Weirdest moment on The Facts of Life?

[RetroGuy2000]

What's your strangest moment on The Facts of Life?

For me, there are a few:

3. Sue Ann and Cindy disappear from the table, "Front Page". And disappear for five years!

2. Mr. Bradley suddenly ends up on the wrong side of his desk, "The Return of Mr. Garrett". Bad editing make this stand out, ever since '80sSitcoms pointed it out to me.

1. Mr. Parker crawls into the bushes, "Growing Pains". WTF?! The direction he goes makes no sense, and we can see him clearly ducking as he heads directly off the path and into the shrubbery.

[80s Dude]

The girls still living together after 8 years with the older ones well into adulthood.

Jo's marriage to Rick. Jo definitely was Rick's beard.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

The girls still living together after 8 years with the older ones well into adulthood.

This one I'm okay with. They tried living apart several times and didn't like it. At least it's addressed.

Jo's marriage to Rick. Jo definitely was Rick's beard.

Yeah, this was crazy. During the show's original run, I missed Jo's wedding episode. I was so confused with the episodes after that, because they had been married so suddenly.

Jo and Rick meet in January and are married in February. The writers had the opportunity to spread out an engagement over the season, but instead quickly wed Jo and Rick with little warning. I have no idea who would write like this.

[valentina warner]

The writers from the early seasons were obviously a lot better than the later ones that came afterwards: had the original ones remained, then we wouldn't have had BLAIR turning into a complete POD/CLOWN, JO wouldn't have married a complete stranger who had absolutely nothing in common with her, NAT wouldn't have suddenly moved out to join strange/weird people at Soho, and lastly, TOOTIE wouldn't have acted nonchalant and weird during the last phone call her best friend made (when NAT rang her on the very last episode) instead of babbling about going to England for her play, JEFF and so on, when she could have made the effort to chat a bit longer with the girl she had spend so many years with, and whom she had once called her sister soul.....

Comments on that one?

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

This one I'm okay with. They tried living apart several times and didn't like it. At least it's addressed.



Yeah, this was crazy. During the show's original run, I missed Jo's wedding episode. I was so confused with the episodes after that, because they had been married so suddenly.

Jo and Rick meet in January and are married in February. The writers had the opportunity to spread out an engagement over the season, but instead quickly wed Jo and Rick with little warning. I have no idea who would write like this.

Though off stage, Mindy wished the girls didn't live together as long as they did. She wanted them to start having their own lives and also not all be virgins.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by valentina warner

The writers from the early seasons were obviously a lot better than the later ones that came afterwards: had the original ones remained, then we wouldn't have had BLAIR turning into a complete POD/CLOWN, JO wouldn't have married a complete stranger who had absolutely nothing in common with her, NAT wouldn't have suddenly moved out to join strange/weird people at Soho, and lastly, TOOTIE wouldn't have acted nonchalant and weird during the last phone call her best friend made (when NAT rang her on the very last episode) instead of babbling about going to England for her play, JEFF and so on, when she could have made the effort to chat a bit longer with the girl she had spend so many years with, and whom she had once called her sister soul.....

Comments on that one?

Yeah, the later writers seemed to lose the thread. Not always, but often.

[Sitcommania]

I think it was in character for Natalie to move to Soho.

The Jo/Rick marriage made no sense.

I feel like they never settled on Tootie’s point of view. Why would she want to get engaged so young when she had been so focused on acting up to that point.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Sitcommania

I think it was in character for Natalie to move to Soho.

She definitely wanted to "find herself". But why away from her friends? People she's known for nine years?

The Jo/Rick marriage made no sense.

It is a head-scratcher, for sure. Maybe if Rick had been in more episodes, we would have seen a deeper connection between them. But they get married in just the third episode where he's seen, and we only see him once after that.

The age difference is also significant.

I feel like they never settled on Tootie’s point of view. Why would she want to get engaged so young when she had been so focused on acting up to that point.

Maybe so. I feel like Tootie's engagement is the most realistic plotline of the season. She had an on-going relationship with Jeff, and didn't just up and marry a guy she'd known for a couple of episodes.

[80s Dude]

Tootie was too young to get married. Complete college first, get a career and then get married.

A better scenario would be to have Blair and Cliff stay together and get married. Blair certainly was not going to be a competent lawyer.

[FOL-FAN-ITA]

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

- The girls in the same room during the EE seasons. Get another room!!

- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by FOL-FAN-ITA

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

- The girls in the same room during the EE seasons. Get another room!!

- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms

I don't think Mr. Garrett stayed in the girls room. He was teaching them poker there. Remember when Mr. Bradley confronts him and asks what he is doing in the girls room? I think Mr. Garrett stayed in a hotel. Probably one with a casino.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by FOL-FAN-ITA

- Cliff suddenly shows up and after several episodes he's gone.

Yeah, Cliff leaving and then coming back was weird. I believe the episodes were aired out of sequence.

- Another thing that is unrealistic. In the episode where Mr. Garrett arrives in Peekskill, he stays in the girls room. I don't think a boarding school in real life would allow a stranger in one of the dorms

As 80s dude says, I don't think he was staying at Eastland; he was just lurking there to find out what Mrs. Garrett's answer might be.

[FOL-FAN-ITA]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

I don't think Mr. Garrett stayed in the girls room. He was teaching them poker there. Remember when Mr. Bradley confronts him and asks what he is doing in the girls room? I think Mr. Garrett stayed in a hotel. Probably one with a casino.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

As 80s dude says, I don't think he was staying at Eastland; he was just lurking there to find out what Mrs. Garrett's answer might be.

Oh, no. I didn't mean he was staying at Eastland for the night, he would have been arrested, I believe .

I was just saying, aside from teaching them poker, I don't think he could have even entered the girls room, at least not in a real boarding school. But we all know Eastland sometimes can be a bizarre place

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by FOL-FAN-ITA

Oh, no. I didn't mean he was staying at Eastland for the night, he would have been arrested, I believe .

I was just saying, aside from teaching them poker, I don't think he could have even entered the girls room, at least not in a real boarding school. But we all know Eastland sometimes can be a bizarre place

Unless they had a guest room. They did have a guest room in Seasons 2 to 4 because Natalie's grandmother and Allison (who abandoned her baby) stayed in that.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Unless they had a guest room. They did have a guest room in Seasons 2 to 4 because Natalie's grandmother and Allison (who abandoned her baby) stayed in that.

I wonder if the guest room is beyond the door down the hall. If so, it's kind of odd that four girls had to be cramped into one room when there was a spare room right next door, also within feet of Mrs. Garrett's watchful eye.