The Facts of Life: The Complete First and Second Seasons

The Facts of Life is an object lesson on how a TV series could mature from awkward adolescence into one of the most beloved of its era, even if only as a guilty pleasure. Spun off from the top-rated Diff'rent Strokes, the series transplanted housekeeper Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) to the all-girl Eastland School, where she became housemother to a group of adolescents. The 1979-80 first season featured an overcrowded ensemble that even included a pixyish young Molly Ringwald (and look for Helen Hunt as a pot-smoking student in the episode “Dope”). Of the original cast, only Lisa Whelchel, as the beautiful and spoiled Blair; Mindy Cohn as jolly, self-deprecating Natalie; and Kim Fields as precocious gossip Tootie graduated to the second season. To their credit, several of the first season castoffs, including Felice Schachter and Julie Piekarski, graciously appear in the DVD bonus featurette, "Remembering The Facts of Life." In fact, the show really takes off in the two-part episode that opens the second season: "The New Girl," which introduces Nancy McKeon as tough-talking, motorcycle-riding rebel Jo—an excellent comic counterpoint to the pampered Blair. Jo makes a memorable first impression by hot-wiring the school van and taking the girls on a joyride to the Chug-a-Lug bar (“She's a breath of fresh air, isn't she?” Natalie asks tongue-in-cheek). The Facts of Life tackles a fair share of adolescent issues, including adoption, gossip, shoplifting, sex, peer pressure, and suicide; and in the memorable episode “Cousin Geri,” Blair seems to be embarrassed by her visiting cousin (Geri Jewell), an aspiring comedian who has cerebral palsy. Of course, there was no problem or conflict that couldn't be reassuringly resolved by the final freeze frame. The 1980-81 second-season episodes get higher marks than the first season's; but, as the generation-defining theme song teaches us, "You take the good / You take the bad / You take them both / And there you have The Facts of Life." A strong optional purchase. (D. Liebenson)