FYI..Article on MSNBC about Reunion

ABC plans ‘Facts of Life’ reunion

Production starts in September for TV movie based on series

By Michael Schneider


HOLLYWOOD (Variety), Aug. 14 — You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have ... a “Facts of Life” reunion movie at ABC. Production begins Sept. 10 in Toronto for the yet-untitled “Facts of Life” redux. Original cast members Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett), Mindy Cohn (Natalie), Kim Fields (Tootie) and Lisa Whelchel (Blair) are all on board to reprise their characters from the hit coming-of-age comedy, which ran on NBC from 1979 to 1988.






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George Clooney, who played handyman George during the show’s 1985-86 season, has not been approached.

IT’S STILL UNCLEAR whether Nancy McKeon, who played tomboy Jo, will appear in a cameo. But George Clooney, who played handyman George during the show’s 1985-86 season, has not been approached.
The two-hour picture focuses on Natalie, who asks the girls to reunite in Peekskill, N.Y., after she receives two different marriage proposals.
“We chose to do it as an old-fashioned romantic comedy,” said Quinn Taylor, senior vice president of TV movies at ABC. “The writers captured the voices of these women, which in any of these reunion movies is the hardest thing to do.”
The “Facts of Life” reunion will air sometime next season in the “Wonderful World of Disney” time slot, which Taylor hopes will benefit from the picture’s adult appeal.

PRODUCT OF A BRAINSTORM
The project grew out of a brainstorming session at ABC, which posted strong numbers last season for a “Growing Pains” reunion picture. The “Facts of Life” project went through a number of changes — including a possible “Big Chill”-esque tone at one point, with one of the girls dying — before taking its current form.
Taylor said the original “Facts” writers either “didn’t care, aren’t around or didn’t want to be a part of it.” Instead, Max Enscoe and Annie deYoung wrote the script, with an assist from Kevin Hench (“Kiss My Act”) and Heather Juergensen.
“Max and Annie were true to their voices,” Taylor said. “They can tell you minutiae about the show, which is a little alarming, but they’re also the reason why everyone got so excited.”

GETTING THE FACTS OF ‘FACTS’
Taylor said everyone involved with the project watched countless episodes of “Facts of Life” to get into the spirit. The movie’s scribes were then charged with trying to figure out where these characters would be now.
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Natalie, for example, now serves as a behind-the-scenes producer at CNN. Mrs. Garrett, who got married and moved away when Rae left the show in 1986, returns to the States via cruise ship, where she meets a new love interest (she apparently joined the Peace Corps and became a widow in the time since “Facts” left the air).
Tootie is a Hollywood-based talk-show host and the single mother of a 10-year-old girl. Blair owns Warner Enterprises, which includes a stable of hotels, and is married without children. And while Jo doesn’t show up for the reunion, her husband Rick and daughter do.

ASIDES ON THOSE MISSING
The movie will also include a number of inside jokes for “Facts” fans, including indirect references to Clooney and Molly Ringwald, who played a schoolmate during the show’s freshman season. Taylor said the “Facts” stars all had input in the final script.
“They were all very articulate and thoughtful, and cared about what their characters would do,” Taylor said. “Mindy and Charlotte, Lisa and then Kim all contributed greatly to where their characters would be.”
Disney-owned producer Touchstone Television, a sister company of ABC, bought the rights to remake “Facts” from Sony’s Columbia TriStar Television. During the sitcom’s 10-year run, 205 half-hour episodes were produced.
Other series reunion pictures may be in the works at ABC as well, Taylor said.
But “just because it was a hit series doesn’t mean it’s viable or a good reunion show,” he said. “There have been a lot pitched here that we have passed on.”
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, who’s directing the upcoming indie feature “Kissing Jessica Stein,” will direct.
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[ThomasE]

You can tell that news is not always accurate. One source says that there were 205 episodes, another says 208, another says the FOL ran for 10 years. It really ran for 9 and lasted 209 episodes.