So, I found out at the end of January that Shout had finally released all nine seasons of FOL on DVD so I snatched it up. I just finished the box set, including the pathetic trivia game and the amazing Paley Center interview and I feel the void I do when I finish any rewatch.


I started watching FOL around 2002 if I remember correctly, at the age of 12, now I am closing in on 28 with a college degree, a husband, and two children. I must admit the show subconsciously came into my life in ways I never expected or even realized until this show.

I have always had a deep passion for writing, if you go back far enough on the Fan Fiction board you will find several of mine, so in my rewatch I came to a new appreciation of Natalie, and Jo given her small stint on the Eastland paper.

Jo has always been my favorite and still is, but I found a new appreciation for the later seasons that I lacked at a young age but also finding myself not "shipping" the same relationships I did as a child and I finally understood why they did nit work. Sam, for example in "Taking a Chance on Love" I remember loving them as a child and not realizing why they broke up, but now I get it and support the writers. The only thing I wish would've happened differently is that I wish that David from The Facts of Life Goes to Paris would have been featured in an episode to give more closure.

I also wish Scott Bryce, who played Jo's husband, Rick, would have had a bigger role in season 9, more than 4 total episodes at least! I was intrigued by their relationship as an adult and would have liked to see more of it.

Finally I have a bigger issue than I feel I use to with the final 3 episodes. Why on earth are the final 3 spinoff attempts?!! I understand how Big Apple Blues was essential to Natalie's closing story as is Beginning of the End/Beginning of the Beginning to Blair's but couldnt they have condensed them and had more of the 4 girls??? I get Till Marriage Do Us Part was Jo's closer and Tootie had a line about going to London in The Beginning but I feel very cheated on a real finale.

So, now that you've read my rambling, did you view of the show change as you matured?

Looking back on it, the scripting is inconsistent, and the Eastland years can play like afterschool specials (Blair’s mom has breast cancer, Blair’s rival commits suicide, Blair’s cousin has CP). But the quartet is very well defined (the snob, the tough girl, the funny girl, the dreamer); you can see why they retained the characters they did after the first season. And the actresses are VERY good, and they have great chemistry. All the extras people they introduce over the years just detract from that chemistry.

When I saw the two-part Graduation again recently, I realized how well done it was. Amazing that they could get those episodes so right, yet the closing episodes of season 9 stunk. Different writers/producers, and it showed.

The only thing I wish would've happened differently is that I wish that David from The Facts of Life Goes to Paris would have been featured in an episode to give more closure.

I also wish Scott Bryce, who played Jo's husband, Rick, would have had a bigger role in season 9, more than 4 total episodes at least! I was intrigued by their relationship as an adult and would have liked to see more of it.


I've watched almost every episode of The Facts of Life hundreds of times and never realized until you pointed out that Scott only appeared in 4 episodes. I thought he was in more episodes of season 9 than that. I'm not a fan of those two. I would have rather seen David come back like you mentioned or Eddie. If Tootie could end up with her childhood sweetheart that fans saw and understood why they were getting married, they should have done that for Jo as well. In one episode we learn Jo and Rick are dating and then in the next they're getting married? It doesn't make sense. Jo wasn't the type of character to rush into things. Look at Sam from Taking A Chance on Love. When she realized Sam wanted more, she wasn't ready for that. Jo and Rick were too forced together. It should have been a season long relationship between the two or at least discussed in more episodes they're dating like they did with Natalie and Snake.

I've watched almost every episode of The Facts of Life hundreds of times and never realized until you pointed out that Scott only appeared in 4 episodes. I thought he was in more episodes of season 9 than that. I'm not a fan of those two. I would have rather seen David come back like you mentioned or Eddie. If Tootie could end up with her childhood sweetheart that fans saw and understood why they were getting married, they should have done that for Jo as well. In one episode we learn Jo and Rick are dating and then in the next they're getting married? It doesn't make sense. Jo wasn't the type of character to rush into things. Look at Sam from Taking A Chance on Love. When she realized Sam wanted more, she wasn't ready for that. Jo and Rick were too forced together. It should have been a season long relationship between the two or at least discussed in more episodes they're dating like they did with Natalie and Snake.

Agreed! I liked them together because I felt a chemistry, but I wish we had seen more of them as a couple

I'm not a fan of those two. I would have rather seen David come back like you mentioned or Eddie.
Not Eddie, they "ruined" him by having him move on from Jo to someone else.

I would much rather have seen Jo paired up with Detective Scott from season 7's "Stake-Out Blues".

Not Eddie, they "ruined" him by having him move on from Jo to someone else.

I would much rather have seen Jo paired up with Detective Scott from season 7's "Stake-Out Blues".

I at least wish she would've dated him for awhile

^---Me too, I really liked him.

During my rewatch I think the biggest issue I had was keeping the girls ages in check. I kept wanting to think they were older than they were. Especially once season 7 hit and we practically never saw Tootie in her Eastland uniform. I kept wanting to think Tootie was early to mid 20's and Blair and Jo were mid to late 20's for some reasons when in fact Jo and Blair ended season 9 around 22 ish

During my rewatch I think the biggest issue I had was keeping the girls ages in check. I kept wanting to think they were older than they were. Especially once season 7 hit and we practically never saw Tootie in her Eastland uniform. I kept wanting to think Tootie was early to mid 20's and Blair and Jo were mid to late 20's for some reasons when in fact Jo and Blair ended season 9 around 22 ish
It’s interesting you point that out. Because up until early this year, it had never occurred to me that Tootie didn’t wear her Eastland uniform at all in the 7th season, especially since she was a senior.

It’s interesting you point that out. Because up until early this year, it had never occurred to me that Tootie didn’t wear her Eastland uniform at all in the 7th season, especially since she was a senior.

Yes, as I said I have issues remembering how young they all are suppose to be