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The Facts of Life
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'The Facts Of Life': 9 Essential Episodes Of The Beloved '80s Sitcom
It’s been said many times over the past four decades, but it always bears repeating: you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have The Facts of Life.
Although it ran for nine seasons, accrued 200 episodes, and featured seasons revolving around a catering business as well as a novelty shop, it’s fair to say that the series is best remembered for the show it was when it first began: the story of a collective of girls at Eastland Academy in Peekskill, New York. Even if you never watched the show, you still know the girls’ names – Blair (Lisa Whelchel), Natalie (Mindy Cohn), Tootie (Kim Fields), and Jo (Nancy McKeon) – and you’ll never, ever forget their mentor, Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae).
If you grew up in the ‘80s, then there’s a decent chance that you actually did learn some of the facts of life from The Facts of Life, and even though it’s been off the air for 33 freaking years, it’s never really gone away, thanks to the wonders of syndication, home video, and streaming services (Pluto TV has got the first two seasons, but the other seasons are only available to rent). Indeed, if anything, the series has just gotten the biggest boost in profile that it’s seen in recent memory, thanks the latest installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience. As such, here are nine episodes which provide you a look back at some of the key installments of the series as well as some reasons as to why they continue to remain so memorable.
“Rough Housing” (Season 1 Episode 1)
Original Airdate: 8/24/1979
It may surprise to learn that this first episode of the series wasn’t actually the pilot: that honor goes to “The Girls School / Garrett’s Girls,” the season one finale of Diff’rent Strokes, which introduces the Eastland Academy and its students, setting up Mrs. Garrett’s departure from the Drummond family’s employ, and her new job as a house mother at the school. Here, though, you get cameos by Arnold, Willis, Kimberly, and Mr. Drummond as a way of torch-passing, as well as brief introductions to the show’s seven – yes, seven – main girls, headmaster Mr. Bradley (John Lawlor), and new teacher Emily Mahoney (Jenny O’Hara). By the beginning of season two, Mrs. Garrett would be the only adult serving as a series regular, and four of the girls – including a young upstart named Molly Ringwald – would be kicked to the curb, leaving only the core trio of Blair, Natalie, and Tootie.
“The New Girl – Pts. 1 & 2” (Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2)
Original Airdates: 11/19/1980 & 11/26/1980
“She’s a breath of fresh air, isn’t she?” That’s how Natalie describes Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon) only a few minutes after she’s introduced in the season two premiere, and although it’s delivered as a punchline, she’s not wrong: in the midst of a school filled with upper-class girls, Jo’s from the streets. She’s a tough girl, unabashedly uncouth, and unafraid to break the rules. Unfortunately, it’s that latter trait which results in Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie all having to work in the Eastland cafeteria to avoid expulsion, setting up the series dynamic for this and the subsequent two seasons.
“Breaking Point” (Season 2 Episode 10)
Original Airdate: 1/28/1980
Blair is depressed after finding out that she’s lost her run for student council president to Cynthia, a girl who’s been at Eastland for only a year. Only a day after the election, however, Tootie finds Cynthia unresponsive in her room, a bottle of pills by her bedside. This leads to the girls having a very serious conversation about suicide and depression, and while there are still occasional laughs here and there, this is one of those episodes that holds up well for all the wrong reasons, which is to say that it’s still all too relevant 40 years later.
“The Secret” (Season 2 Episode 12)
Original Airdate: 2/25/1981
Immediately after learning that she’s won the award for Best New Student, Jo gets a letter from her estranged father (Alex Rocco), who’s been behind bars for the past several years. After Mrs. Garrett talks her into visiting him in prison, Jo plans to tell him that she never wants to see him again, but he surprises her by having tried to turn himself around and asks her if she’ll give him another chance. She does, thankfully, and it’s the first of several appearances by Rocco on the series, who never fails to liven things up when he stops by.
“Runaway” (Season 3 Episode 18)
Original Airdate: 2/24/1982
Tootie’s naivete is on full display in this episode, which finds her defying her father and taking the train solo into New York City to meet Blair, Jo, and Natalie at the play they’re planning to attend. Unfortunately, the play ends up being sold out and Tootie ends up on her own at a diner across the street from the theater. Even more unfortunately, she meets up with a teenage prostitute named Kristy (Tammy Lauren) whose pimp decides that Tootie’s “got the look” to be one of his girls. It’s ‘80s sitcom melodrama of the highest order, and it’s delicious.
“Kids Can Be Cruel” (Season 3 Episode 20)
Original Airdate: 3/17/1982
If you watched the latest installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, you’ll recognize this as the very Facts of Life episode that they performed. It’s an episode that gives Natalie and Blair an opportunity to square off against each other, with Blair embarrassing Natalie by telling Natalie’s crush that she likes him and Natalie getting revenge by ruining Blair’s plans for her boyfriend to win a luncheon auction by steering unpopular Rocky Carroll (Dan Frischman, who later went on to be cast as Arvid on the original Head of the Class) into winning the auction instead. One big difference: here, Rocky’s problem isn’t headgear, it’s acne!
“A Death in the Family” (Season 5 Episode 17)
Original Airdate: 1/1/1984
What starts as a seemingly innocuous episode about the girls and Mrs. Garrett planning a float for an upcoming parade abruptly turns tragic when Natalie gets a phone call telling her that her father has died. The episode provides an interesting look into how the other girls deal with death hitting so close to their circle of friends – Tootie in particular, since not only did she know Natalie’s dad, but she’s never lost a family member herself – but Mindy Cohn is the star of the show as Natalie desperately avoids grieving until she finally accepts that he’s really, truly gone.
“Out of the Fire / Into the Frying Pan” (Season 7 Episodes 1 & 2)
Original Airdates: 9/14/1985 & 9/21/1985
After spending seasons five and six focused around Mrs. Garrett’s catering business, Edna’s Edibles, season seven finds the girls returning home after their summer vacation to find that the home and business they share with Mrs. G has been seriously damaged by a fire. In part one, which – true story – was written by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis, they survey the damage and decide to rebuild and start anew, along with the help of new series regular Mackenzie Astin as loveable rapscallion Andy Moffatt, but it’s in part two that we first meet – wait for it – George Clooney as contractor George Burnett.
“The First Time” (Season 9 Episode 16)
Original Airdate: 2/6/1988
“Because of the subject matter, parents may wish to view tonight’s episode of FACTS OF LIFE with their children.” So intones the voice at the beginning of this installment from the show’s final season, and it’s a fair cop: Natalie celebrates her first anniversary with her boyfriend Snake by losing her virginity. Fun fact: Snake is played by Richard Romanus, who famously deflowered Jennifer Jason Leigh in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As such, it really shouldn’t come as any surprise when Snake goes off the radar in the wake of their “celebration,” causing Natalie to second-guess her decision to go all the way. In closing, it’s worth a mention that this episode provides an opportunity to experience the Cloris Leachman era of the series: she plays Mrs. Garrett’s sister and stepped in at the beginning of season eight, when Mrs. Garrett got married and Charlotte Rae left the show.
