I have always wondered if the series could have lasted longer if another network picked it up

I doubt any network would have considered it after the rating had dropped and how it was quietly cancelled.

I only thought about this because Diff'rent Strokes was given a second life on ABC but cancelled after I believe 19 or so episodes.

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.

Pretty much.

NBC itself was going to pick the show up for a 10th year, but half of the girls wanted out. So, the show ended.

It was starting to get very tired-looking so I think they made the right choice in ending it in 1988.

This thread has got me thinking: What if The Facts of Life had moved to ABC at any point during its run? I doubt TFoL would be a good fit for CBS, and neither would Diff'rent Strokes.

Shows generally don't do good once they hop to another network. It probably could have gone on another year, but switching networks it would have been a very low rated season.

Shows that changed networks that didnt do good. Step by Step and Family Matters come to mind.


If the girls wanted out then they should have ended it. Also, they grew up. The adolescent problems that they had when they were in high school were gone in a way.

i don't think so - the show had really run out of gas and they had already tried to revive the ratings with a bunch of changes all to no avail; maybe if some of the newer characters had caught on or if they had done something really different it would have had a chance, but as it was, no.

I always thought that they should've had one or more of the girls return to Eastland as instructors or house mothers and introduced a new group of girls - but they should've done it when Mrs Garrett left.

I've never heard about the possibility of a tenth season. None of the cast has ever stated that. The ratings were in decline, salaries were growing and I would say there was no justification in renewing it.

Also, the show really was about the girls growing up in high school. By the time the show ended, the mystique was gone because the girls were adults.

Also, the addition of Beverly was the clear beginning of the end.

The show was running on borrowed time by season nine so i don't think another season was needed. I didn't mind Beverly Ann but to me, Jo and Blair graduating Langley should've been the end... by the end you had a bunch of 22 year olds living together and newer characters like Andy, Beverly Ann and Pippa were having more screentime and storylines than the four main characters.

I do wish the show had better closure though. It seems like a lot of the big 80s sitcoms had mediocre whimper endings, Diff'rent Strokes and Gimme A Break (although the season 6 opener where the Kanisky girls all move out of the house should've been a series finale, but instead we got a season in New York with Rosie O'Donnell) didn't even get endings.

Its almost like they werent worried about how the show would end. And obviously when it did, it deserved a better send off. I'm speaking about the Facts of Life but I can also be talking about Gimme a Break and Different Strokes.

Its almost like they werent worried about how the show would end. And obviously when it did, it deserved a better send off. I'm speaking about the Facts of Life but I can also be talking about Gimme a Break and Different Strokes.
The funny thing about Facts is that there were a few episodes there that felt more like finales than the actual finale. Graduation, Out Of Peekskill and Rites Of Passage all could've worked as series finales and it would've worked. I think they were more concerned about hoping to spin Blair off onto her own show at the expense of really giving Facts the closure it deserved. I always found the last three minutes with Natalie over the phone just felt haphazard and disappointing a way to bid goodbye to a show that had run for nine years and meant a lot to its fans. At the time I didn't even realize that was a series finale and kind of expected it to be back in the fall, even though I did think the show was past its peak.

Compare this to the next season where it was announced at the beginning that Family Ties was ending and that we all knew the big finale was coming for it, and it was a must-see event. Granted, Family Ties was bigger than FOL and Michael J. Fox in particular was a bigger star than any of the Facts cast (not counting Clooney who after FOL did a year of Roseanne and a few other shows before landing on ER and becoming a big star some ten years later) but you spent a season knowing Family Ties was wrapping up at the end of the year and it had a brilliant send-off, compared to the haphazard phoned in FOL finale we had. Nancy and Mindy both wanted it to end so that should've given NBC ample time to build up for a grand Facts finale and send the show out with grace.

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.
I can't say I blame them since everybody seemed to be getting tired.

I wonder if Blair and Natalie would have been written out of the show if they had one more season since Nat had moved to New York and made some new friends and a new life at that apartment and Blair returned to Eastland as their new headmistress. Because last night, I saw the episode, Big Apple Blues, on DVD when Natalie and Tootie visited New York, and Nat decided to stay there and not return to Peekskill. And of course, Jo is married to Rick Bonner.

The funny thing about Facts is that there were a few episodes there that felt more like finales than the actual finale. Graduation, Out Of Peekskill and Rites Of Passage all could've worked as series finales and it would've worked. I think they were more concerned about hoping to spin Blair off onto her own show at the expense of really giving Facts the closure it deserved. I always found the last three minutes with Natalie over the phone just felt haphazard and disappointing a way to bid goodbye to a show that had run for nine years and meant a lot to its fans. At the time I didn't even realize that was a series finale and kind of expected it to be back in the fall, even though I did think the show was past its peak.

Compare this to the next season where it was announced at the beginning that Family Ties was ending and that we all knew the big finale was coming for it, and it was a must-see event. Granted, Family Ties was bigger than FOL and Michael J. Fox in particular was a bigger star than any of the Facts cast (not counting Clooney who after FOL did a year of Roseanne and a few other shows before landing on ER and becoming a big star some ten years later) but you spent a season knowing Family Ties was wrapping up at the end of the year and it had a brilliant send-off, compared to the haphazard phoned in FOL finale we had. Nancy and Mindy both wanted it to end so that should've given NBC ample time to build up for a grand Facts finale and send the show out with grace.

Also, it seems like for Friends and Seinfeld there were these huge finales and for The Facts of Life, its almost like NBC forgot that the show was ending or forgot how to end the series and gave you that finale which is more like a whimper.

The whole "grand finale" concept started in the 1990s. Most sitcoms before that ended unceremoniously.

The whole "grand finale" concept started in the 1990s. Most sitcoms before that ended unceremoniously.
true, but Facts was not canceled (unlike Gimme A Break or Diff'rent Strokes for example which cast members expected to come back the next fall) but NBC actually was ready for a season 10 but McKeon and Cohn were both ready to move on. Like I said before, just one season after Facts ended a nine year run, Family Ties ended its run on NBC as well and the final season of that show received a lot of hype and build-up and there were magazine covers and other things that made it impossible for a few weeks there in spring 1989 to not know Family Ties was ending. As Facts wasn't as massive as Family Ties (which at its prime was the #2 show on TV) of course it would get less fanfare, but the series finale of FOL felt less closure than prior *season* finales.

true, but Facts was not canceled (unlike Gimme A Break or Diff'rent Strokes for example which cast members expected to come back the next fall) but NBC actually was ready for a season 10 but McKeon and Cohn were both ready to move on. Like I said before, just one season after Facts ended a nine year run, Family Ties ended its run on NBC as well and the final season of that show received a lot of hype and build-up and there were magazine covers and other things that made it impossible for a few weeks there in spring 1989 to not know Family Ties was ending. As Facts wasn't as massive as Family Ties (which at its prime was the #2 show on TV) of course it would get less fanfare, but the series finale of FOL felt less closure than prior *season* finales.

It was clear the show was losing steam in its last two seasons. The departure of Charlotte Rae and the fact that the girls were fully grown and ready to move on, the whole notion that they would still be living together was more and more not making sense. There is no doubt that after nine years, the show was done. I'm certain the producers and NBC saw the writing on the wall. When a show ends, more often than not, it is a network decision.

When a show ends, more often than not, it is a network decision.

Mindy said in an interview NBC wanted a tenth season but her and another cast member (most likely Nancy) refused. Some shows are canceled by the stars themselves. I remember UPN wanted an eighth season of Buffy, but Sarah Michelle Gellar quit. She didn't like the story in the shows sixth season and wanted the seventh to be the last which is why she didn't sign another contract with the show. It takes a lot of respect from stars who know when a show they're on should end.

I agree the ninth season of The Facts of Life wasn't the best, but it did have a few episodes that were funny and worth making for their fans. It would have been nice to have a proper ending for the show since it did accomplish a goal of being the longest running female lead series to this day.

newer characters like Andy, Beverly Ann and Pippa were having more screentime and storylines than the four main characters.

I don't remember these characters having more screen time than the four main girls in season 9. Beverly Ann was more like a background character in season 9 than a main character. She had two episodes based on her. I only remember Andy having one episode about him and that was needing a father figure which involved Jo. Pippa had one episode featured all about her and that was her first episode. The show was still focused on the four main characters even with the newer ones in it. Season 9 focused a lot on Jo that year. The season premiere, her taking a job at the shelter, her relationship with Rick, her father not liking him, her wedding, and then her friend wanting to kill herself. I don't think the other girls had that much for them that year. Natalie had the least amount of episodes focused on her from what I remember of season 9.

Wow, I didnt know all the stories about Jo in Season 9. I never understood why they got rid of Mrs. Garrett and brought on Beverly Ann. I mean it was the same basic character. I wish Logo would get to Season 9 already. Actually, the only episode from Season 9 is when Natalie slept with Snake, who you might remember played Demone in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Natalie had two more episodes focused on her; jumping out of an airplane for the story she was writing and then planning to move to New York. I don't blame Mindy for refusing a season 10 since she was a background character in the last season. They should have made season 9 equal for all actresses instead of just one or two. Maybe then all of them would have agreed. Although Nancy got the most focus that year and she still refused so who knows.

Wow, I didnt know all the stories about Jo in Season 9. I never understood why they got rid of Mrs. Garrett and brought on Beverly Ann. I mean it was the same basic character. I wish Logo would get to Season 9 already. Actually, the only episode from Season 9 is when Natalie slept with Snake, who you might remember played Demone in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

From what I've read Charlotte Rae left due to her having health problems.

Most of the cast and crew knew the 9th season was it. The final episode was a proposed spin-off series with Blair running Eastland but that did not get picked up (there was not one single solitary laugh in that episode as I recall.) I have never heard any cast member say there was a potential 10th season, and if we are going only on what Mindy Cohn said, well....I would take that with a grain of salt.

From what I've read Charlotte Rae left due to her having health problems.
At least she's still alive and with us.

Most of the cast and crew knew the 9th season was it. The final episode was a proposed spin-off series with Blair running Eastland but that did not get picked up (there was not one single solitary laugh in that episode as I recall.) I have never heard any cast member say there was a potential 10th season, and if we are going only on what Mindy Cohn said, well....I would take that with a grain of salt.
Actually, Nancy did say in an interview in late 1987 that she was leaving the show at the end of the season, which effectively was the writing on the wall that it was over. Ratings were still renewable enough, 227 moved into FOL's timeslot the next season and posted about the same ratings and still got another season (then 227's ratings plummeted in the final year).

All that said, knowing season 9 was it, they should've actually worked toward a grand finale and give everyone a good sendoff as opposed to just using a series finale as an attempt to spin Blair off onto her own show (in comparison, Golden Girls got a spinoff show the next season minus Bea Arthur yet its series finale was an actual series finale, not a backdoor pilot for Golden Palace). The show certainly deserved a nice one hour finale where all of the girls got fairly equal screentime and all go their own ways but with a lot of tears and a good send-off all the same.

Mindy said in an interview NBC wanted a tenth season but her and another cast member (most likely Nancy) refused. Some shows are canceled by the stars themselves. I remember UPN wanted an eighth season of Buffy, but Sarah Michelle Gellar quit. She didn't like the story in the shows sixth season and wanted the seventh to be the last which is why she didn't sign another contract with the show. It takes a lot of respect from stars who know when a show they're on should end.

Right. Few shows bow out in their absolute prime, but usually are still doing well enough that they could come back if they wanted to. Seinfeld said that NBC was willing to pay him $5 million an episode to do one more season, he refused, he felt the show was spent. Even shows like Friends, Cheers and Raymond all could've gone on a few more seasons and the networks would've been happy to keep it going, they bowed out when they felt it was time.

There is a difference between a show that ends on its own accord and is killed by the network. A perfect example of the latter was Night Court which ran nine seasons and was at one point a very popular Thursday night staple... ratings were in the toilet by the end but they felt they could've done more, but instead basically got the axe and had to rush a series finale, and there was very few good vibes amongst the cast during the finale taping because they all felt stabbed in the back by NBC after giving so many years and getting such an unceremonious axe when they felt they had another year in them. Although Night Court's ratings in its final season were much lower than Facts Of Life's final season.

All that said, knowing season 9 was it, they should've actually worked toward a grand finale and give everyone a good sendoff as opposed to just using a series finale as an attempt to spin Blair off onto her own show (in comparison, Golden Girls got a spinoff show the next season minus Bea Arthur yet its series finale was an actual series finale, not a backdoor pilot for Golden Palace).

GG was a special case, though; there was no planned spinoff. GG ended with the vision that that was the end of those characters' adventures on television. It wasn't until after the series was over that later on the idea for the spinoff GP came up (Betty White discusses this in her book "Here We Go Again").

Right. Few shows bow out in their absolute prime, but usually are still doing well enough that they could come back if they wanted to. Seinfeld said that NBC was willing to pay him $5 million an episode to do one more season, he refused, he felt the show was spent. Even shows like Friends, Cheers and Raymond all could've gone on a few more seasons and the networks would've been happy to keep it going, they bowed out when they felt it was time.

There is a difference between a show that ends on its own accord and is killed by the network. A perfect example of the latter was Night Court which ran nine seasons and was at one point a very popular Thursday night staple... ratings were in the toilet by the end but they felt they could've done more, but instead basically got the axe and had to rush a series finale, and there was very few good vibes amongst the cast during the finale taping because they all felt stabbed in the back by NBC after giving so many years and getting such an unceremonious axe when they felt they had another year in them. Although Night Court's ratings in its final season were much lower than Facts Of Life's final season.


Thats why a show like Seinfeld is smart. Leave on top. Dont water down your show because in the long run people will talk about how the last season was crappy (see Roseanne) compared to when it was actually good.

Btw, Logo aired I would guess was the finale where Blair bought Eastland. It was ok, I guess. Nobody was in it that much except for Blair and maybe Pippa. Btw, did you see some of the cameos? Mayium Balik, Blossom, was there as well as Seth Green and Juliette Lewis.


I thought it was a half hearted way to end the series. I mean you have Natalie phone for like a minute and that was it. Also, maybe they knew it was the end because Tootie was going to go to London and for some reason they had a group photo. Maybe that was to signify that was the end?

Btw, on a side note, Blair looked absolutely goregous during the series finale.

Thats why a show like Seinfeld is smart. Leave on top. Dont water down your show because in the long run people will talk about how the last season was crappy (see Roseanne) compared to when it was actually good.

Btw, Logo aired I would guess was the finale where Blair bought Eastland. It was ok, I guess. Nobody was in it that much except for Blair and maybe Pippa. Btw, did you see some of the cameos? Mayium Balik, Blossom, was there as well as Seth Green and Juliette Lewis.


I thought it was a half hearted way to end the series. I mean you have Natalie phone for like a minute and that was it. Also, maybe they knew it was the end because Tootie was going to go to London and for some reason they had a group photo. Maybe that was to signify that was the end?

Btw, on a side note, Blair looked absolutely goregous during the series finale.
Yeah, when I first saw the group photo taken at the end on NBC, I figured it was the series finale. Was funny that Jo did the rabbit ears on Blair's head. LOL!

The show was running on borrowed time by season nine so i don't think another season was needed. I didn't mind Beverly Ann but to me, Jo and Blair graduating Langley should've been the end... by the end you had a bunch of 22 year olds living together and newer characters like Andy, Beverly Ann and Pippa were having more screentime and storylines than the four main characters.


To be honest I actually like the final few seasons where they were all older despite no Ms.G being around.
Seasons 7, 8 and 9 were actually when I became aware of the show on prime time TV.
Seasons 1 through 6, I was either too young (a baby) or later as I grew up saw the reruns that were on every channel at the time.
So i watched the show all the time but I didn't know it was still a current show at the time till the 7th season when i started watching the new episodes in prime time.
So I kinda have warm memories of those last few seasons on Saturday nights. They had their share of moments good moments.
Especially Tootie as well because thats when she started becoming a little bit more of what would later be her Regine character from Living Single. By then some of the girls banter with eachother had really gelled over into some good comedy.
But I do agree with some of your you guys. I don't think they could have squeezed a 10th season out of them. The show had already been on for nine years (since the 70's) and been through so many changes, 3 set changes and numerous cast changes. It just wasn't getting believable that these girls were still living together when most people in life move on after high school into college.
I think they were just running out of ideas on how to keep these girls still apart of each other's lives.

They should have done one final two parter after Blair bought Eastland.

By this time, nobody was in high school anymore. Eastland was over for the girls.

Tootie and Jeff would get married. I think that would have made a good finale. Maybe Jo announcing she was pregnant. This would make sense because in fall of 2001, Jo's daughter was around 13 like Teesha as well.
Natalie would come home to Peekskill for Tootie's wedding to be her maid of honor. I doubt Mrs. G would have returned, but I think her making an appearance would have been right for it being a planned finale.

God no. The last season was horrid. The Australian character was just awful, everytime she was onscreen I cringed. Andy became more annoying and it was pretty clear the main girls were losing interest by the looks on their faces. They have said many times in interviews how they felt about the last season. The producers were given a greenlite for season 10 but most of the girls refused to continue. They made the right decision.