Were Seasons 1-5 the only time that the show was truly "great" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 06-23-2023, 12:45 AM

Whereas Seasons 6 and 7 were "okay", by the time that Seasons 8 and 9 came along, did The Facts of Life go from being sitcom that handled real issues to a teeny bopper, late '80s show with a storyline that was all over the place?

CJMD03 · 09-05-2023, 10:03 PM

The Eastland years were way better. The Edna’s Edibles era was ok, but the Over Our Heads years were bad.

FOL-FAN-ITA · 09-09-2023, 03:14 PM

In my opinion season 8 was even better than several of the previous years. Seasons 6-7-9 are the weakest

JR1 · 09-18-2023, 08:28 PM

Charlotte Rae started missing shows in season 6, which continued into season 7- so that was a loss for those seasons. Plus, Edna's Edibles became less relevant to the plot in season six, outside of a handful or less of shows.

Over Our Heads was pretty... ridiculous. lol

CJMD03 · 09-18-2023, 08:36 PM

Even Cohn and Fields said the OOH’s years were dumb. They also said that there’s no way in real-life that the women would still be living together at their ages.

TMC · 06-03-2024, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR1

Charlotte Rae started missing shows in season 6, which continued into season 7- so that was a loss for those seasons. Plus, Edna's Edibles became less relevant to the plot in season six, outside of a handful or less of shows.

Over Our Heads was pretty... ridiculous. lol

This incidentally, was around the same time that Margie Peters and Linda Marsh left as producers.

BestTVever · 06-03-2024, 06:40 AM

To be fair, most if not all sitcoms are not great after 5 seasons. They are mostly finding ways to keep the show going. As they got so much older, graduated high school, then college, it must have been tough. Of course the first 4 seasons are excellent. Sitcoms start to die after season 4. Happened in All In The Family, Threes Company, Golden Girls, and all the best sitcoms. The later seasons still had some gem episodes but most of them were meh. When the young and annoying Andy came, it officially jumped the shark.

Fallon97 · 05-01-2026, 04:14 PM

Season 1 was my least favorite. However the seasons after that were great.

06-23-2023, 12:45 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,453	Were Seasons 1-5 the only time that the show was truly "great" Whereas Seasons 6 and 7 were "okay", by the time that Seasons 8 and 9 came along, did The Facts of Life go from being sitcom that handled real issues to a teeny bopper, late '80s show with a storyline that was all over the place?

09-09-2023, 03:14 PM	#3
FOL-FAN-ITA Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 29, 2019 Location: Italy Posts: 1,473	In my opinion season 8 was even better than several of the previous years. Seasons 6-7-9 are the weakest
	__________________ The Facts Of Life Italian Fan

09-05-2023, 10:03 PM	#2
CJMD03 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 18, 2018 Posts: 412	The Eastland years were way better. The Edna’s Edibles era was ok, but the Over Our Heads years were bad.

09-18-2023, 08:28 PM	#4
JR1 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 07, 2009 Location: USA Posts: 742	Charlotte Rae started missing shows in season 6, which continued into season 7- so that was a loss for those seasons. Plus, Edna's Edibles became less relevant to the plot in season six, outside of a handful or less of shows. Over Our Heads was pretty... ridiculous. lol

09-18-2023, 08:36 PM	#5
CJMD03 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 18, 2018 Posts: 412	Even Cohn and Fields said the OOH’s years were dumb. They also said that there’s no way in real-life that the women would still be living together at their ages.

06-03-2024, 06:40 AM	#7
BestTVever Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 29, 2021 Location: Miami Posts: 1,874	To be fair, most if not all sitcoms are not great after 5 seasons. They are mostly finding ways to keep the show going. As they got so much older, graduated high school, then college, it must have been tough. Of course the first 4 seasons are excellent. Sitcoms start to die after season 4. Happened in All In The Family, Threes Company, Golden Girls, and all the best sitcoms. The later seasons still had some gem episodes but most of them were meh. When the young and annoying Andy came, it officially jumped the shark.

05-01-2026, 04:14 PM	#8
Fallon97 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 04, 2007 Location: America Posts: 1,268	Season 1 was my least favorite. However the seasons after that were great.