Could the series have gone on for another year if another network picked it up

[JoshLarson24]

I have always wondered if the series could have lasted longer if another network picked it up

I doubt any network would have considered it after the rating had dropped and how it was quietly cancelled.

I only thought about this because Diff'rent Strokes was given a second life on ABC but cancelled after I believe 19 or so episodes.

[BigManMike]

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by thebigcookie

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.

Pretty much.

NBC itself was going to pick the show up for a 10th year, but half of the girls wanted out. So, the show ended.

[Kasey]

It was starting to get very tired-looking so I think they made the right choice in ending it in 1988.

[James28]

This thread has got me thinking: What if The Facts of Life had moved to ABC at any point during its run? I doubt TFoL would be a good fit for CBS, and neither would Diff'rent Strokes.

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Shows generally don't do good once they hop to another network. It probably could have gone on another year, but switching networks it would have been a very low rated season.

[mets82]

Shows that changed networks that didnt do good. Step by Step and Family Matters come to mind.


If the girls wanted out then they should have ended it. Also, they grew up. The adolescent problems that they had when they were in high school were gone in a way.

[robyrob]

i don't think so - the show had really run out of gas and they had already tried to revive the ratings with a bunch of changes all to no avail; maybe if some of the newer characters had caught on or if they had done something really different it would have had a chance, but as it was, no.

I always thought that they should've had one or more of the girls return to Eastland as instructors or house mothers and introduced a new group of girls - but they should've done it when Mrs Garrett left.

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

I've never heard about the possibility of a tenth season. None of the cast has ever stated that. The ratings were in decline, salaries were growing and I would say there was no justification in renewing it.

[mets82]

Also, the show really was about the girls growing up in high school. By the time the show ended, the mystique was gone because the girls were adults.

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

Also, the addition of Beverly was the clear beginning of the end.

[MiracleHand]

The show was running on borrowed time by season nine so i don't think another season was needed. I didn't mind Beverly Ann but to me, Jo and Blair graduating Langley should've been the end... by the end you had a bunch of 22 year olds living together and newer characters like Andy, Beverly Ann and Pippa were having more screentime and storylines than the four main characters.

I do wish the show had better closure though. It seems like a lot of the big 80s sitcoms had mediocre whimper endings, Diff'rent Strokes and Gimme A Break (although the season 6 opener where the Kanisky girls all move out of the house should've been a series finale, but instead we got a season in New York with Rosie O'Donnell) didn't even get endings.

[mets82]

Its almost like they werent worried about how the show would end. And obviously when it did, it deserved a better send off. I'm speaking about the Facts of Life but I can also be talking about Gimme a Break and Different Strokes.

[MiracleHand]

Originally Posted by mets82

Its almost like they werent worried about how the show would end. And obviously when it did, it deserved a better send off. I'm speaking about the Facts of Life but I can also be talking about Gimme a Break and Different Strokes.

The funny thing about Facts is that there were a few episodes there that felt more like finales than the actual finale. Graduation, Out Of Peekskill and Rites Of Passage all could've worked as series finales and it would've worked. I think they were more concerned about hoping to spin Blair off onto her own show at the expense of really giving Facts the closure it deserved. I always found the last three minutes with Natalie over the phone just felt haphazard and disappointing a way to bid goodbye to a show that had run for nine years and meant a lot to its fans. At the time I didn't even realize that was a series finale and kind of expected it to be back in the fall, even though I did think the show was past its peak.

Compare this to the next season where it was announced at the beginning that Family Ties was ending and that we all knew the big finale was coming for it, and it was a must-see event. Granted, Family Ties was bigger than FOL and Michael J. Fox in particular was a bigger star than any of the Facts cast (not counting Clooney who after FOL did a year of Roseanne and a few other shows before landing on ER and becoming a big star some ten years later) but you spent a season knowing Family Ties was wrapping up at the end of the year and it had a brilliant send-off, compared to the haphazard phoned in FOL finale we had. Nancy and Mindy both wanted it to end so that should've given NBC ample time to build up for a grand Facts finale and send the show out with grace.

[faraj]

Originally Posted by thebigcookie

I think I remember reading somewhere that they had originally planned for a 10th season but most of the cast wasn't interested in coming back for it so they ended it after nine seasons.

I can't say I blame them since everybody seemed to be getting tired.