What's your strangest moment on The Facts of Life?

For me, there are a few:

3. Sue Ann and Cindy disappear from the table, "Front Page". And disappear for five years!

2. Mr. Bradley suddenly ends up on the wrong side of his desk, "The Return of Mr. Garrett". Bad editing make this stand out, ever since '80sSitcoms pointed it out to me.

1. Mr. Parker crawls into the bushes, "Growing Pains". WTF?! The direction he goes makes no sense, and we can see him clearly ducking as he heads directly off the path and into the shrubbery.

The girls still living together after 8 years with the older ones well into adulthood.

Jo's marriage to Rick. Jo definitely was Rick's beard.

The girls still living together after 8 years with the older ones well into adulthood.

This one I'm okay with. They tried living apart several times and didn't like it. At least it's addressed.


Jo's marriage to Rick. Jo definitely was Rick's beard.

Yeah, this was crazy. During the show's original run, I missed Jo's wedding episode. I was so confused with the episodes after that, because they had been married so suddenly.

Jo and Rick meet in January and are married in February. The writers had the opportunity to spread out an engagement over the season, but instead quickly wed Jo and Rick with little warning. I have no idea who would write like this.

The writers from the early seasons were obviously a lot better than the later ones that came afterwards: had the original ones remained, then we wouldn't have had BLAIR turning into a complete POD/CLOWN, JO wouldn't have married a complete stranger who had absolutely nothing in common with her, NAT wouldn't have suddenly moved out to join strange/weird people at Soho, and lastly, TOOTIE wouldn't have acted nonchalant and weird during the last phone call her best friend made (when NAT rang her on the very last episode) instead of babbling about going to England for her play, JEFF and so on, when she could have made the effort to chat a bit longer with the girl she had spend so many years with, and whom she had once called her sister soul.....

Comments on that one?

:read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read::read:

This one I'm okay with. They tried living apart several times and didn't like it. At least it's addressed.



Yeah, this was crazy. During the show's original run, I missed Jo's wedding episode. I was so confused with the episodes after that, because they had been married so suddenly.

Jo and Rick meet in January and are married in February. The writers had the opportunity to spread out an engagement over the season, but instead quickly wed Jo and Rick with little warning. I have no idea who would write like this.

Though off stage, Mindy wished the girls didn't live together as long as they did. She wanted them to start having their own lives and also not all be virgins.

The writers from the early seasons were obviously a lot better than the later ones that came afterwards: had the original ones remained, then we wouldn't have had BLAIR turning into a complete POD/CLOWN, JO wouldn't have married a complete stranger who had absolutely nothing in common with her, NAT wouldn't have suddenly moved out to join strange/weird people at Soho, and lastly, TOOTIE wouldn't have acted nonchalant and weird during the last phone call her best friend made (when NAT rang her on the very last episode) instead of babbling about going to England for her play, JEFF and so on, when she could have made the effort to chat a bit longer with the girl she had spend so many years with, and whom she had once called her sister soul.....

Comments on that one?



Yeah, the later writers seemed to lose the thread. Not always, but often.

I think it was in character for Natalie to move to Soho.

The Jo/Rick marriage made no sense.

I feel like they never settled on Tootie’s point of view. Why would she want to get engaged so young when she had been so focused on acting up to that point.

I think it was in character for Natalie to move to Soho.

She definitely wanted to "find herself". But why away from her friends? People she's known for nine years?


The Jo/Rick marriage made no sense.

It is a head-scratcher, for sure. Maybe if Rick had been in more episodes, we would have seen a deeper connection between them. But they get married in just the third episode where he's seen, and we only see him once after that.

The age difference is also significant.


I feel like they never settled on Tootie’s point of view. Why would she want to get engaged so young when she had been so focused on acting up to that point.

Maybe so. I feel like Tootie's engagement is the most realistic plotline of the season. She had an on-going relationship with Jeff, and didn't just up and marry a guy she'd known for a couple of episodes.

Tootie was too young to get married. Complete college first, get a career and then get married.

A better scenario would be to have Blair and Cliff stay together and get married. Blair certainly was not going to be a competent lawyer.

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

- The girls in the same room during the EE seasons. Get another room!! :lol::lol:

- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms :lol::lol:

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

- The girls in the same room during the EE seasons. Get another room!! :lol::lol:

- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms :lol::lol:

I don't think Mr. Garrett stayed in the girls room. He was teaching them poker there. Remember when Mr. Bradley confronts him and asks what he is doing in the girls room? I think Mr. Garrett stayed in a hotel. Probably one with a casino.

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

Yeah, Cliff leaving and then coming back was weird. I believe the episodes were aired out of sequence.


- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms :lol::lol:

As 80s dude says, I don't think he was staying at Eastland; he was just lurking there to find out what Mrs. Garrett's answer might be.

I don't think Mr. Garrett stayed in the girls room. He was teaching them poker there. Remember when Mr. Bradley confronts him and asks what he is doing in the girls room? I think Mr. Garrett stayed in a hotel. Probably one with a casino.

As 80s dude says, I don't think he was staying at Eastland; he was just lurking there to find out what Mrs. Garrett's answer might be.

Oh, no. I didn't mean he was staying at Eastland for the night, he would have been arrested, I believe :lol::lol:.

I was just saying, aside from teaching them poker, I don't think he could have even entered the girls room, at least not in a real boarding school. But we all know Eastland sometimes can be a bizarre place :lol:

Oh, no. I didn't mean he was staying at Eastland for the night, he would have been arrested, I believe :lol::lol:.

I was just saying, aside from teaching them poker, I don't think he could have even entered the girls room, at least not in a real boarding school. But we all know Eastland sometimes can be a bizarre place :lol:

Unless they had a guest room. They did have a guest room in Seasons 2 to 4 because Natalie's grandmother and Allison (who abandoned her baby) stayed in that.

Unless they had a guest room. They did have a guest room in Seasons 2 to 4 because Natalie's grandmother and Allison (who abandoned her baby) stayed in that.

I wonder if the guest room is beyond the door down the hall. If so, it's kind of odd that four girls had to be cramped into one room when there was a spare room right next door, also within feet of Mrs. Garrett's watchful eye.

Oh, no. I didn't mean he was staying at Eastland for the night, he would have been arrested, I believe :lol::lol:.

I was just saying, aside from teaching them poker, I don't think he could have even entered the girls room, at least not in a real boarding school. But we all know Eastland sometimes can be a bizarre place :lol:

Yeah, no males were allowed up there except for the headmaster.

Unless they had a guest room. They did have a guest room in Seasons 2 to 4 because Natalie's grandmother and Allison (who abandoned her baby) stayed in that.

I wonder if the guest room is beyond the door down the hall. If so, it's kind of odd that four girls had to be cramped into one room when there was a spare room right next door, also within feet of Mrs. Garrett's watchful eye.

The area over the kitchen/cafeteria did not have a guest room.

If it did, since that would have been an actual room, the girls would have stayed in there instead of a storage room.

Natalie's grandmother bunked with Mrs. Garrett in Mrs. Garrett's room.

I think we're to assume Ali-kins bunked with the girls in their room snce Baby Emily stayed in Mrs. Garrett's room.

The area over the kitchen/cafeteria did not have a guest room.

If it did, since that would have been an actual room, the girls would have stayed in there instead of a storage room.

The storage room wasn't a real storage room; it was just being used as one: storage rooms don't have closets.


Natalie's grandmother bunked with Mrs. Garrett in Mrs. Garrett's room.

Actually, the plan was to have Natalie's grandmother and Natalie in Mrs. Garrett's room, and Mrs. Garrett would bunk with Tootie, Jo, and Blair.


I think we're to assume Ali-kins bunked with the girls in their room snce Baby Emily stayed in Mrs. Garrett's room.

Ali-kins didn't bunk anywhere: she went home that evening, since Blair was going to go on a date. (Emily, her baby, did "bunk" with Mrs. Garrett). :lol:

The storage room wasn't a real storage room; it was just being used as one: storage rooms don't have closets.

Who said there were closets? :lol:

I mean, you could argue the "4th wall" had closets, but that's up to each fan's interpretation. I still think it was just a storage room per "The New Girl Part 1". Their reaction doesn't seem like they noticed any closets. It seems like they're disgusted at being shoved away into a messy storage room.

Does the script specify?


Actually, the plan was to have Natalie's grandmother and Natalie in Mrs. Garrett's room, and Mrs. Garrett would bunk with Tootie, Jo, and Blair.

Oh that's right, Natalie was with Mona in Edna's room. So still no guest room.


Ali-kins didn't bunk anywhere: she went home that evening, since Blair was going to go on a date. (Emily, her baby, did "bunk" with Mrs. Garrett). :lol:

Ah, yes. I was thinking of their "reunion time" on the floor in the girls' makeshift room (lol).

Who said there were closets? :lol:

I mean, you could argue the "4th wall" had closets, but that's up to each fan's interpretation. I still think it was just a storage room per "The New Girl Part 1". Their reaction doesn't seem like they noticed any closets. It seems like they're disgusted at being shoved away into a messy storage room.

Does the script specify?

It was definitely being used as a messy storage room, but would a storage room even have a window? And as for the closet, they must have had one: they used that room for three years. Can you imagine four teenage girls without a closet? For that matter, can you imagine Blair without a closet? :lol:

It was definitely being used as a messy storage room, but would a storage room even have a window? And as for the closet, they must have had one: they used that room for three years. Can you imagine four teenage girls without a closet? For that matter, can you imagine Blair without a closet? :lol:

Exactly! Practically every other sitcom you think of, a closet is seen in the bedroom. I guess the storage room was not designated as a proper bedroom in its design. There is no evidence that the girls have a closet in there. If they did, why not just include it? Or at least in TNGP1 have Blair look at the 4th wall and go, "Well, at least I can store my clothes in here. Will the other girls get a closet somewhere?" :lol: (they had a bathroom mirror on the "fourth wall" in the bathroom)

That is just really strange to me that they didn't put a closet in that room if it's supposed to have one. Maybe they have a hall closet they all stuffed their things into. Though Natalie had her trunk, but no one else had a storage compartment. At least Mrs. Garrett had that nice large armoire for clothing storage, lol.

Maybe Blair just shoved everything under her bed! :lol:

Exactly! Practically every other sitcom you think of, a closet is seen in the bedroom. I guess the storage room was not designated as a proper bedroom in its design. There is no evidence that the girls have a closet in there. If they did, why not just include it? Or at least in TNGP1 have Blair look at the 4th wall and go, "Well, at least I can store my clothes in here. Will the other girls get a closet somewhere?" :lol: (they had a bathroom mirror on the "fourth wall" in the bathroom)

That is just really strange to me that they didn't put a closet in that room if it's supposed to have one. Maybe they have a hall closet they all stuffed their things into. Though Natalie had her trunk, but no one else had a storage compartment. At least Mrs. Garrett had that nice large armoire for clothing storage, lol.

Maybe Blair just shoved everything under her bed! :lol:

I have just always believed the closet door was in the fourth wall. There's no way four teenage girls could have survived without it. Blair would have died without a closet. :lol:

I have just always believed the closet door was in the fourth wall. There's no way four teenage girls could have survived without it. Blair would have died without a closet. :lol:

Exactly! That would have fit perfectly with their probation punishment! :lol:

I mean, I know that realistically there has to be some sort of clothing storage somewhere, lol, but I never think of a closet in their 4th wall. Of course I'm not saying it's wrong if you do (and maybe someday I will as well, but after picturing something one way all your life, change is tough, lol), I'm just saying I've always taken rooms on sitcoms at face values, where most of them have visible closets (and visible bathroom mirrors on a side wall as opposed to the 4th wall).

Exactly! That would have fit with their probation punishment! :lol:

I mean, I know that realistically there has to be some sort of clothing storage somewhere, lol, but I never think of a closet in their 4th wall. Of course I'm not saying it's wrong if you do (and maybe someday I will as well, but after picturing something one way all your life, change is tough, lol), I'm just saying I've always taken rooms on sitcoms at face values, where most of them have visible closets (and visible bathroom mirrors on a side wall as opposed to the 4th wall).

Well, here is some circumstantial evidence for a closet: their Eastland uniforms are never wrinkled, and you never see crease lines in their clothing, as if their clothes were folded and laying in a drawer. The school very likely had a policy about wrinkled uniforms. A closet would really have been required. It could have been anywhere: in the door down the hallway, in the fourth wall, or somewhere else.

Well, here is some circumstantial evidence for a closet: their Eastland uniforms are never wrinkled, and you never see crease lines in their clothing, as if their clothes were folded and laying in a drawer. The school very likely had a policy about wrinkled uniforms. A closet would really have been required. It could have been anywhere: in the door down the hallway, in the fourth wall, or somewhere else.

Yup! Maybe they even had "clothing racks" and shelves rolled in against the 4th wall, lol.

Well, here is some circumstantial evidence for a closet: their Eastland uniforms are never wrinkled, and you never see crease lines in their clothing, as if their clothes were folded and laying in a drawer. The school very likely had a policy about wrinkled uniforms. A closet would really have been required. It could have been anywhere: in the door down the hallway, in the fourth wall, or somewhere else.

Jo always looked like a slob in her Eastland uniform. They must not have enforced the rules equally.

Jo always looked like a slob in her Eastland uniform. They must not have enforced the rules equally.

I think it was her undone tie.

Jo just looks like a slob. Undone tie upper shirt unbuttoned. Vest unbuttoned. Blair and Tootie look more professional.
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/cousin-geri-returns-episode-10-pictured-lisa-welchel-as-blair-warner-picture-id140925726?s=2048x2048

Jo just looks like a slob. Undone tie upper shirt unbuttoned. Vest unbuttoned. Blair and Tootie look more professional.


Wow, yeah, she really does go unkempt. Don't forget loose shirt not fully tucked in too. Retro gave her too easy a pass. :lol:

JO having an open tie was part of her personality: wild chick!

BLAIR on the other hand with her immaculate tie was all about being posh and elegant!

patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot:patriot: