210" which for me at least till this day remains the gold standard in addressing controversial issues facing adolescents of the day effectively.
I don't know, but that Blair avatar is totally hot. :drool: I haven't seen that photo before.

I at least think 'Facts Of Life' was rather groundbreaking for being the kind of show that it was for touching on such topics, for a teen audience, when it did back in the late 70's/early 80's and so on. It was a Norman Lear-based spinoff, after all.

I don't know, but that Blair avatar is totally hot. :drool: I haven't seen that photo before.

I at least think 'Facts Of Life' was rather groundbreaking for being the kind of show that it was for touching on such topics, for a teen audience, when it did back in the late 70's/early 80's and so on. It was a Norman Lear-based spinoff, after all.

It's probably been said ad naseum but Lear took television out of the doldrums of it just being a method of escapism to a being a reflection of the world at large. The problem is it just took a decade or so for the networks to come to grips with the fact that the old game didn't work anymore and that sensitive issues either needed to be or were going to be raised on television.

So while FOL was groundbreaking for even broaching such topics to it's demographic they did so in what has to be seen in hindsight as being in a somewhat clumsy fashion.

PS: I like that Lisa avatar too. I can't remember where I got it from but I was nosing around gettyimages awhile back and there are a ton of promo shots from the first season which are all watermarked by getty. But the point being that they took a ton of promotional images from that season.

I thought that season 1 and 2 were a bit clumsy sometimes, but after that, I think the show found its niche and presented things in a pretty realistic manner. Well, as realistic as you can get for a half-hour program.

I thought that season 1 and 2 were a bit clumsy sometimes, but after that, I think the show found its niche and presented things in a pretty realistic manner. Well, as realistic as you can get for a half-hour program.

In my opinion season 3 to 6 was when FOL was really a success!:p

In my opinion season 3 to 6 was when FOL was really a success!:p

Totally agree. I liked the seasons after that, but they definitely weren't the same. There was a whole different atmosphere.

Totally agree. I liked the seasons after that, but they definitely weren't the same. There was a whole different atmosphere.

There would be: MRS. G who was the star of FOL was gone!:(

There would be: MRS. G who was the star of FOL was gone!:(

Exactly. I feel like if they were going to take away Mrs. Garrett, then they should have just left the girls on their own. Why did they need another older woman living with them? They were old enough to be independent.

Beverly Ann did have her funny moments, but it was still a whole different feel to the show. They hardly ever did any serious subjects anymore. It was all just comedy--which is kind of fine--but it was just different. It's almost hard to even describe lol.

The Facts of Life is a hundred times better than Full House.

It seemed to me that full house appealed more to children, while FOL was a little more teen oriented... if that makes sense :crazy:

Either way, FOL was better :D

It seemed to me that full house appealed more to children, while FOL was a little more teen oriented... if that makes sense :crazy:

Either way, FOL was better :D

I agree. Plus, you can really appreciate FOL as an adult. I'm 23 now and rewatching them all from when I first watched them as a kid on Nick at Nite, and now I can appreciate the acting (especially Nancy) and the stories and issues it covers. As a kid, it was just a fun show, but now it feels like more to me.

With Full House...well, when I watch that now, I wonder why the heck I ever watched it as a kid. It's just...meh.

With Full House...well, when I watch that now, I wonder why the heck I ever watched it as a kid.


I think that's a mystery for a lot of people, several million probably! Did I ever like Full House? Nope. Was it ever funny? Oh God no! Clever? Not even compared to Teletubbies. Have I seen every episode? Yes...yes I have. :confused:

lol Exactly!

I like Full House ok, but I agree, it is kind of cheesy and corny but its still a good show. However, I like Facts of Life way way better than Full House and enjoy it a lot more.

I love both "The Facts of Life" and "Full House"- both are great, fun and funny shows. And they both address important topics as well.:) :cool:

I think one of the things I find endearing about FOL, too, is that everyone in the cast is still good friends with one another. I'm not sure if it's like that with Full House or not, but just saying. It's a comforting thing when watching FOL, knowing that they were and are all friends in real life. Also, that they all grew up "normally."

I think one of the things I find endearing about FOL, too, is that everyone in the cast is still good friends with one another. I'm not sure if it's like that with Full House or not, but just saying. It's a comforting thing when watching FOL, knowing that they were and are all friends in real life. Also, that they all grew up "normally."

I thought Kim Fields had kinda distanced herself from the show. Last I heard anyway (admittedly ages ago).

I thought Kim Fields had kinda distanced herself from the show. Last I heard anyway (admittedly ages ago).

I know her and Nancy Mckeon are both trying to distance themselves from the show. It's not like they hated the show they just want to get away from playing those kind of characters and do different types of roles. And I know the cast is all still friends I read Lisa Whelchel's facebook and she still gets together with the cast, just this past year before Lisa moved to Cali she got together with Nancy at her ranch and then after Lisa moved to Cali she got a gig on a Tyler Perry movie and got to see Kim and then about 2 weeks ago she went and had lunch with Mindy. And I remember at the Tv land awards 2 years ago they all got together in Kims Hotel room before the show and hung out. So I think they all still get along.

I think one of the things I find endearing about FOL, too, is that everyone in the cast is still good friends with one another. I'm not sure if it's like that with Full House or not, but just saying. It's a comforting thing when watching FOL, knowing that they were and are all friends in real life. Also, that they all grew up "normally."

Most of the cast of Full House are still good friends. I saw on Candace's facebook this past year that they had a full house reunion and everyone including the guy who played Steve was there the only cast members who weren't there was Mary Kate & Ashley and the two guys that played the twins. And I looked at her pictures from the event and they all seem like they get along real well. I know Candace and the girl who played Kimmie are really close friends.

I know her and Nancy Mckeon are both trying to distance themselves from the show. It's not like they hated the show they just want to get away from playing those kind of characters and do different types of roles. And I know the cast is all still friends I read Lisa Whelchel's facebook and she still gets together with the cast, just this past year before Lisa moved to Cali she got together with Nancy at her ranch and then after Lisa moved to Cali she got a gig on a Tyler Perry movie and got to see Kim and then about 2 weeks ago she went and had lunch with Mindy. And I remember at the Tv land awards 2 years ago they all got together in Kims Hotel room before the show and hung out. So I think they all still get along.

PS: you forgot to mention CHARLOTTE RAE (she's especially close to LISA and NANCY):p

Technically both "The Facts of Life" and "Full House" were in the same time period (for a short while anyway), but I get the point of the thread. Of course, being an ardent fan of "Full House", I don't know if I like using it as the litmus test for "fluffy", "corny", and/or "cheesy"- but I know it's pretty much considered the ultimate show for all three categories there. Oh well- I love it anyway. And I love "The Facts of Life" for that matter. Both are great shows and both address important issues, albeit in different ways.:) :cool:

PS: you forgot to mention CHARLOTTE RAE (she's especially close to LISA and NANCY):p

Oh yes Charlotte I think it was in 2011 she went and saw Lisa at one of her Women of Faith conferences.

Technically both "The Facts of Life" and "Full House" were in the same time period (for a short while anyway), but I get the point of the thread. Of course, being an ardent fan of "Full House", I don't know if I like using it as the litmus test for "fluffy", "corny", and/or "cheesy"- but I know it's pretty much considered the ultimate show for all three categories there. Oh well- I love it anyway. And I love "The Facts of Life" for that matter. Both are great shows and both address important issues, albeit in different ways.:) :cool:

I can't believe you're comparing both shows: FOL was way better than FULL HOUSE as it covered a lot of issues. FOL is also:eek: an 80 ties one, whereas FULL HOUSE was more of a 90 ties show.

"The Facts of Life" ran from 1979 to 1988, so it technically started in the 1970s but predominantly ran in the 1980s.
"Full House" ran from 1987 to 1995, so seeing as how its first three years were running in the '80s, I still think of it as an '80s show, although it is also a '90s show. (Of course, it probably helps that I grew up watching it in its original run in the late '80s and early '90s.)
I think it's just a different perspective here. That's cool.
And as far as comparing "The Facts of Life" and "Full House" goes, I was just replying to the question already laid out in the thread.
I think both shows covered a range of topics, though obviously there was quite some difference in the scope for both shows, since "The Facts of Life" had primarily teenagers on the show and thus dealt with some topics more relevant to them, whereas "Full House" had kids ranging in age from a few months old to 7 to 10, who grew up as the series progressed. (In later seasons, "Full House" definitely dealt with some topics more relevant to teenagers as DJ and Stephanie grew older- including the episode where DJ fell asleep at her boyfriend Steve's apartment and the episode where Stephanie is tempted to start smoking- just for example.) There are also some other episodes that deal with some pretty deep and serious subject matter including child abuse, death, high school dropouts, adultery, Alzheimer's disease, healthcare for the elderly and underage drinking, to name a few.
Sure, "The Facts of Life" and "Full House" certainly had different approaches, but I think they both tackled substantive causes. And the main thing is that they both are funny and generally clean and nice shows.:) :cool:

I like Full House ok, but I agree, it is kind of cheesy and corny but its still a good show. However, I like Facts of Life way way better than Full House and enjoy it a lot more.

I think the feeling that looking back, Full House being as corny and cheesy as it was is kind of part of its appeal. I kind of consider it to be the Brady Bunch of Generation Y period. I think that The Facts of Life didn't really manifest into a truly cheeseball sitcom (they even featured corny music like Full House) until around the time that Over Our Heads opened and these side characters like Andy, Pippa, and George Clooney showed up. For some reason, the later episodes (scream "this is the '80s" more than the Eastland/Edna's Edibles years).

I think a big part of that was the style, too, that made it come off in the later years as very 80's--the hair, clothes, Over Our Heads junk store, etc. lol

I never understood why they did that whole thing with the hair and clothes being so horrendous sometimes. I mean, I've seen other shows from that time period, and the girls on those shows did NOT dress or wear their hair that horribly lol. Especially Jo in season 7...I mean, did people in hair and wardrobe hate Nancy McKeon or something? Seriously.

I haven't seen an episode since I was a kid and that was in the 80's so my memory is certainly questionable but I thought this show tackled real issues and controversial subjects a lot of the time. Maybe not to the extent of Maude or anything but everything I read now seems to put it in the "throwaway fluff" category (ala "Full House"). Am I remembering this all wrong?

Maybe you should re-watch the show. There is absolutely no comparison. Full House was fluffy and sappy and lacked controversial, serious issues. Not to mention, the writing and acting on FOL was 10x better.

Maybe you should re-watch the show. There is absolutely no comparison. Full House was fluffy and sappy and lacked controversial, serious issues. Not to mention, the writing and acting on FOL was 10x better.

Thank you so much for that: at least someone who agrees with me! :wave:

As someone who was in his late teens and early twenties when FOL was on the air, I know (as a male) I wasn't really the target demo of the show.

Having said that, I could and did watch the occasional episode and be interested. It rarely made me laugh out loud, but the more serious episodes held my interest and the acting was quite good.

Not so for Full House. It had it's place and purpose, but I couldn't watch five minutes of that show. It was targeted way too young, and was way too "light" for me.

But to be fair, in the last couple of seasons it got pretty bad. The hair got bigger, the story-lines got more over-the-top (dream sequence episodes), and they added some unnecessary cast members (Beverly Ann, Andy, George and Pippa). What also annoyed me is that in season 8 and 9, they added some cheesy jazzy elevator music during the opening, breaks, and end. But I think this was just an 80s trend in sitcoms in those years. And in all honestly, I thought that the couples in season 9 lacked chemistry. I didn't buy that there was any chemistry between Blair and Casey and between Rick and Jo. It just felt too rushed. Rick and Jo just met each other, and in the next episode they get married? WHAT? Natalie meets Snake in one episode, and in the next episode they were sleeping with each other? HUH? Not to mention, there was some pretty awful backdoor pilots in the later seasons (The Apartment, Big Apple Blues, The Beginning of the End/The Beginning of the Beginning). It certainly jumped the shark in the last two seasons quite a few times.

But to be fair, in the last couple of seasons it got pretty bad. The hair got bigger, the story-lines got more over-the-top (dream sequence episodes), and they added some unnecessary cast members (Beverly Ann, Andy, George and Pippa). What also annoyed me is that in season 8 and 9, they added some cheesy jazzy elevator music during the opening, breaks, and end. But I think this was just an 80s trend in sitcoms in those years. And in all honestly, I thought that the couples in season 9 lacked chemistry. I didn't buy that there was any chemistry between Blair and Casey and between Rick and Jo. It just felt too rushed. Rick and Jo just met each other, and in the next episode they get married? WHAT? Natalie meets Snake in one episode, and in the next episode they were sleeping with each other? HUH? Not to mention, there was some pretty awful backdoor pilots in the later seasons (The Apartment, Big Apple Blues, The Beginning of the End/The Beginning of the Beginning). It certainly jumped the shark in the last two seasons quite a few times.

Well, nine years is honestly too many for most sitcoms. This one is no exception. It's particularly rough when the characters are "kids" who age visibly on screen, and really aren't the same people as they were when the show started. It's hard to maintain a consistent theme and energy over that span of time.

I can't think of many shows that lasted nine years that held their quality. In fact, I can't think of one.

But to be fair, in the last couple of seasons it got pretty bad. The hair got bigger, the story-lines got more over-the-top (dream sequence episodes), and they added some unnecessary cast members (Beverly Ann, Andy, George and Pippa). What also annoyed me is that in season 8 and 9, they added some cheesy jazzy elevator music during the opening, breaks, and end. But I think this was just an 80s trend in sitcoms in those years. And in all honestly, I thought that the couples in season 9 lacked chemistry. I didn't buy that there was any chemistry between Blair and Casey and between Rick and Jo. It just felt too rushed. Rick and Jo just met each other, and in the next episode they get married? WHAT? Natalie meets Snake in one episode, and in the next episode they were sleeping with each other? HUH? Not to mention, there was some pretty awful backdoor pilots in the later seasons (The Apartment, Big Apple Blues, The Beginning of the End/The Beginning of the Beginning). It certainly jumped the shark in the last two seasons quite a few times.

I actually liked the jazzy intro and outro music. :cool:

But yeah, the relationships seemed rushed with Casey, Rickster, and Snake. Not really too rushed, but they needed a little more time. Maybe the producers saw the writing on the wall and sped things along... But I was glad because I did see the filmings while I was down there. :D

I can't think of many shows that lasted nine years that held their quality. In fact, I can't think of one.

I don't know, I think Cheers was as good in its final season as it was in it's early ones.

I was a kid and in my teens watching Facts Of Life, it was one of the shows I watched every week. When it was recently re ran I watched most of it again and still enjoyed it, and it wasn't just for nostalgia.

I can't stand Full House.

I don't know, I think Cheers was as good in its final season as it was in it's early ones.

I'll take your word on that one. I didn't watch Cheers much, but I do know it did well in the ratings for most of its run.

I would still maintain it's very rare to have a show stay strong that long.

I feel Facts Of Life was the same in dealing with social issues just like Diff'rent Strokes (different categories of course), and there's a funny quote I read on Wikipedia about Geri Jewell who in real life has cerebral palsy and played Blair's cousin Geri on the show that the writers couldn't come up with storylines featuring her that TV audiences were always confused thinking that every episode having Geri was a "special episode".

I'd have to re-watch FOL for this...I thought it was mediocre, but NOT cheesy as FH or SBTB.

Now, if The Nostalgia Critic reviewed FOL...that would be interesting.

What's cool about FOL is...It's a spin-off of "Diffr'nt Strokes" and even had the cast in the pilot episode and Molly Ringwald in the 1st Season.

Yeah FOL was cheesy at times, but it always had a hint of realism in it that I don't think FH or SBTB had.

But to be fair, in the last couple of seasons it got pretty bad. The hair got bigger, the story-lines got more over-the-top (dream sequence episodes), and they added some unnecessary cast members (Beverly Ann, Andy, George and Pippa). What also annoyed me is that in season 8 and 9, they added some cheesy jazzy elevator music during the opening, breaks, and end. But I think this was just an 80s trend in sitcoms in those years. And in all honestly, I thought that the couples in season 9 lacked chemistry. I didn't buy that there was any chemistry between Blair and Casey and between Rick and Jo. It just felt too rushed. Rick and Jo just met each other, and in the next episode they get married? WHAT? Natalie meets Snake in one episode, and in the next episode they were sleeping with each other? HUH? Not to mention, there was some pretty awful backdoor pilots in the later seasons (The Apartment, Big Apple Blues, The Beginning of the End/The Beginning of the Beginning). It certainly jumped the shark in the last two seasons quite a few times.

I totally agree!! But overall I think fol had much more realism and relativity than full house (which I still love to this day btw, I think it's because mk and Ashley are my age so I grew up watching the show and it reminds me of childhood). It tackled issues that A LOT of girls can relate to, and you never had that before. Everyday things, it helped through many hard times in my high school days and I will forever LOVE fol for that!

I like Mary Kate & Ashley but i never seen Full House and don't really want to.

But this show dealt with racism, rape, the KKK, suicide, child porn, child prostitution, how can anybody consider this show fluff??