If you could had the power to rewrite the FOL after season 1.

[80s Dude]

Let say you can go back in time to the spring of 1980 and you were hired as a consultant to revamp the Facts of Life like it was really done. Everything you recommended would be followed, what suggestions would you have made if you were The Consultant? I thought they pared the cast down too much and took away the diversity of the first season.

I would:

1. Bring all the girls back except for 1 and also would add Jo. The one character I would not bring back was Nancy the character (Felice S.). I never really got what her role was other than being a boy crazy teen girl with a boyfriend she talks on the phone who the viewing audience never seen.

2. Move Mr. Bradley to a part time role and bring Miss Mahoney back for a part time role. Their roles in season 1 took too many minutes away to focus on Mrs. Garrett and the girls. Mr. Bradley also got in the way of Mrs. Garrett role as an authority figure and mentor. A real headmaster would not have such a role in the day to day lives of the students at a private school, They would be looking out at the operation of the entire school, recruiting students, fund raising. Got too much in the way of the stories for each episode. But keep Mr. Bradley around like what Mr. Parker would the headmaster who succeeded Mr. Bradley were.

3. Have Molly continue to be the Greta Thunberg type of activist like she was in season 1. She could be the school photographer and writer and political junkie.

4. Sue Ann could clash not only with Blair, but with Jo as well in a rural vs. urban clash.

5. Cindy will continue be the school jock and be sweetheart that parents would love to have their sons or daughters date and bring home to introduce them too. Have her stories focus on the clash of athletics and academics. Also focus on the traditional gender roles.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Let say you can go back in time to the spring of 1980 and you were hired as a consultant to revamp the Facts of Life like it was really done. Everything you recommended would be followed, what suggestions would you have made if you were The Consultant? I thought they pared the cast down too much and took away the diversity of the first season.

I would:

1. Bring all the girls back except for 1 and also would add Jo. The one character I would not bring back was Nancy the character (Felice S.). I never really got what her role was other than being a boy crazy teen girl with a boyfriend she talks on the phone who the viewing audience never seen.

2. Move Mr. Bradley to a part time role and bring Miss Mahoney back for a part time role. Their roles in season 1 took too many minutes away to focus on Mrs. Garrett and the girls. Mr. Bradley also got in the way of Mrs. Garrett role as an authority figure and mentor. A real headmaster would not have such a role in the day to day lives of the students at a private school, They would be looking out at the operation of the entire school, recruiting students, fund raising. Got too much in the way of the stories for each episode. But keep Mr. Bradley around like what Mr. Parker would the headmaster who succeeded Mr. Bradley were.

3. Have Molly continue to be the Greta Thunberg type of activist like she was in season 1. She could be the school photographer and writer and political junkie.

4. Sue Ann could clash not only with Blair, but with Jo as well in a rural vs. urban clash.

5. Cindy will continue be the school jock and be sweetheart that parents would love to have their sons or daughters date and bring home to introduce them too. Have her stories focus on the clash of athletics and academics. Also focus on the traditional gender roles.

I agree that there was far too much paring down of the cast during the Cast Purge. Critics of the First Season will say that there were "far too many characters" for a 22-minute sitcom", but Head of the Class pulled it off fine, with an even larger class, for five seasons.



Your proposal, with seven girls and Mrs. G, and occasionally seeing Miss Mahoney and Mr. Bradley, seems like a sensible, middle-of-the-road approach, although I liked the character of Nancy, and wouldn't like to see her axed in my own version of FOL Seasons 2-9.

In 2014, '80sSitcoms put together a re-imagined FOL episode guide, where he revised the series, keeping the Lost Girls integral to the series in a way that feels very natural. The girls never feel shoehorned into roles that don't feel appropriate to who the characters are.

For example, Jo rarely mentions Eddie, outside of the very few episodes where he appears. Why not rework the script so that it's Nancy, not Jo, who is running off with her boyfriend? It's more believable that the boyfriend-obsessed girl is running off with her boyfriend, rather than someone who forgets she even has a boyfriend for months at a time. Similarly, Jo rarely mentioned a belief in God. Why, then, does Jo suddenly decide to become a nun in "Best Sister"? Wouldn't it be more realistic to cast the conservative Sue Ann in that part?

At times, the writers seemed to forget who these girls were; '80sSitcoms' summaries fixes some of the sillier writing mistakes, while balancing the show, giving each and every character (even Miss Mahoney!) a moment to shine. His rewrite of the show is worth reading.

[80s Dude]

Very well done by 80sSitcoms.

I would have written an episode that evolved around Cindy being a sports editor of the student newspaper based on what happened to me when I was the sports editor of my university newspaper.

['80sSitcoms]

Glad you enjoyed 80s Dude, and aw, thanks, Retro for your kind words.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Very well done by 80sSitcoms.

I would have written an episode that evolved around Cindy being a sports editor of the student newspaper based on what happened to me when I was the sports editor of my university newspaper.

What happened?

(Let me guess: one of the coaches was rude to you, so when he was arrested at a coke party, you published the story in the university paper, as sweet, sweet revenge? I kid, I kid! but I do want to know.)

['80sSitcoms]

It would have been AWESOME if Jo had mentioned Cindy in that one episode where Jo comes into the girls' room in season 3 or 4 over the kitchen with her hockey stick, freshly grimy from a game (you remember that?). The writers could have given we Lost Girl fans a treat by saying something like, "Man, that Cindy is one tough cookie. It took me three matches to finally wipe her out!"

(or whatever you call a match/round in a hockey game )

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

It would have been AWESOME if Jo had mentioned Cindy in that one episode where Jo comes into the girls' room in season 3 or 4 over the kitchen with her hockey stick, freshly grimy from a game (you remember that?). The writers could have given we Lost Girl fans a treat by saying something like, "Man, that Cindy is one tough cookie. It took me three matches to finally wipe her out!"

(or whatever you call a match/round in a hockey game )

That would have been cool. What would have been even more cool is if Cindy had followed Jo in, hockey stick in hand. That was "Mind Your Own Business", episode 3-21, and because it dealt with Blair snooping in Natalie's diary, it would have worked well to incorporate Cindy, who seemingly lived for gossip, in her later appearances. Maybe she could have even passed on some juicy information to her roommate, Sue Ann!

[MikeLutton]

have cindy and sue ann get all wet from another flash flood

[TV Guy]

I couldn’t stand Bradley or Mahoney (who gets my nomination for Primetime’s Worst Hairdo Of All Time), so they would have never returned had I been in charge. I thought it was nice that Nancy, Sue Ann, and Cindy remained as recurring for a few years, and I would have continued with that, and they would have appeared in the “Graduation” episode. Some of the guest character storylines in seasons 2-4 could have been given to them, too.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

I couldn’t stand Bradley or Mahoney (who gets my nomination for Primetime’s Worst Hairdo Of All Time),

She definitely had horrible hair. but with proper lawn care, that giant bush could have been mown back.

so they would have never returned had I been in charge. I thought it was nice that Nancy, Sue Ann, and Cindy remained as recurring for a few years, and I would have continued with that, and they would have appeared in the “Graduation” episode. Some of the guest character storylines in seasons 2-4 could have been given to them, too.

That would have been cool. Nancy and Sue Ann needed to graduate with Blair and Jo, rather than graduating with girls we'd never seen before. It would have made much more emotional impact. Sue Ann could have been the "other girl" in episode 4-12, "Magnificent Obsession". Nancy, the budding psychologist, could have given advice to Blair in "Different Drummer". Cindy could have appeared with her hockey stick, in "Mind Your Own Business". And they all could have appeared in "The Four Musketeers", when the girls finally get their rooms back. The Core Four could have decided they'd rather room with one another, after dealing with Nancy's obsession with Roger, Sue Ann's farm girl ways, and Cindy's love of sports. It works as well as being driven away by Brenda's rocks and boring-ness.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

I couldn’t stand Bradley or Mahoney

Say it ain't so!

[TV Guy]

Mr. Bradley was just plain creepy with his intense interest in the lives of those particular girls. Go back to your office and do your job, Chester.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

Mr. Bradley was just plain creepy with his intense interest in the lives of those particular girls. Go back to your office and do your job, Chester.

It was weird how he was always over in the girls' dorm. We saw him in the classroom a couple of times, and once in his office. Other than that, he seemed to spend most of his time in our girls' dorm.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It was weird how he was always over in the girls' dorm. We saw him in the classroom a couple of times, and once in his office. Other than that, he seemed to spend most of his time in our girls' dorm.

Yes, but it's a shame some people just automatically think he was creepy because he would come into a girls' dorm. I've seen comments like that elsewhere online. He was not a creepy character, he was just written into the main setting of the show, which happened to be the dorm. I never got a "creepy" vibe from him ever.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Yes, but it's a shame some people just automatically think he was creepy because he would come into a girls' dorm. I've seen comments like that elsewhere online. He was not a creepy character, he was just written into the main setting of the show, which happened to be the dorm. I never got a "creepy" vibe from him ever.

Well, people ascribe all sorts of things to characters. I don't mind that, because it's all open to viewer interpretation. Still, it made no sense that Mr. Bradley was in the girls' dorms every week.

The only creepy character was Creepy Stranger, seen in the opening credits... and of course, Mr. Parker, lurking weirdly in the bushes behind the kitchen... WTF?!