You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have... The Facts of Life.
Long-running
Sit Com and
teen drama (1979-1988) about the heartwarming adventures of a group of female students. Initially they were students at a boarding school.In later seasons, they went to college and beyond, but kept living together under the watchful eye of Mrs. Garrett, formerly of
Diff'rent Strokes (and, in later seasons, her
Jonas Quinn sister, played by Cloris Leachman).
During its first season, the show had a large ensemble of girls, including a very young Molly Ringwald. Starting with its second season, though, the show was
retooled. The mob was
thinned down to four "core" girls, and almost nothing was ever seen again of their schoolmates.
The central girls after the first season were:
The show aired long enough to use just about every
Sit Com trope in existence, including Blair's
Inspirationally Disadvantaged cousin Gerri, who had cerebral palsy, and many
Very Special Episodes. A
reunion movie, featuring the entire cast except for Nancy McKeon's Jo, aired in 2001.
This show provides examples of:
- Attempted Rape: Natalie.
- Aw Look They Really Do Love Each Other: Blair and Jo have many of these moments when they stop sniping. Blair nearly punches out a guy who assaulted Jo. Blair secretly helps Jo get a scholarship so that she can stay in school. Jo replaces a childhood toy of Blair's after it is ruined. Jo jumps to her defense after a disgruntled wife accuses Blair of sleeping with her husband. Blair skips a ski trip to spend Christmas with Jo, etc., etc.
- Biker Babe: Jo, right down to the Samus Is A Girl moment when she pulls off her helmet to reveal that she is, in fact, a girl.
- Boarding School: Eastland is a boarding school for girls, and the first half of the series takes place there.
- Brother Chuck: The other students and faculty from season one were never seen again.
- Catch Phrase: Blair - "I just had another one of my brilliant ideas!"; Tootie - "Oooh, they're in troou-ble!"
- The Celebrity Lie
- Celebrity Star: One example being Eve Plumb, formerly of the Brady Bunch.
- Clip Show: Several of them.
- Cousin Oliver: Andy, the foster kid, and Pippa, the Austrlian exchange student. Kelly, a latchkey thug living down the street, was a temporary Cousin Oliver.
- The Danza: In a weird sideways manner. The character "Natalie" was based on Mindy Cohn, who at the time was not an actress but a student at a school the producers visited for ideas and inspiration. She was invited to audition, and ended up cast essentially as herself.
- Date Rape Averted: Jo, who managed to fight her way out in the nick of time.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jo and Natalie.
- Dont You Dare Pity Me: Jo reacts with hostility every time someone attempts to take pity on her due to her poor upbringing.
- The Eighties: Pretty much one of the definitive shows of the 1980's, so it's impossible to avoid 80's nostalgia and/or horror.
- Eighties Hair: And how. Started out okay, but we ended up with more poof than a Whitesnake concert. There were mullets. On WOMEN.
- Everythings Better With Princesses: Temporary character Alex was a European princess.
- Foe Yay: A good number of fans see this in Jo and Blair due to the... interesting chemistry that sometimes shows up during their fighting.
- Happily Adopted: Natalie. She finds her birth mother in one of the earlier seasons, but still happily considers her adopted family her 'real' family.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Blair and Jo are a textbook example, right down to having dialogue that could be effortlessly be used by a genuine old married couple.
- Hollywood Atheist: Blair is an atheist for most, if not all, of the series. Arguably ends when her sister is born.
- Which become rather bizarre remembering Lisa Whelchel (actress playing Blair) is a devout Christian.
- Hollywood Pudgy: Joan Rivers infamously dubbed the cast members "The Fats of Life" following an appearance at the Emmys one year.
- Inept Aptitude Test
- Informed Judaism: Natalie. It only comes up once or twice.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Blair's cousin Geri, who has cerebral palsy.
- Intrepid Reporter: Natalie aspires to become a journalist. Many episodes feature her talking about her latest scoop.
- Jonas Quinn: Beverly Ann, who replaces Mrs. Garret as the girl's denmother/landlady.
- Lampshade Hanging: Done in a late season episode when Tootie digs up and shows off the rollerskates that were her trademark in the first season.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Blair, whose snotty behavior tends to cover up her deep seated parental abandonment issues. She has few real friends outside of the main cast.
- The Movie: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris; The Facts of Life Down Under - both made for TV)
- Nakama: The main cast is essentially this due to the fact that they seldom see their real families or have trouble at home.
- New Transfer Student: Pippa, who is from Australia. Also Alex, the princess of something-in-Europe. Miko was a temporary Japanese exchange student.
- Not Blood Siblings: Blair and her former stepsister (portrayed by Eve Plumb) are not actually related but treat each other as genuine siblings.
- Parental Substitute: Mrs. Garrett serves as this to most of the girls. Beverly Ann fills this role when Mrs. Garrett leaves the show, but to a lesser extent.
- Perpetual Poverty: Much is made of Jo's poverty for most of the show.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: Several, including one featuring Tootie's aunt and uncle, and another at the end of the series setting up Blair as the new headmistress of the school. In addition, the show itself started as a Poorly Disguised Pilot.
- Pretty In Mink: Blair possesses about a zoo's worth of fur coats.
- Prince Charming: Blair's steady boyfriend Cliff is a modern version of this, but she ends up falling out of love with him for an unknown reason and calls the relationship off.
- Promotion To Parent: Blair acts as a surrogate parent to her little sister, who is born when Blair is 20-something. Also acted as birth coach for her mother.
- Reunion Show
- Rich Bitch: Blair, although she's the rare heart-of-gold subtype.
- The Rival: Blair and Jo are this to each other.
- Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts: One episode has the entire group killed in this manner. Fortunately for them it was All Just A Dream.
- Stalker With A Crush: Roy has a crush on Jo, although this is a comedic version of the trope. Still creepy.
- Shoot The Money
- Tear Jerker: Many moments. Jo's were especially tear-worthy.
- The Stool Pigeon: This was Tootie's primary function for the early seasons, and she retains it to a lesser extent as an adult. Combine her with Natalie and you get Gossipy Hens.
- Their First Time: One popular episode in a later season involved Natalie choosing to have sex with her boyfriend for the first time.
- Token Minority: Tootie, who is drowning in a sea of white people. Also Natalie, who seems to be the only Jewish member of the show.
- Tomboy And Girly Girl: Jo and Blair
- Troubled But Cute: Jo, in a rare female example.
- Tsundere: Jo reacts with hostility every time she is accused of having a 'sensitive side.' This dies down in the last seasons.
- Very Special Episode: A never ending supply of them, really.
- Visit By Divorced Dad: Jo has a couple of these after he's released from prison. Blair also has one or two.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Jo and Blair spend most of their time sniping at each other, but they are actually best friends and will jump to the other's defense in a heartbeat.
- Zany Scheme: Well, it IS a sitcom.
