Given the problems that plagued its parent show Diff'rent Strokes (behind-the-scenes issues with its stars; getting cancelled with no proper send-off due to abysmal ratings after having switched networks; and the premature deaths of some main-castmembers, not to mention DS is still streaming with uppercase captioning instead of lowercase), would it have been better if The Facts of Life weren't a spin off from a different show?

Why would it matter? Facts of Life quickly separated itself from Different Strokes and took it own path.

Here is just one example of why I feel this way:

I wanted to watch that "Slumber Party" episode of Diff'rent Strokes, but I couldn't get past the uppercase closed-captioning that DS still uses on streaming sites. I could simply turn the CC off myself, but I just can't get over Sony's refusal to change the CC to lowercaase, erasing the NCI-CAP captions.

The voice (and look) of Natalie Green and all-uppercase closed-captioning just don't mix. And if The Facts of Life ever used any uppercase-only closed captioning (particularly during its original NBC run), such captioning on that show would surely have been long gone by now.

I like for my scripted stuff to have mixed-case closed-captioning, period.

Another reason is there are some fans of The Facts of Life who are just NOT fans of Diff'rent Strokes at all.