Your Opionions of the Facts of Life Pilot "The Girls School) on Diff'rent Strokes - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Sean Snow · 06-05-2001, 11:09 AM

I thought it was great seeing this episode. You see those Eastlake t-shirts and alot of the original cast...and Blair smoking. I hope they show it once more on the DS Thursdays so I can tape it.
Also, I liked Mr. Crocker.

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Jack: I'm surprised at you. Where would all the great women of history be if they thought like that!? Look at Joan of Ark and wht she accomplished. And, and Florence Nightengale and Madam Curry.
Chrissy: And Lucretia Borzok.
Janet: She posioned people.
Chrissy: Yeah, but she was very goo at it.

callmetootie · 06-05-2001, 11:16 AM

I thought it was so-so. It would have been way better with Mr. Bradley, Natalie, Cindy, and Miss. Mahoney, and Arnold and Willis weren't in it too much. Sue-Ann was way better in this though.

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Andrew Carden

TVaddict · 06-05-2001, 11:24 AM

I agree with callmetootie. All they basically showed was a big mess of girls screaming. Although we did finally get that little Nancy storyline we always waited for. You know, something that didn't involve Roger. One other thing I was wondering though, why didn't Sue Ann put on some more clothes at all? Oh, and I know one board patron who's going to be upset if he missed it considering Blair's shorts last night. Yikes.

TJ · 06-05-2001, 12:07 PM

The pilot episode was perhaps the weakest episode compared with any of the 1st season episodes. It makes you wonder how NBC could even pick it up, that just shows how desperate they were for programming back then. The pilot episode for Diff'rent Strokes was so much funnier and you can see how it became an instant hit and it took major changes to FOL for it to really take off.

TV Guy · 06-05-2001, 02:56 PM

I agree with you, TJ. The pilot was really terrible, worse than any of the first season shows. The headmaster was a ridiculous character -- would they really hire someone like that to run a school? Less credible than Mr. Bradley, if you can believe that's possible. Oh, and let's have the play rehearsal in the dorm, rather than the auditorium, because we're too cheap to build an extra set. Molly was even more annoying than ususal. How this ever got picked up as a regular series, I'll never know.

That said, they could probably package the pilot, a first season episode, and a second season episode for some TV production class, to demostrate how the concept was refined into a successful series.

buzzing blair · 06-05-2001, 03:25 PM

god tootie looked weird, anyway i didn't like the show that much, and i thought blair was suppose to play the guitair

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grandpa?

JoRoX4EvEr2411 · 06-05-2001, 03:25 PM

i thought Blair looked really pretty in this episode...i lovedddddddddddddd her hair!!!!

the episode was overall pretty good too...

Sean Snow · 06-05-2001, 03:37 PM

Yeah, Tootie was UGLY!

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Jack: I'm surprised at you. Where would all the great women of history be if they thought like that!? Look at Joan of Ark and wht she accomplished. And, and Florence Nightengale and Madam Curry.
Chrissy: And Lucretia Borzok.
Janet: She posioned people.
Chrissy: Yeah, but she was very goo at it.

06-05-2001, 04:14 PM

It was different. I liked seeing that other side of Blair for a change.

vienna waits · 06-05-2001, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Snow:
Yeah, Tootie was UGLY!

She wasn't ugly. She was just a little girl. She wasn't supposed to be hot.

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-Jeff-

Check out my site @
http://www.homestead.com/jeffsfactsoflife/jeffsfactsoflife.html

DarleneIllyria · 06-05-2001, 05:13 PM

I've been watching the DS marathon so far and think it is good show. Saw the FOL pilot last night and Tootie just got on my nerves with those skates! I swear somebody should've ripped the skates off of her feet and throw em out the window. How many times did she bump into Crocker???

06-05-2001, 05:47 PM

Did anyone notice "Jennifer" (portrayed by Jennifer Rooney) in the episode? She must have been the one to get the boot after Mindy Cohn was hired.

It's funny how Nancy's character was set up to be the MAIN character in this episode by far. Little did we know she would all but disappear (for all practical purposes) after a single season... Blair's seeming promiscuity is quite surprising in this episode considering how goody-goody she is for the rest of the series, and seeing how Lisa Whelchel vehemently opposed having anything to do with the "sex" episode, I'm surprised she let her character be portrayed so negatively in the pilot. If the "pilot Blair" had been carried into the regular series, the "sex" episode would have occurred a lot sooner than 1986!

I definitely missed Natalie though.

NancyRox11 · 06-05-2001, 05:54 PM

I thought that the show was ok. I mean, it wasn't the best, and it wasn't the worst, it was in between.

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Jo: So things change. You're born, ya move on, ya die, that's life.
Tootie: They're so perfect for each other!
Jo: Yeah, she makes peoples sick and he cures them.
Blair: The moon was but a chin of gold a night or two ago. And now she turns her perfect face upon the world below. The Moon. Emily Dickinson.
Jo: It’s freezing. Jo Polniaczek

80skid · 06-05-2001, 07:49 PM

I know it's a kind of weird thing to ponder, but just imagine... what if, throughout the FOL run, Blair kept that bad-girl, smoking attitude, and you throw Jo in? That would be some classic Blair and Jo!

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Love is patient and kind, it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil but with the truth. Love never gives up, and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.

"There's a difference between being short and vertically challenged. I'm vertically challenged!"

TVaddict · 06-05-2001, 08:20 PM

Interesting thought, 80skid. IMO, if Blair had acted that way and Jo came in, they probably would've been enough of a bad influence on one another that they would've gotten into a lot of trouble and probably eventually thrown out of school. Wouldn't THAT have made for a short series.

06-05-2001, 11:09 AM	#1
Sean Snow moo Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,408	Your Opionions of the Facts of Life Pilot "The Girls School) on Diff'rent Strokes I thought it was great seeing this episode. You see those Eastlake t-shirts and alot of the original cast...and Blair smoking. I hope they show it once more on the DS Thursdays so I can tape it. Also, I liked Mr. Crocker. ------------------ Jack: I'm surprised at you. Where would all the great women of history be if they thought like that!? Look at Joan of Ark and wht she accomplished. And, and Florence Nightengale and Madam Curry. Chrissy: And Lucretia Borzok. Janet: She posioned people. Chrissy: Yeah, but she was very goo at it.

06-05-2001, 04:14 PM	#9
ILuvJo&Blair Guest Posts: n/a	It was different. I liked seeing that other side of Blair for a change.
ILuvJo&Blair Guest Posts: n/a

06-05-2001, 05:47 PM	#12
mjwise Guest Posts: n/a	Did anyone notice "Jennifer" (portrayed by Jennifer Rooney) in the episode? She must have been the one to get the boot after Mindy Cohn was hired. It's funny how Nancy's character was set up to be the MAIN character in this episode by far. Little did we know she would all but disappear (for all practical purposes) after a single season... Blair's seeming promiscuity is quite surprising in this episode considering how goody-goody she is for the rest of the series, and seeing how Lisa Whelchel vehemently opposed having anything to do with the "sex" episode, I'm surprised she let her character be portrayed so negatively in the pilot. If the "pilot Blair" had been carried into the regular series, the "sex" episode would have occurred a lot sooner than 1986! I definitely missed Natalie though.
mjwise Guest Posts: n/a

06-05-2001, 11:16 AM	#2
callmetootie Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 06, 2001 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 4,768	I thought it was so-so. It would have been way better with Mr. Bradley, Natalie, Cindy, and Miss. Mahoney, and Arnold and Willis weren't in it too much. Sue-Ann was way better in this though. ------------------ Andrew Carden

06-05-2001, 11:24 AM	#3
TVaddict Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 30, 2000 Location: NH Posts: 562	I agree with callmetootie. All they basically showed was a big mess of girls screaming. Although we did finally get that little Nancy storyline we always waited for. You know, something that didn't involve Roger. One other thing I was wondering though, why didn't Sue Ann put on some more clothes at all? Oh, and I know one board patron who's going to be upset if he missed it considering Blair's shorts last night. Yikes.

06-05-2001, 12:07 PM	#4
TJ Site Owner Administrator Forum Star Join Date: Feb 03, 2000 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 10,683	The pilot episode was perhaps the weakest episode compared with any of the 1st season episodes. It makes you wonder how NBC could even pick it up, that just shows how desperate they were for programming back then. The pilot episode for Diff'rent Strokes was so much funnier and you can see how it became an instant hit and it took major changes to FOL for it to really take off.

06-05-2001, 02:56 PM	#5
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	I agree with you, TJ. The pilot was really terrible, worse than any of the first season shows. The headmaster was a ridiculous character -- would they really hire someone like that to run a school? Less credible than Mr. Bradley, if you can believe that's possible. Oh, and let's have the play rehearsal in the dorm, rather than the auditorium, because we're too cheap to build an extra set. Molly was even more annoying than ususal. How this ever got picked up as a regular series, I'll never know. That said, they could probably package the pilot, a first season episode, and a second season episode for some TV production class, to demostrate how the concept was refined into a successful series.

06-05-2001, 03:25 PM	#6
buzzing blair Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 26, 2001 Posts: 24	god tootie looked weird, anyway i didn't like the show that much, and i thought blair was suppose to play the guitair ------------------ grandpa?

06-05-2001, 03:25 PM	#7
JoRoX4EvEr2411 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 10, 2001 Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA Posts: 154	i thought Blair looked really pretty in this episode...i lovedddddddddddddd her hair!!!! the episode was overall pretty good too...

06-05-2001, 03:37 PM	#8
Sean Snow moo Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,408	Yeah, Tootie was UGLY! ------------------ Jack: I'm surprised at you. Where would all the great women of history be if they thought like that!? Look at Joan of Ark and wht she accomplished. And, and Florence Nightengale and Madam Curry. Chrissy: And Lucretia Borzok. Janet: She posioned people. Chrissy: Yeah, but she was very goo at it.

06-05-2001, 05:13 PM	#11
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	I've been watching the DS marathon so far and think it is good show. Saw the FOL pilot last night and Tootie just got on my nerves with those skates! I swear somebody should've ripped the skates off of her feet and throw em out the window. How many times did she bump into Crocker???

06-05-2001, 05:54 PM	#13
NancyRox11 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 27, 2001 Location: Novi, Mi. Posts: 171	I thought that the show was ok. I mean, it wasn't the best, and it wasn't the worst, it was in between. ------------------ Jo: So things change. You're born, ya move on, ya die, that's life. Tootie: They're so perfect for each other! Jo: Yeah, she makes peoples sick and he cures them. Blair: The moon was but a chin of gold a night or two ago. And now she turns her perfect face upon the world below. The Moon. Emily Dickinson. Jo: It’s freezing. Jo Polniaczek

06-05-2001, 07:49 PM	#14
80skid smile :) Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 18, 2000 Posts: 971	I know it's a kind of weird thing to ponder, but just imagine... what if, throughout the FOL run, Blair kept that bad-girl, smoking attitude, and you throw Jo in? That would be some classic Blair and Jo! ------------------ Love is patient and kind, it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil but with the truth. Love never gives up, and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. "There's a difference between being short and vertically challenged. I'm vertically challenged!"

06-05-2001, 08:20 PM	#15
TVaddict Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 30, 2000 Location: NH Posts: 562	Interesting thought, 80skid. IMO, if Blair had acted that way and Jo came in, they probably would've been enough of a bad influence on one another that they would've gotten into a lot of trouble and probably eventually thrown out of school. Wouldn't THAT have made for a short series.