Do you remember? Charlotte Rae's 90th Birthday Party on The Hallmark Channel

['80sSitcoms]

Remember a couple of years ago when The Hallmark Channel celebrated Charlotte Rae's 90th birthday with a two-hour (!) installment of "Home and Family"? It was on February 15, 2016.

Let's share our memories of that special milestone event here. At least we can have this as a sort of time capsule of this unbelievably awesome event.

I had this on my DVR for a while but then it got wiped out (!), but luckily I discovered that I had emailed a good friend and fellow FOL fan about this event. I emailed him excited when I heard it was happening, and I emailed him some thoughts/feedback after I watched it. I am SO thankful I did, because I don't know if anyone captured it to upload anywhere, so at least I have this to go by for my "memory diary":

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WOW what a show! Molly Ringwald!! WOW! And Goerge Clooney! WOW!! I NEVER would have expected him to have partaken in this! How AWESOME he's not so "Hollywood" that he's forgotten his humble, goofy, awkward beginnings, lol. I love that. I'm not a GC fan per se (the only movie of his I've seen is O Brother, Where Art Thou, and that was on videotape in the 1990s at the rental of my mother, lol, and I never watched ER---I only saw he and Noah cross-over onto Friends during the first season), but I totally respect him for this. Way to go, George!

And Molly! Okay, I accidentally found out before-hand that Molly was gonna be in a video message, which I wish I hadn't known because I love fun surprises, but that was so great! And so nice to hear Lisa and Kim acknowledge the "lost girls" (though Cindy didn't get any lines in flashbacks, that sucked [neither did Nancy] ). Since Molly was crushed and then bitter after having been let go from the show, and didn't take part in "The Little Chill" (if she was even invited; I think she was, but declined? I think that's what I heard...) I think it was very sweet of her to take part in this by sending Charlotte a video birthday message. However, when she said she was glad to wish her a 90th birthday and said "and I hope to be able to wish you a happy 91st", I thought she was gonna say "and I hope to be able to wish you a happy 100th" or at least "95th", but 91?? That sounds like she doesn't have much faith in her! LOL...just kinda shocked me as tacky, haha, though I know she didn't mean it like that. And I wish she had said something to "the girls" in the video, but maybe she didn't know this would have been shown at a "reunion"-type show (or maybe she did), or that some of the other girls would see it, but oh well. It's just awesome she was a part of this.

And "Willis" showed up! I saw an Instagram pic so knew he would, but I forgot. And then he walked in and I was like "Whoa!" and I LOVE that Kim was so excited to see Todd! Tootie and Willis hung out some on Diff'rent Strokes, and Blair got Willis to be her Countess Calvay deliveryboy, so I loved seeing him with these FOL cast members he had interacted with before.

Gloria Loring had never met any of the FOL cast before! Whoa! And I knew there was an extra verse to the theme song, as I have a TV theme song book that has the full FOL song in it. So great to see her rock it out and everyone loving it!

So Molly was involved, but not the other lost girls; oh man that would have been so great to see them in video or, even better, on the couch! And by the way, how GREAT do Lisa and Kim look??

How about that intro with the song and clips of the stars and H&F hosts? That was great! I loved that that Ken guy was such a roller-skate-Tootie fan, but he didn't even know her catchphrase! How embarrassing, lol...and they never did use that one a lot, it's more in memory than it was used on the show.

Mindy's video message was sweet, but bittersweet; now that we know Charlotte tried to "reach out to her" while on the show, but Mindy never really "took to her wing" so to speak. But I like that Mindy took part and was sincere, and I love the special emphasis she pointed about her scene with Charlotte in season 5 when Natalie's father died (FATHER Charlotte, FATHER---not grandmother!! lol) and Mindy felt so connected with Charlotte as an actress and that spurned on her desire for acting.

I LOVED all the gushing and memories in the living room set! I was just sitting there Indian-style on my couch resting my arms on a pillow in my lap soaking up every Eastland moment! And I loved what Lisa said about the testament of why Mrs. Garrett was so loved and why she was so popular. She really hit the nail on the head! And Kim too, and I loved when Mark Steines addressed Kim gazing lovingly at Charlotte and asked what she was thinking about that made her do that, and she talked about how it was just 9 years of memories flashing on her (although with Charlotte it was only 7 years and 2 episodes of memories, but who's counting, haha).

Oh, and how about Kim and that woman host almost getting into a fight over Todd Bridges not being dead? LOL...I was feeling very awkward there, but luckily it blew over before they came to "The Real Housewives of Peekskill" blows, haha.

And "Jo" in the kitchen! What Skype fun with Nancy, such nice nostalgic sincerity, regardless of the garbled part where she was talking about something about the art directors and the beautiful set (which I wish we got to hear exactly what she said). And I LOVE that she stole the Edna's Edibles open/close sign! Hahaha that's awesome! And the others had no idea!

And by the way, the job they did on theming the kitchen to resemble Edna's Edibles really sucked, lol.

And how about Cousin Geri's Sesame Street story? I never heard that either. It's "funny", and cute, but I can't help but feel so bad for all those kids who screamed "She killed Big Bird!!"---!---yikes! Poor things... :-( (shame on you, Cousin Geri! lol) It is hard to believe that they didn't rehearse with skates though, especially with someone with a disability, you'd think they'd wanna really get it down pat. I wonder what poor Caroll Spinney thought of the incident? He didn't mention it in his book, or his Emmy Legends interview, or I Am Big Bird.

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['80sSitcoms]

And part of my friend's feedback (most of what else he said was responding to the things I talked about already) :

I loved Kim's story about falling down the Drummond staircase!!! She said, "I went down like Aunt Bunny!" which I had no idea what she meant, then looked it up to realize it's a reference to a story Eddie Murphy tells in Delirious.

And Gloria Loring was so thrilled to be there! She sounded great and really "got her life" at the end of the song, singing her little heart out!

Oh, and Kim mentioned on her Instagram that she remembered "the banana story" that George told!

['80sSitcoms]

Here's a promo for the special:

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['80sSitcoms]

I found Todd's surprise arrival!

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['80sSitcoms]

And here is George Clooney's video message:

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George Clooney has a touching message for Charlotte Rae at ‘Facts of Life’ reunion

Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” is welcoming some special guests Monday (Feb. 15) when the “Facts of Life” cast reunites nearly 30 years after the sitcom went off the air. All the familiar faces are there — Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Geri Jewell — but there are also a few surprise guests, including George Clooney.

Clooney appeared on “Facts of Life” from 1985 to 1987, his “first regular job on a television series.” In this sneak peek at his video message, Clooney has some kind words for Rae, a.k.a. Mrs. Garrett.

“Charlotte, well listen — I have to say, you were such an incredible force in the early part of my career. In mid-1985 I came on the show, it was my first regular job on a television series and you were funny and kind and you made a very young, not very skilled actor feel very much at home,” says Clooney, going on to tell a story about Rae wandering around the set holding a banana, which made the whole cast and crew crack up.

“I couldn’t be happier for you, and I couldn’t be more thankful for all the kindness you showed a young, not very bright actor. Congratulations,” he concludes.

[MA]

Does anyone have the full version of this?

['80sSitcoms]

I found some more clips from Hallmark's site!!

1. Almost 7 minutes of the beginning, including Mindy's video message!

2. Over 8 minutes in the poor tribute to Edna's Edibles with Lisa's recipe for Mexican cornbread, and Nancy's Skype interview!

3. Over 6 1/2 minutes of of time with Kim and celebrating Tootie's skates with bedazzling! lol

Oh, how I wish that Molly's video message were there too...still, these are fantastic finds for not having a recording of the show!

Photos from the linked page:

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['80sSitcoms]

Let's campaign for The Hallmark Channel to celebrate Charlotte's life with a re-airing or an upload of the full event!

However you choose to contact, please be polite/professional in your request and support. Mention in your request that it was the 2-hour "Home and Family" episode which Hallmark Channel aired on February 15, 2016 celebrating Charlotte Rae's 90th birthday:


Email/Phone

If your questions or concerns have not been answered here, you may reach Crown Media Family Networks’ Viewer Services via email at viewers@crownmedia.com or by phone at 888-390-7474. We greatly appreciate your feedback.


YouTube Upload

If you can send a message through YT:

https://www.youtube.com/user/HallmarkChannelUSA


Send Facebook Message

https://www.facebook.com/hallmarkchannel


Tweet

https://twitter.com/hallmarkchannel

[RetroGuy2000]

This was an amazing special, and I'm sad I never caught it when it was on the air. However, the bits and pieces I have seen were very cool. I hope Hallmark will rerun it, or air another special, after Charlotte's passing.

['80sSitcoms]

Well, I've started campaigning. I just now composed an email to viewers@crownmedia.com, and here it is:

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Good day Crown Media,

In light of the passing of beloved actress Charlotte Rae, I am requesting that you please rerun the 2/15/2016 installment of The Hallmark Channel's 'Home and Family" which was a 2-hour event dedicated to celebrating Ms. Rae's 90th birthday. It was a tremendous milestone for fans of The Facts of Life and Charlotte Rae (involving even Molly Ringwald and George Clooney), and it would be wonderful if this could be seen again.

Whether it could be rerun on The Hallmark Channel as a special encore presentation to honor her, or if The Hallmark Channel could upload the full show on their YouTube channel, I know from seeing the outpouring of love for Charlotte Rae online that this would be a treasured privilege to see this episode again (some fans are saying they did not get to see it the first time around, and would love an opportunity to watch it).

Thank you kindly for your consideration, and may we all take the love and wisdom of "Mrs. Garrett" with us,

(and then I signed it)

[MA]

Good luck! Hopefully you'll get a response back!

[RetroGuy2000]

I also emailed Crown Media with a request for a special or to put the existing special up on the web.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I also emailed Crown Media with a request for a special or to put the existing special up on the web.

Alright! Every attempt helps!

[Impressions]

'80sChild, you're my hero. I would love to see the full special on YouTube or aired. I don't get cable and we need this. I have not seen it in full.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Impressions

'80sChild, you're my hero.

Aw, shucks. Glad I can be of service!

Originally Posted by Impressions

I would love to see the full special on YouTube or aired. I don't get cable and we need this. I have not seen it in full.

That's a good point, for those who don't have cable; perhaps you could request it through The Hallmark Channel's YouTube channel or Facebook page?