F
Facts of Life, The
Identification Television comedy series
Date Aired from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988
The Facts of Lifecentered on the adolescent experiences of a
group of girls attending a private boarding school. It offered
archetypes and role models for female teens of the decade.
The Facts of Lifebegan as a summer offering at the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1979, and
in early 1980 the network decided to bring the pro-
gram back as a regular series. It was a spin-off of the
hitDiff’rent Strokes(1979-1986) and featured that
show’s housekeeper, Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae),
as the housemother at Eastland Academy, a private
boarding school for girls in upstate New York. The
first season’s regular cast included seven students, but
the cast was too cluttered for a half-hour show, and in
the second season only four students were regular
characters. (One of the girls written out of the show
at the beginning of the second season was Molly
Ringwald, who went on to become a top teen film star
of the decade.) The sitcom’s setting also shifted
slightly in the second season, from the dormitory liv-
ing room to the campus cafeteria and student lounge,
as the focus narrowed to the four Eastland Academy
students who lived with and worked for Mrs. Garrett,
who became the school’s dietician.
The four featured student roles included Blair,
the spoiled rich girl; Natalie, the perky heavy-set girl;
Tootie, the naïve younger African American girl;
and a new character, Jo, the tough working-class girl
on a scholarship. The seasons rolled by, and as the
four girls aged and graduated, they continued to live
and work with Mrs. Garrett, running a bakery that
then became a gift shop. George Clooney, at the
time unknown, joined the cast in a supporting role
in 1985; Rae left the series in 1986, replaced by Cloris
Leachman as Mrs. Garrett’s sister Beverly Ann.
The infectious music of the theme song was light-
hearted and welcoming, while the lyrics reminded
viewers that “the facts of life are all about you.” Posi-
tive self-worth and self-realization were regularly
stressed in the characters’ experiences, but the stu-
dents were also allowed material comforts and some
glamorous travel. TheFacts of Lifegirls had interna-
tional adventures in two feature-length made-for-
television movies:The Facts of Life Goes to Paris(1982)
andThe Facts of Life Down Under(1987). As the series
went on, the young women blossomed: Blair found
compassion, Jo developed confidence, Tootie grew
shapely, and the bookish Natalie—in a ratings ploy—
was the first to lose her virginity.Impact The Facts of Lifecreated four memorable
characters in Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie. Adoles-
cent and preteen girls in the 1980’s could select any
one of the four as the one they most identified
with, and through regular viewing of the series, they
would see their favorite triumph in positive ways,
while learning to live in harmony with other young
women under the guidance of an older, wiser matri-
arch.Further Reading
Dalton, Mary M., and Laura R. Linder, eds.The Sit-
com Reader: America Viewed and Skewed.Albany:
State University of New York Press, 2005.
Winzenburg, Stephen M.TV’s Greatest Sitcoms.Fred-
erick, Md.: PublishAmerica, 2004.
Scot M. GuenterSee also Brat Pack in acting;Golden Girls, The; Sit-
coms; Television.Fads
Definition Widely popular but short-lived
fashions, entertainments, and productsThe material culture of the 1980’s produced many fads, as
consumers willing to spend money on new products, diets,
and fashions found themselves chasing the “next big thing”
throughout the decade.