History Series / TheFactsofLife

* NotWhatItLooksLike: PlayedForDrama in "We Get Letters". Mrs. Garrett's lifelong friend accuses her of having an affair with her late husband by confronting her with the "love letters" he purportedly wrote her. It turned out that he was a writer who specialized in poetry which the wife did not care for [[FreudianExcuse namely because her own father was a failed writer who usually left the family broke]] and he wrote Edna love poetry for ''his wife'' to gage her reaction, leading to the misunderstanding that Mrs. Garrett was eventually able to clear up and retain the friendship. Unfortunately, Andy overheard everything out of context and told everyone what happened, leading to the others starting to look down on her and in particular Natalie, who [[CallBack was still angry over her father's affair from several seasons back,]] angrily confronting her about the misunderstanding. [[KarmaHoudini Andy never ends up apologizing for his mistake or informing the others the truth.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its looking directly at the camera. [[spoiler:Implying she's {{Faking the Dead}}]]

* BadassBystander: The diner waitress Bernice is the reason Tootie didn't end up a teen prostitute in "Runaway". She's not only able to secretly warn Tootie what Tootie's new New York "friends" have planned for her, they never find out it was her that made Tootie changer her mind.

** In fact, there were no fewer than ''six'' attempted spinoffs over the course of the show: beyond the aforementioned ones featuring Tootie's mixed-marriage aunt and uncle ("Brian and Sylvia") and Blair as a headmistress ("The Beginning of the End"), there was "The Academy" (about four military academy cadets who were pretty much the girls' male alter egos), the cadets would then get a rare second attempt with the episode "The Big Fight", "Jo's Cousin" (which is self-explanatory), "Rumor Has It" (featuring Blair's law professor), and "Big Apple Blues" (in which Natalie joins up with a bunch of wacky twentysomethings trying to make it in New York City). Not a single one of these turned into a series.

** In Season 5, after Blair and Jo graduate from Eastland, the whole main setting changes to a store Mrs. Garett obtains called Edna's Edibles, and introduce a CousinOliver in the form of Kelly, a punk kid. Season 6 replaces her with Andy, an orphan and employee.

** Over Our Heads. In the shows's final season, the writers shifted the focus to the girls' personal and professional lives outside of the store (Blair was in law school, Jo worked at a shelter, Natalie was now a professional journalist, and Tootie got engaged) and as a result all the action now took place entirely in the house, including a new kitchen set, and the store rarely getting mentioned. Towards the end of the season, Beverly Ann decides to close the store, and convert the commercial space into separate bedrooms for Andy and Pippa.[[note]]Since they both moved into the house (the former after Beverly Ann decided to adopt him in Season 8, the latter after Beverly Ann reached an agreement with her dad to enroll her at Eastland after being found to have used another exchange student's scholarship to leave Australia), Andy had been living in the basement, while Pippa had been sleeping on couches or empty beds in the house.[[/note]]

** Over Our Heads. In the shows's final season, the writers shifted the focus to the girls' personal and professional lives outside of the store (Blair was in law school, Jo worked at a shelter, Natalie was now a professional journalist, and Tootie got engaged) and as a result all the action now took place entirely in the house, including a new kitchen set, and the store rarely getting mentioned. Towards the end of the season, Beverly Ann decides to close the store, and convert the commercial space into separate bedrooms for Andy and Pippa.[[note]]Since they both moved into the house (the former after Beverly Ann decided to adopt him in Season 8, the latter after Beverly Ann agreed to enroll her at Eastland as an exchange student after using another student's scholarship to leave Australia), Andy had been living in the basement, while Pippa had been sleeping on couches or empty beds in the house.[[/note]]

** Over Our Heads. In the shows's final season, the writers shifted the focus to the girls' personal and professional lives outside of the store (Blair was in law school, Jo worked at a shelter, Natalie was now a professional journalist, and Tootie got engaged) and as a result all the action now took place entirely in the house, including a new kitchen set, and the store rarely getting mentioned. Towards the end of the season, Beverly Ann decides to close the store, and convert the commercial space into separate bedrooms for Andy and Pippa.[[note]]Since they both moved into the house (the former after Beverly Ann decided to adopt him, the latter after Beverly Ann agreed to enroll her at Eastland as an exchange student after using another student's scholarship to leave Australia), Andy had been living in the basement, while Pippa had been sleeping on couches or empty beds in the house.[[/note]]

** Over Our Heads. In the shows's final season, the writers shifted the focus to the girls' personal and professional lives outside of the store (Blair was in law school, Jo worked at a shelter, Natalie was now a professional journalist, and Tootie got engaged) and as a result all the action now took place entirely in the house, including a new kitchen set, and the store rarely getting mentioned.

** Which becomes [[HilariousInHindsight rather bizarre]], considering that Lisa Whelchel (actress playing Blair) is a devout Christian.

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* BreakTheCutie: happens A LOT, typically in a VerySpecialEpisode focusing on one character.

%%* CelebrityLie:

** The episode "With a Little Help From My Friends" has Blair and her boyfriend, Cliff, missing a double date with Jo and her squeeze because the former's boyfriend is waiting up for a drug dealer. She tries to convince him to stop, but the episode ends with her locking him out of Edna's Edibles for the night and him still waiting for the man.

* DrivenToSuicide: Several episodes deal with teen suicide, most notably Season 2's "Breaking Point," where a rival of Blair's commits suicide, and all her petty jealousies no longer are important. (The girl, Cynthia, had beaten Blair for class president and was the daughter of a foreign diplomat.) In the end, Blair and her classmates figure out that for everything Cynthia had going for her, she had many demons -- her parents were in the middle of an ugly divorce, because of her father's job she never stayed in one place more than a year or so, and she suffered from depression -- and they realize that one never really knows what troubles the other may be going through. [[note]](In the end, Blair -- who assumes the class presidency (albeit in a way she never wanted to get the honor) -- and the other girls resolve to set up a suicide prevention hotline for Eastland.)[[/note]]

%%* LovableAlphaBitch: Blair, see RichBitch.

* RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts: Would you believe ''this'' is the TropeNamer? Good thing it was AllJustADream, because the entire group died.

* WhosWatchingTheStore: By seasons 8 and 9, the girls are rarely ever seen working there...despite continuing to live right upstairs.

* ReplacementFlatCharacter: In "New York, New York," Jo and Blair visit their old friends back home. Blair hangs out with Dina Becker, who is an even bigger RichBitch, ''without'' a heart of gold, who doesn't lift a finger and [[NiceToTheWaiter horribly mistreats her cook]]. Jo meets up with Jesse, [[{{TheLadette}} a friend from the old neighborhood]] who is cruel to the elderly and [[{{TroubledSympatheticBigot}} rampantly hispanophobic]]. By the end, Jo and Blair appreciate their friendship with each other a lot more.

** In fact, there were no fewer than ''six'' attempted spinoffs over the course of the show: beyond the aforementioned ones featuring Tootie's mixed-marriage aunt and uncle ("Brian and Sylvia") and Blair as a headmistress ("The Beginning of the End"), there was "The Academy" (about four military academy guys who were pretty much the girls' male alter egos), "Jo's Cousin" (which is self-explanatory), "Rumor Has It" (featuring Blair's law professor), and "Big Apple Blues" (in which Natalie joins up with a bunch of wacky twentysomethings trying to make it in New York City). Not a single one of these turned into a series.

-->- The theme song (the first verse), written by Alan Thicke and sung by Gloria Loring

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: As noted above, the first season had a large ensemble cast of girls. The second season eliminated half of the girls, eliminated Mr. Bradley the headmaster, and added Nancy [=McKeon=] as Jo. The show also introduced a lot more somber VerySpecialEpisode and there was also a lot less {{Fanservice}} than before (see that entry below).

* KillEmAll: "Seven Little Indians"[[spoiler: good thing it's AllJustADream]]

* Lighter and Softer: By Season 6, the show started focusing less on serious issues and more on the girls as they were evolving as well as having more slapstick episodes.

* VerySpecialEpisode: A never ending supply of them, really.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its looking directly at the camera. [[Implying she's {{Faking the Dead}}]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its looking directly at the camera. Implying she's {{Faking the Dead}}

* Foreshadowing: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its looking directly at the camera. Implying she's Faking the Dead

* Foreshadowing: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we see can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its looking directly at the camera. Implying she's Faking the Dead

* Foreshadowing: In "Seven Little Indians", after Tootie,Jo,and Beverly Ann discover Blair when ,she's been moussed to death, the scene ends with a close up of her. Though her back is turned to the audience, we see can see her reflection in the mirror she's holding, its lookin directly at the camera. Implying she's Faking the Dead