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The Facts of Life
- 851 statements
- 168 feature instances
- 81 referencing feature instances
The Facts of Life | type |
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The Facts of Life | |
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The Facts of Life | comment |
A sitcom (with some teen drama elements) on NBC from 1979 to 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 Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae), formerly of Diff'rent Strokes, and in later seasons her Suspiciously Similar Substitute sister, Beverly Ann Stickle (Cloris Leachman).During its first season, the show had a large ensemble cast of seven girls, including one played by a very young Molly Ringwald. Starting in Season 2, though, the show was retooled. The cast was thinned down to four "core" girls, and almost nothing was ever seen again of their classmates. The canon reason for the cast change was that the four core girls were caught getting up to some illegal activities, and rather than expelling them the school placed them on probation by working with Mrs. Garrett in the cafeteria and sleeping in a spare room next to hers. Just go with it.The main girls after the first season were: Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), the Rich Bitch turned Lovable Alpha Bitch Funny but insecure Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn) Troubled, but Cute tomboy Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon) Tootie Ramsey (Kim Fields), the youngest gossip girl of the group (who lost her trademark rollerskates as part of the retool, but kept her braces and pigtails)The show aired long enough to use just about every Sitcom trope in existence, including Blair's Inspirationally Disadvantaged cousin Geri, 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. | |
The Facts of Life | fetched |
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Dropped link to Greed: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dropped link to SouthPacific: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dropped link to VerySpecialEpisode: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Facts of Life | isPartOf |
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The Facts of Life / int_10ca13e4 | type |
Stereotype Flip | |
The Facts of Life / int_10ca13e4 | comment |
Stereotype Flip: The writers had planned to have Blair lose her virginity to boost ratings. Lisa Whelchel decided not to go along with it because she couldn't reconcile premarital sex with her religious beliefs. Mindy Cohn, on the other hand, thought it was about time one of these women in their twenties be allowed to have sex, so she volunteered Natalie to be given the story line in Blair's place. So it was Funny fat girl Natalie who lost her virginity first rather than the more conventionally attractive and ultra-popular Blair. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_10dcbe05 | type |
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other | |
The Facts of Life / int_10dcbe05 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_130436b9 | type |
Annoying Younger Sibling | |
The Facts of Life / int_130436b9 | comment |
Annoying Younger Sibling: Tootie was treated like this in earlier seasons. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_13d7a65e | type |
The Artifact | |
The Facts of Life / int_13d7a65e | comment |
The Artifact: The girls having an adult care giver. It made sense in the early seasons since they were still kids and needed adult guidance from Mrs. Garrett. It made less sense once they became adults and there was still being cared for by Beverly Ann. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_14beeefd | type |
Darker and Edgier | |
The Facts of Life / int_14beeefd | comment |
Darker and Edgier: While there were some adult themes in Season 1, Season 2 is where the more darker storylines began to take shape. Season 3 in particular really puts the girls through the wringer as they face several dramatic situations such as Blair discovering her beloved grandfather and namesake was a member of the KKK, Tootie is almost kidnapped and turned into a prostitute, Jo ruins her teacher's life with a damaging school article only to discover after the fact that the man did nothing wrong, and Natalie is attacked and almost raped by a maniac while walking home from a Halloween Party. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_154aa477 | type |
Big, Screwed-Up Family | |
The Facts of Life / int_154aa477 | comment |
Big, Screwed-Up Family: Strongly downplayed with Blair; while not every member of her family is a mess, it's obvious that the early divorce of her parents and other behavior and learned secrets had a great affect on her. The divorce itself caused her to lose her faith in God to the point that she tried everything in her power to stop her stepsister from becoming a nun. Her father and paternal grandfather have their own demons that she was either horrified or heartbroken to discover; whereas the former's relationship with her is strongly tested by the revelations that he used her as a tax shelter and was guilty of insider trading and will have to do prison time, the latter, whom she was named after, was a grand wizard of The Klan. She also gains several stepmothers and stepfathers through both of her parents' many remarriages that left her groundedless and her mother's latest husband divorced her shortly after she told her daughter that she was pregnant with his child—and that he wasn't coming back. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_174ea6a7 | type |
The Dutiful Son | |
The Facts of Life / int_174ea6a7 | comment |
The Dutiful Son: Mrs. Garrett's son Raymond, the stuffy accountant who buys her the building for Edna's Edibles. Complete with Prodigal brother, Alex, an unsuccessful musician who was always asking for money. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_186c2c62 | type |
Diet Episode | |
The Facts of Life / int_186c2c62 | comment |
Diet Episode: In season 1 Sue Ann goes on a starvation diet for a date Blair fixed her up with. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_186c2c62 | |
The Facts of Life / int_18f2b2b | type |
Hypocritical Heartwarming | |
The Facts of Life / int_18f2b2b | comment |
Hypocritical Heartwarming: The girls frequently insult each other and think little of it, but as per True Companions, insulting one of them from outside the group is not a good idea. After Blair’s friend Harrison assaults Jo: | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1b4e322c | type |
Mr. Fanservice | |
The Facts of Life / int_1b4e322c | comment |
Mr. Fanservice: There really was no point to George Clooney's character in seasons 7 and 8 other than to have a hot guy hanging around the set to appeal to the show's largely female audience. Jo and Blair's college dorm-mate, Guy, had a memorable scene wearing only a Modesty Towel. Male-model-turned-actor Richard Grieco in the backdoor pilot "Big Apple Blues". And let's not forget the strippers in "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can." Subverted in the case of Natalie's dating-service boyfriend Rex Winchester, whose good looks are totally cancelled out by his dweebie personality (including his own Catchphrase, "It works for me!") | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1ba17583 | type |
The Ghost | |
The Facts of Life / int_1ba17583 | comment |
The Ghost: Nancy's boyfriend Roger. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1bf94a24 | type |
The Movie | |
The Facts of Life / int_1bf94a24 | comment |
The Movie: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris; The Facts of Life Down Under - both made for TV. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1c3d047e | type |
The Rival | |
The Facts of Life / int_1c3d047e | comment |
The Rival: | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1c3d047e | |
The Facts of Life / int_1d2400e9 | type |
Green-Eyed Monster | |
The Facts of Life / int_1d2400e9 | comment |
Green-Eyed Monster: Actually the name of an episode in which Tootie gets the part of Nellie Forbush in the school production of South Pacific, and Natalie is deeply jealous. Jo lampshades the trope by explaining what the Green-Eyed Monster does to a person. This ends up reversed in "Who's On First?" when Tootie gets jealous of Natalie's new boyfriend, Gil, and ends up lying about him both canceling their study date and apparently having another girl there with him. In the end, he cheats on her, ultimately ending their relationship. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1d2400e9 | |
The Facts of Life / int_1dfbbf31 | type |
Heterosexual Life-Partners | |
The Facts of Life / int_1dfbbf31 | comment |
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Blair and Jo are a textbook example, right down to having dialogue that could easily be used by a genuine old married couple. Tootie and Natalie were this long before the show began, it just didn't cause as much conflict as Jo and Blair. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1e7487cd | type |
Breaking the Fourth Wall | |
The Facts of Life / int_1e7487cd | comment |
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Season 8's "Cupid's Revenge" has Blair accusing Natalie of making up her boyfriend Snake (who was a ghost at this point), when he finally shows up at the end (but still not shown), Natalie looks at the audience and says "you'll just have to take my word for it". | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1f07a8bd | type |
Who's Watching the Store? | |
The Facts of Life / int_1f07a8bd | comment |
Who's Watching the Store?: By seasons 8 and 9, the girls are rarely ever seen working there...despite continuing to live right upstairs. Eventually they choose to close the store to utilize the space for rooms for Andy and Pippa. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_1f07a8bd | |
The Facts of Life / int_1fb4d915 | type |
The Stool Pigeon | |
The Facts of Life / int_1fb4d915 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_20314beb | type |
Cousin Oliver | |
The Facts of Life / int_20314beb | comment |
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 Cousin Oliver in the form of Kelly, a punk kid. Season 6 replaces her with Andy, an orphan and employee. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_20314beb | |
The Facts of Life / int_20b5cce7 | type |
"Do It Yourself" Theme Tune | |
The Facts of Life / int_20b5cce7 | comment |
"Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Charlotte Rae (Mrs. Garrett) provided vocals for the season 1 theme. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_21c95ce9 | type |
Anti-Alcohol Aesop | |
The Facts of Life / int_21c95ce9 | comment |
Anti-Alcohol Aesop: Tootie's older brother comes to visit and invites the girls to hang out with his friends who are drinking alcohol. While the others are concerned with his drinking problem, Tootie doesn't see any issues. It's only when they are almost in a car accident while he was intoxicated that Tootie finally realized how bad his drinking is. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_21c95ce9 | |
The Facts of Life / int_25bc8511 | type |
Generation Xerox | |
The Facts of Life / int_25bc8511 | comment |
Generation Xerox: Jamie is the spitting image of Jo when she stomps in and peels off her motorcycle. She then proceeds to get in trouble the same way Jo did. The arresting cop remembers the girls from nearly 20 years before. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_25c7875f | type |
Practically Different Generations | |
The Facts of Life / int_25c7875f | comment |
Practically Different Generations: Blair is in her early 20s by the time younger sister Bailey is born. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_25c7875f | |
The Facts of Life / int_279dbf1a | type |
Date Rape Averted | |
The Facts of Life / int_279dbf1a | comment |
Date Rape Averted: Jo, who managed to fight her way out in the nick of time. Is also implied to have occurred in a Season 1 episode with Blair. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_279dbf1a | |
The Facts of Life / int_27ebe639 | type |
Prince Charming | |
The Facts of Life / int_27ebe639 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_297170d3 | type |
Halloween Episode | |
The Facts of Life / int_297170d3 | comment |
Halloween Episode: In one, the girls begin to suspect that Mrs. Garrett has been possessed by a murderous ghost who grinds up people into Bratwurst. It was all a prank by Natalie for her acting class. The episode where Natalie is attacked also counts. We get to see everyone in costume but not the party, as it's a Very Special Episode about self-defense. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_2a090d00 | type |
Lampshade Hanging | |
The Facts of Life / int_2a090d00 | comment |
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. It also occurs in the reunion movie when Natalie's fiancé expresses doubt that Mrs. Garrett can pull Thanksgiving dinner together: | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_2a090d00 | |
The Facts of Life / int_2b88f42 | type |
Chain Letter | |
The Facts of Life / int_2b88f42 | comment |
Chain Letter: One episode saw the girls neglect the store's upcoming health inspection because they were so involved with a chain letter. Jo also accidentally sent the money for the chain letter to the health inspector, who thought it was a bribe. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_2b88f42 | |
The Facts of Life / int_2d364c81 | type |
Tomboy and Girly Girl | |
The Facts of Life / int_2d364c81 | comment |
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Jo and Blair. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_2d364c81 | |
The Facts of Life / int_2dd7a113 | type |
French Jerk | |
The Facts of Life / int_2dd7a113 | comment |
French Jerk: Chef Antoine from the The Facts of Life Goes to Paris special; he makes a return appearance with his jerky family the following season. Downplayed with Gauguin by the time of the reunion movie. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_3287773c | type |
Lovable Alpha Bitch | |
The Facts of Life / int_3287773c | comment |
Lovable Alpha Bitch: Despite more than a few snobby and ignorant moments, Blair is popular, a reliable friend, academically smart and business savvy, and has a strong set of ethics and morals she abides by (most noticeable when it clashes against her own family members' or other elite friends' less-than-savory behaviors) | |
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The Facts of Life / int_32da91b8 | type |
Out of Focus | |
The Facts of Life / int_32da91b8 | comment |
Out of Focus: Despite Kimberly Drummond from Diff'rent Strokes attending Eastland, she only appears in the first episode, while the rest of the series focuses on the main cast members. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_3549f04d | type |
Fell Asleep Driving | |
The Facts of Life / int_3549f04d | comment |
Fell Asleep Driving: The episode "Less Than Perfect" has Blair getting into a car accident after leaving her boyfriend's house and falling sleep whilst driving. The episode entails her having to undergo surgery to repair a disfiguring scar she received from it and her feelings of regret and insecurity over the scenario. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_38b05ae7 | type |
Poorly Disguised Pilot | |
The Facts of Life / int_38b05ae7 | comment |
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 (the final episode of the first season of Diff'rent Strokes). 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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_38bb862f | type |
Don't You Dare Pity Me! | |
The Facts of Life / int_38bb862f | comment |
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Jo reacts with hostility every time someone attempts to take pity on her due to her poor upbringing. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_396e1c2a | type |
Face Death with Dignity | |
The Facts of Life / int_396e1c2a | comment |
Face Death with Dignity: "Teacher's Pet" has Jo's English professor and close friend, Gail Gallagher, leave Eastland. While Jo initially believed it was because another school had offered her more money, she was really leaving due to being terminally ill and going into hospice care. Before she leaves, she assures Jo that she's accepted her fate and she'll be okay. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_39e41f39 | type |
Tomboyish Ponytail | |
The Facts of Life / int_39e41f39 | comment |
Tomboyish Ponytail: Jo. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_39e41f39 | |
The Facts of Life / int_3f11ef74 | type |
Parental Substitute | |
The Facts of Life / int_3f11ef74 | comment |
Parental Substitute: Mrs. Garrett serves as this to most of the girls. Her sister Beverly Ann fills this role when Mrs. Garrett leaves the show, but to a lesser extent. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_3ff57e4b | type |
Required Spinoff Crossover | |
The Facts of Life / int_3ff57e4b | comment |
Required Spinoff Crossover: The very first episode has the Drummonds from Diff'rent Strokes turn up. Arnold and Willis both return separately during the second season. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_42b99897 | type |
White Gangbangers | |
The Facts of Life / int_42b99897 | comment |
Also, when troublemaker Kelly enters the cast, she claims to be a member of the (fake) local gang the Lords of Discipline, who specialize in vandalizing Edna's Edibles and dress like the guys in the "Beat It" video. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_42b99897 | |
The Facts of Life / int_434d893c | type |
Funny Foreigner | |
The Facts of Life / int_434d893c | comment |
Funny Foreigner: In her introductory episode, Pippa and her father were such cartoony Australian stereotypes that you half-expected them to start throwing boomerangs and have pet kangaroos. Much of the humor was derived from the fact that 90% of their dialogue was Aussie slang that left everyone confused. America was obsessed with anything Australian in the mid to late 80s which probably explains the character's inclusion. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_434d893c | |
The Facts of Life / int_43b154c9 | type |
Not Even Bothering with the Accent | |
The Facts of Life / int_43b154c9 | comment |
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Jo, Blair, and Natalie all hailed from New York City, but only Jo actually sounded like it (Lisa Whelchel had a Texas twang and Mindy Cohn had a California accent). Conversely, Kim Fields had a New York accent, but Tootie was supposed to be a Washington, D.C. native. According to one featurette called "The Facts of Life: The Lost Girls"note mainly focused on the cast members dropped between seasons 1 and 2; it's suggested that with Blair's accent at least, this could have been combined with the Throw It In trope. Lisa Whelchel mentioned in the interview that the Blair Warner character was originally written as a naive, fast-talking Texan; only for the characterization to be changed entirely after Whelchel read one line in a snotty, condescending tone just for the fun of it. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_43b154c9 | |
The Facts of Life / int_44e64e96 | type |
Female Gaze | |
The Facts of Life / int_44e64e96 | comment |
Female Gaze: "Have you seen my Basic Anatomy?" It's also the main reason Natalie watches Men's sporting events. One episode is devoted to Natalie insisting the shop sell a "Men of Langley" swimsuit calendar. She eventually breaks up with her swimming team boyfriend because she realizes she's dating him because he turns heads, not because there's anything in his head. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_44e64e96 | |
The Facts of Life / int_44f5d199 | type |
Pretty in Mink | |
The Facts of Life / int_44f5d199 | comment |
Pretty in Mink: Blair possesses about a zoo's worth of fur coats. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_44f5d199 | |
The Facts of Life / int_48e8fe57 | type |
Happily Adopted | |
The Facts of Life / int_48e8fe57 | comment |
Happily Adopted: Natalie. She finds her birth mother in one of the earlier seasons, but still happily considers her adopted family her 'real' family. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_48e8fe57 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4af55b78 | type |
Credits Gag | |
The Facts of Life / int_4af55b78 | comment |
Credits Gag: Used on a few episodes later in the show's run; often for the wackier episodes. One prominent example is 3,2,1 (in which Blair and Jo are handcuffed together due to a dispute over a story on their college newscast) — as the credits roll we see someone attempting to saw the handcuff chain off. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4af55b78 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4b316d47 | type |
Break the Cutie | |
The Facts of Life / int_4b316d47 | comment |
Break the Cutie: Happens A LOT, typically in a Very Special Episode focusing on one character. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4b316d47 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4b9fa3a | type |
Taking the Veil | |
The Facts of Life / int_4b9fa3a | comment |
Taking the Veil: In the two-parter episode "Best Sister", Blair's stepsister Meg decides to become a nun, which shocks her parents and disgusts Blair to the point of repeatedly trying to talk/shame her out of it. Eventually though, Mrs. Garrett gets down to the root of her true issues with it: her residual anger at God for not saving her divorcing parents' marriage. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4b9fa3a | |
The Facts of Life / int_4c961994 | type |
Acquired Situational Narcissism | |
The Facts of Life / int_4c961994 | comment |
Acquired Situational Narcissism: In "All or Nothing," Jo is elected to Langley College's board of regents. The power goes to her head rather quickly, starting a struggle over $500,000 donated to the school for a new fancy scoreboard. Even when a cheaper scoreboard and $100,000 for scholarships are offered, Jo acts like she's being bribed. When the board votes down the $500,000 donation, Blair points out Jo turned down $100,000 in scholarships. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4c961994 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
The Facts of Life / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: In Season 3 episode "Front Page" after her essay gets trashed by her journalism teacher, Jo spitefully writes a school newspaper article after hearing that the teacher was present during a drug bust. Without doing extra research, the detail that the teacher was cleared of suspicions and released that same night isn't included, resulting in the teacher losing his job. Jo tries to make up for it, but the damage to his reputation is done. The episode "Runaway." As Tootie ends her adventure safely when her friends come to pick her up, she leaves behind teen prostitute Kristie, who spent most of the episode trying to bring Tootie into the fold; it's implied that Kristie will later suffer at the hands of her pimp. The episode "With a Little Help From My Friends" has Blair and her boyfriend, Nick, 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. "Daddy's Girl" has Blair being able to confront her father about him using her as a tax shelter, but he still refuses to give up his cheating on his taxes, is unable to make time for her and overall doesn't comprehend that what he did was wrong or why it hurts his daughter so much. Needless to say, their relationship remains strained throughout the rest of the series. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4e3d253b | |
The Facts of Life / int_4e3dee88 | type |
Their First Time | |
The Facts of Life / int_4e3dee88 | comment |
Their First Time: One popular episode in a later season involved Natalie choosing to have sex with her boyfriend for the first time. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4e3dee88 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4f362a27 | type |
Implied Rape | |
The Facts of Life / int_4f362a27 | comment |
Implied Rape: The second season has Jo going on a date with a boy who attempted to force himself on her. When explaining the incident to Mrs. Garrett, she never once said he tried to rape her. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4f362a27 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4f4372e9 | type |
Early-Installment Weirdness | |
The Facts of Life / int_4f4372e9 | comment |
Early-Installment Weirdness: The series was set in a dormitory at Eastland school, which housed seven girls, under the care of Mrs. Garrett as housemother. The headmaster Mr. Bradley was a regular character in the first season. The premise changed in the second season when three of these girls, and a new student Jo were put on probation, and as stated above, were forced to work in the cafeteria (becoming the show's new setting), and live in a small room next to that of newly-promoted dietician Mrs. Garrett. The show also introduced a lot more somber Very Special Episode and there was also a lot less Fanservice than before (see that entry below). | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4f4372e9 | |
The Facts of Life / int_4ff6f484 | type |
Trash the Set | |
The Facts of Life / int_4ff6f484 | comment |
Trash the Set: The first episode of season 7 involves Edna's Edibles getting destroyed in a fire. It gets replaced by a new store, Over Our Heads, in the next episode. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_4ff6f484 | |
The Facts of Life / int_52d1f46e | type |
Not What It Looks Like | |
The Facts of Life / int_52d1f46e | comment |
Not What It Looks Like: Played for Drama 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 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 was still angry over her father's affair from several seasons back, angrily confronting her about the misunderstanding. Andy never ends up apologizing for his mistake or informing the others the truth. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_52d1f46e | |
The Facts of Life / int_55884325 | type |
"Stuck at the Airport" Plot | |
The Facts of Life / int_55884325 | comment |
"Stuck at the Airport" Plot: Blair and Jo get stuck in a podunk town bus station. Blair is pleasantly surprised to discover that the newspaper stand sells French and Italian Vogue among others. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_55884325 | |
The Facts of Life / int_561dab6b | type |
Mistaken for Gay | |
The Facts of Life / int_561dab6b | comment |
Mistaken for Gay: In the first episode, Cindy, a rather affectionate tomboy, is accused by Blair of being, as per 1979 standards, "not normal". | |
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The Facts of Life / int_561dab6b | |
The Facts of Life / int_583ec33e | type |
Snark-to-Snark Combat | |
The Facts of Life / int_583ec33e | comment |
Snark-to-Snark Combat: Blair and Jo constantly snark each other. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_583ec33e | |
The Facts of Life / int_596f675a | type |
Smoking Is Cool | |
The Facts of Life / int_596f675a | comment |
Smoking Is Cool: Although several episodes had Aesops relating to smoking, Rich Bitch Blair can be seen puffing on a cigarette in the pilot episode, "The Girls School." By the time the show's first true episode aired, Blair was a non-smoker (reflecting real life, as Welchel was a non-smoker). | |
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The Facts of Life / int_596f675a | |
The Facts of Life / int_5a2d2d5c | type |
Visit by Divorced Dad | |
The Facts of Life / int_5a2d2d5c | comment |
Visit by Divorced Dad: Jo has a couple of these after he's released from prison. Blair also has one or two. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_5a2d2d5c | |
The Facts of Life / int_5b88d4c4 | type |
A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted | |
The Facts of Life / int_5b88d4c4 | comment |
A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Jo's father once got $300,000 and blew it all in a few days. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_5b88d4c4 | |
The Facts of Life / int_5b9cf82b | type |
Education Mama | |
The Facts of Life / int_5b9cf82b | comment |
Education Mama: Natalie constantly refers to her parents as these, but it mostly seems to be an Informed Attribute. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_5b9cf82b | |
The Facts of Life / int_5f52cfcf | type |
Intrepid Reporter | |
The Facts of Life / int_5f52cfcf | comment |
Intrepid Reporter: Natalie aspires to become a journalist. Many episodes feature her talking about her latest scoop. Jo was this until her big scoop got her journalism teacher fired. | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_5f52cfcf | |
The Facts of Life / int_618dc1ea | type |
Parent with New Paramour | |
The Facts of Life / int_618dc1ea | comment |
Parent with New Paramour: Jo becomes way too attached to her boyfriend's son way too fast. Blair is quick to remind her that this can be pretty traumatic for the child. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_618dc1ea | |
The Facts of Life / int_6220d661 | type |
Loony Fan | |
The Facts of Life / int_6220d661 | comment |
Loony Fan: There was an episode where Tootie was obsessed with Jermaine Jackson to the point of it overtaking everything else in her life and she cried and whined until Mrs. Garrett agreed to take her to his out of town concert. Over the protests of the other girls (who were holding a fair for a friend of Jo's and she had previously agreed to help out at). Upon getting there and having to convince the security guards to let her through (as she was the president of one of his many fan clubs and was given a free ticket to his show by his business manager), although she was excited to meet him, believed herself to be special to him and made a clay bust of him to present for his birthday, the other guards took the gift away (believing it to be a bomb; they didn't know as it was put inside a box) and twisted her arm behind her back, he himself was only able to sit down and talk with her for a few moments due to how busy he was and the same manager who called her to give her a ticket called someone else to use the same line that he used on her. And the bust was ruined due to it being placed in the shower to "defuse" it. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6220d661 | |
The Facts of Life / int_63575aae | type |
Smitten Teenage Girl | |
The Facts of Life / int_63575aae | comment |
Smitten Teenage Girl: "Natalie, have you been writing to prisoners again?" | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_63575aae | |
The Facts of Life / int_644eca71 | type |
Rich Bitch | |
The Facts of Life / int_644eca71 | comment |
Rich Bitch: Blair, although she's the rare Hidden Heart of Gold subtype. | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_644eca71 | |
The Facts of Life / int_66835c91 | type |
The One Guy | |
The Facts of Life / int_66835c91 | comment |
The One Guy: George was probably the most famous (being played by a young George Clooney helped), but Andy lasted longer. Ryan Cassidy (brother of Shaun and David) as Kevin was the proto-George. Added to the cast at the end of the sixth season as the son of Mrs. Garrett's high school sweetheart who enrolls at Langley with the girls. After the show was retooled with "Over Our Heads", he was brother-Chucked and replaced by George. | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_66835c91 | |
The Facts of Life / int_668d2146 | type |
Progressively Prettier | |
The Facts of Life / int_668d2146 | comment |
Progressively Prettier: All of the girls got hit with this (except arguably Blair, who was already noticeably pretty to begin with and made sure everyone knew it!), but Natalie in particular stood out, as later seasons viewed her as sporting make-up, cutting her hair a more flattering length and wearing clothing to suit her more shapely figure. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_668d2146 | |
The Facts of Life / int_6afefa62 | type |
My Girl Is a Slut | |
The Facts of Life / int_6afefa62 | comment |
My Girl Is a Slut: In "Sex Symbol," a boy spreads some lies about Natalie's promiscuity. At first, she's offended, but when the other girls laugh at the idea of her being a sex symbol, she decides to perpetuate them just to prove she's desirable. Also inverted when Blair finds out her boyfriend Cliff works as a stripper to pay his way through medical school. | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_6afefa62 | |
The Facts of Life / int_6bf93fc7 | type |
FanService | |
The Facts of Life / int_6bf93fc7 | comment |
Fanservice: The first season was made at the height of the "Jiggle TV" era codified by then-NBC president and CEO Fred Silverman during his previous tenure as president of ABC Entertainment, so the older girls ran around in skimpy shorts for large portions of every episode. When new producers Linda Marsh and Margie Peters arrived to do the second season Retool, they insisted on less exploitative wardrobes. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6bf93fc7 | |
The Facts of Life / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
The Facts of Life / int_6d332aea | comment |
The ill-fated Cynthia character in "Breaking Point" is this to Blair; she's more intelligent, more attractive, more worldly, more popular, and more fluent in French. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6d332aea | |
The Facts of Life / int_6d892421 | type |
Teacher/Student Romance | |
The Facts of Life / int_6d892421 | comment |
Teacher/Student Romance: Jo had one with her college photography instructor. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6d892421 | |
The Facts of Life / int_6e872753 | type |
Sexiness Score | |
The Facts of Life / int_6e872753 | comment |
Sexiness Score: "The Rating Game" reveals Blair has a rating system for men, and the episode has her transferring all that "data" into a computer, so she develops her own dating system. The other girls are shocked by how in-depth it is. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6e872753 | |
The Facts of Life / int_6ef9d3fe | type |
Christmas Episode | |
The Facts of Life / int_6ef9d3fe | comment |
Christmas Episode: Several, including one featuring It's a Wonderful Plot. | |
The Facts of Life / int_6ef9d3fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life / int_6ef9d3fe | |
The Facts of Life / int_71fa50b5 | type |
New Transfer Student | |
The Facts of Life / int_71fa50b5 | comment |
New Transfer Student: Pippa, who is from Australia. Also Alex, the princess of something-in-Europe. Miko was a temporary Japanese exchange student. | |
The Facts of Life / int_71fa50b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_71fa50b5 | |
The Facts of Life / int_7286e96d | type |
Idiot Ball | |
The Facts of Life / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: Tootie in "Let's Party". She idolizes her older brother Marshall to the point of completely covering for him after he drives drunk with her, Natalie and Blair in the car and previously bullied her friends into accepting the ride with him. Even with the evidence of his alcoholism and his ignorance over the situation, she flat out refuses to admit he did anything wrong until Mrs. Garrett had to sit her down to face the reality/gravity of the situation. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_7286e96d | |
The Facts of Life / int_73f51de7 | type |
Jerkass Ball | |
The Facts of Life / int_73f51de7 | comment |
Jerkass Ball: All of the girls at various points during the series. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_73f51de7 | |
The Facts of Life / int_7426582d | type |
Token Minority | |
The Facts of Life / int_7426582d | comment |
Token Minority: Tootie is the only black member of the cast. Also Natalie, who stated that she is Jewish. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_7426582d | |
The Facts of Life / int_75196a1d | type |
Translation by Volume | |
The Facts of Life / int_75196a1d | comment |
Translation by Volume: One episode had the girls attempting to speak to a Spanish-speaking Latina woman very loudly. She does the exact same thing to them, in Spanish. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life / int_75196a1d | |
The Facts of Life / int_754df088 | type |
Put on a Bus | |
The Facts of Life / int_754df088 | comment |
Put on a Bus: Season 8 begins with the two-parter "Out of Peekskill", in which Mrs. Garrett gets married and joins the Peace Corps to serve in Africa with her new husband. A tour bus in George's case. When the producers decided not to keep George Clooney on as a regular, they brought him back in season 8 and had his character quit his job and go on tour with Tootie's friend Cinnamon. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_754df088 | |
The Facts of Life / int_76db0ef5 | type |
Slobs Versus Snobs | |
The Facts of Life / int_76db0ef5 | comment |
Slobs Versus Snobs: Again, Jo and Blair, respectively. | |
The Facts of Life / int_76db0ef5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_76db0ef5 | |
The Facts of Life / int_77922c8c | type |
Batter Up! | |
The Facts of Life / int_77922c8c | comment |
Batter Up!: In "The Candidate," Natalie is going to meet with a secret political source (named "Sore Throat") at the store at midnight. Jo, Tootie and Andy hide behind the counter with baseball bats, as they were worried about Natalie being alone with a stranger at midnight. Even when Natalie pushes them into the living room, they still listen in while holding the bats. It turns out "Sore Throat" is really Blair in a kangaroo costume. It Makes Sense in Context. | |
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Remember the New Guy? | |
The Facts of Life / int_77b03c0a | comment |
Remember the New Guy?: Happens often—the show has a revolving door of relatives and former best friends who appear out of nowhere—but the most notable example is Blair's instant boyfriend, the starving med-school student Cliff. He is introduced in Season 5 having already endeared himself to everyone and having (apparently) received lots of free meals from Mrs. Garrett. Blair is still reeling from her stunned discovery that Cliff is working as a stripper to make ends meet while the audience is still trying to figure out whether they missed an episode. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_786bf97f | type |
Real Life Writes the Plot | |
The Facts of Life / int_786bf97f | comment |
Real Life Writes the Plot: "The First Time" - the script originally called for Blair to lose her virginity, but Lisa Whelchel refused to be involved on religious grounds (see Hollywood Atheist below). As a result - in addition to this being the only episode of the entire series in which Blair/Lisa doesn't appearnote Kim Fields/Tootie also only misses one episode of the entire run, "Something In Common" - it was rewritten so that the Eastland girl to lose her virginity was Natalie. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_786bf97f | |
The Facts of Life / int_797d10 | type |
Celebrity Star | |
The Facts of Life / int_797d10 | comment |
Celebrity Star: One example being Eve Plumb, formerly of The Brady Bunch. Also Zsa Zsa Gabor, 80s pop icon Stacy Q, El Debarge, and Jermaine Jackson. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_7b21ef92 | type |
Later-Installment Weirdness | |
The Facts of Life / int_7b21ef92 | comment |
Later-Installment Weirdness: 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 Cousin Oliver in the form of Kelly, a punk kid. Season 6 replaces her with Andy, an orphan and employee. Season 7 was where the biggest changes took place. A novelty store called Over Our Heads replaces Edna's Edibles as the main setting, the addition of George to the main cast, and a rerecorded theme song. Seasons 8 and 9 continued to add new characters, such as Beverly Ann, who becomes the girls' new housemother and Pippa, a foreign exchange student from Australia. In addition, Mrs. Garrett was Put on the Bus. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_7ef728b1 | type |
Tsundere | |
The Facts of Life / int_7ef728b1 | comment |
Tsundere: Jo reacts with hostility every time she is accused of having a "sensitive side." This dies down in the last seasons. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_82a82993 | type |
Because You Can Cope | |
The Facts of Life / int_82a82993 | comment |
Because You Can Cope: "Geri's Cousin" is a deconstruction. The episode focuses on the arrival of Blair's cousin Geri, who has cerebral palsy. Geri hits it off with all the other girls, but Blair seems to not like her very much; she eventually confesses to Mrs. Garrett that she's envious of Geri; Blair keeps trying to impress her relatives with her apparent perfection and always gets ignored while Geri gets all the attention. Mrs. Garrett calls Blair out on being insensitive, causing Blair to realize her mistake and make amends with Geri. | |
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Boarding School | |
The Facts of Life / int_82d57ef5 | comment |
Boarding School: Eastland is a boarding school for girls, and the first half of the series takes place there. | |
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Revenge Is Not Justice | |
The Facts of Life / int_8355aa1b | comment |
Revenge Is Not Justice: "Front Page" and on a lesser note "Kids Can Be Cruel" | |
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Good Girls Avoid Abortion | |
The Facts of Life / int_8387bb18 | comment |
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Blair's mother visits and tells Blair that she's pregnant but not going to go through with it, but Blair convinces her to keep the baby. Averted in an earlier episode, where Natalie fabricates an article for the Eastland paper, saying that one of the students at Eastland had secretly had an abortion; she later finds out that such an event did, in fact, occur. | |
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Right for the Wrong Reasons | |
The Facts of Life / int_83cef301 | comment |
This ends up reversed in "Who's On First?" when Tootie gets jealous of Natalie's new boyfriend, Gil, and ends up lying about him both canceling their study date and apparently having another girl there with him. In the end, he cheats on her, ultimately ending their relationship. | |
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Humiliation Conga | |
The Facts of Life / int_890d4ef2 | comment |
Another episode has Tootie becoming obsessed with Jermaine Jackson, getting it into her head that she was special to him and throwing a fit until Mrs. Garrett caved in and took her into the city to his concert, although she had already promised to help out at a charity function. Upon sneaking into his dressing room afterwards, she gets detained by his bodyguards, the gift she made for his birthday (a clay bust of him) is ruined and she was more or less just treated as another faceless fan. She ended up slinking away back to Mrs. Garrett to go home, too embarrassed to admit what happened to her. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_8a48681 | type |
Casino Episode | |
The Facts of Life / int_8a48681 | comment |
Casino Episode: The B-plot for Season 7's "Atlantic City" (where the girls visit Flyman - who Jo had dated during the spring - performing at a casino) has Blair unable to win anything at the slot machines to the point where she gives up, lets an elderly woman take her spot (using the coin Blair was going to use); with the episode ending with the elderly woman hitting the jackpot only for Blair to rush in and shake the woman yelling "My money!" as the episode ends. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_8b4f2a4f | type |
'80s Hair | |
The Facts of Life / int_8b4f2a4f | comment |
'80s Hair: And how. The first season was toned down with a lot of late 1970s hairstyles including Molly Ringwold sporting the Dorothy Hamill wedge. But as the 80s rolled on we ended up with more poof than a Whitesnake concert. Blair herself went through the entire decade of different 1980s hairstyles with each season her hair getting bigger. Jo started out with a very simple pulled back hairstyle before also puffing her hair out and then going for a big rockstar mullet and then later a shorter power mullet. George Clooney sported a blow-dried mullet. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_8b68d9a7 | type |
Stalker with a Crush | |
The Facts of Life / int_8b68d9a7 | comment |
Stalker with a Crush: Roy has a crush on Jo, although this is a comedic version of the trope. Still creepy, as he kept ignoring Jo every time she made it clear she wasn't interested. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_8cb1a369 | type |
Took a Level in Jerkass | |
The Facts of Life / int_8cb1a369 | comment |
Took a Level in Jerkass: The dean Mr. Parker. Also Cindy, Sue Ann, and Nancy who make fun of Natalie and "Homerun" Helen in "Sex Symbol". | |
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College Radio | |
The Facts of Life / int_8e054b09 | comment |
College Radio: Jo once filled in for a radio DJ after he got drunk and passed out. The rest of the cast come by to help her. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_8e054b09 | |
The Facts of Life / int_8e92e125 | type |
Lawyer-Friendly Cameo | |
The Facts of Life / int_8e92e125 | comment |
Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A balloon resembling Goggle Red appeared in all episodes in the Over Our Heads Store. | |
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California University | |
The Facts of Life / int_8ed6b4cb | comment |
California University: Langley which is conveniently located near Eastland (so close that Natalie even takes classes at both schools at the same time in one episode) and conveniently just as good as Harvard and Yale to justify why students as smart and/or rich as the girls would choose Langley over the more well-known prestigious schools. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_90e31482 | type |
Laser-Guided Karma | |
The Facts of Life / int_90e31482 | comment |
Laser-Guided Karma: One episode has high school senior Natalie taking A.P. classes at Langley College. Unfortunately, she ends up hanging out with some older, popular alumni, neglecting her duties at the shop and worst of all, talking down to her old friends. In the end, she ends up with a smaller paycheck and flunking out of the classes/school itself. When she then has to admit what happened, the other girls are quick to rub it in her face. Another episode has Tootie becoming obsessed with Jermaine Jackson, getting it into her head that she was special to him and throwing a fit until Mrs. Garrett caved in and took her into the city to his concert, although she had already promised to help out at a charity function. Upon sneaking into his dressing room afterwards, she gets detained by his bodyguards, the gift she made for his birthday (a clay bust of him) is ruined and she was more or less just treated as another faceless fan. She ended up slinking away back to Mrs. Garrett to go home, too embarrassed to admit what happened to her. | |
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Thematic Theme Tune | |
The Facts of Life / int_92420773 | comment |
Thematic Theme Tune: As well as a Title Theme Tune. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_927b2f11 | type |
The Bus Came Back | |
The Facts of Life / int_927b2f11 | comment |
Initially averted with the other students from Season 1, who made sporadic guest appearances during the second and third seasons after the Retool focused the show on the four main girls | |
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The Facts of Life / int_95f92a7b | type |
Interclass Friendship | |
The Facts of Life / int_95f92a7b | comment |
Interclass Friendship: Jo and Blair are the Vitriolic Best Buddies type. Jo comes from a single home from the Bronx while Blair comes from old money family. The two were the most likely to bicker with one another among the four girls with many jokes directed at their social status. Despite that, the two ended up being very close to one another. This was best demonstrated in a episode that had the two going back home and each of them hanging out with a old friend. At first the two were excited to get away from each other. But after learning their old friends' bad personalities, they realized internally that they were actually good friends. | |
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Badass Bystander | |
The Facts of Life / int_9633f14b | comment |
Badass Bystander: 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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_9838d681 | type |
DudeMagnet | |
The Facts of Life / int_9838d681 | comment |
Dude Magnet: Despite being the funny fat girl, who are often portrayed as dateless and secretly unhappy, Natalie in particular tended to have a LOT of boyfriends during the show's run and was the first girl to lose her virginity. | |
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"Not So Different" Remark | |
The Facts of Life / int_984ef9ef | comment |
"Not So Different" Remark: After Blair's friend Harrison assaults Jo: An unstated lesson in "Breaking Point": Blair considers a classmate, Cynthia, to be inferior to her, but as the episode progresses, many of Blair's life experiences — moving around a lot, trouble keeping long-lasting friends, divorced parents (acrimoniously) — are those that Cynthia had been experiencing. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
The Facts of Life / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
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 | |
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Blaming the Victim | |
The Facts of Life / int_9d5dad72 | comment |
Blaming the Victim: Natalie had a Near-Rape Experience that traumatized her. At the end, she goes to a self defense class in which the instructor goes into detail on how Natalie could have prevented the encounter. The way he was phrasing it comes across as if he was blaming her for not being better prepared. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_9dab0a6e | type |
Continuity Nod | |
The Facts of Life / int_9dab0a6e | comment |
Continuity Nod: Mrs. Garrett's sister Beverly Ann, who joined the cast in Season 8, was first mentioned all the way back in the first season of Diff'rent Strokes. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_9dd2af4a | type |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged | |
The Facts of Life / int_9dd2af4a | comment |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Blair's cousin Geri, who has cerebral palsy. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_a1605a7f | type |
I Have Brothers | |
The Facts of Life / int_a1605a7f | comment |
I Have Brothers: Averted. Jo, who does traditionally "manly" things grew up an only child with a single mother. And a boyfriend. She does have several older, male cousins who work in a garage, though. Possibly an influence on her. | |
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Mood Whiplash | |
The Facts of Life / int_a4c37cbe | comment |
Mood Whiplash: In "A Friend in Deed," Blair discovers her mom has been hiding her breast cancer. There's a tense scene where an emotionally drained Blair implies Tootie will tell the whole school about it; Tootie stands her ground and swears on their friendship that she'd never do such a thing. They hug. A second later, Jo, back from an obviously unsuccessful job interview at the motorcycle store, bursts into the room and starts tearing it apart looking for a clock and a fuse, followed by a desperate Natalie trying to stop her. Also, anytime the episode ended on an emotional note only to cut to the end credits and the upbeat closing theme. Probably the worst example is "Front Page", in which Jo accidentally ruins her professor career by publishing a story about him without the full facts and the audience is treated to the lyric "you better get 'em [the facts of life] right." Occurs during rehearsals for the school production of "South Pacific": | |
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Lonely Rich Kid | |
The Facts of Life / int_a7016efe | comment |
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. | |
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Only Known by Their Nickname | |
The Facts of Life / int_a7850fbf | comment |
Only Known by Their Nickname: Joanne "Jo" Polniaczek, Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey. Natalie's boyfriend, Snake, until his name is later revealed to be Norbert. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_a7850fbf | |
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KidAnova | |
The Facts of Life / int_a79671cc | comment |
KidAnova: Blair, remaining boy crazy yet chaste into her twenties. Partially Enforced Trope due to Lisa Whelchel's Religious beliefs. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_a79671cc | |
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Modesty Towel | |
The Facts of Life / int_ab1064b3 | comment |
Jo and Blair's college dorm-mate, Guy, had a memorable scene wearing only a Modesty Towel. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_ab1064b3 | |
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Work Off the Debt | |
The Facts of Life / int_ab802f4b | comment |
Work Off the Debt: From Season 2-4, The girls end up having to work in the kitchen to pay off damages done to the school. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_ab802f4b | |
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Soundtrack Dissonance | |
The Facts of Life / int_abad35b4 | comment |
Soundtrack Dissonance: Just end the episode with a breakup, a death, or one of the main cast in tears? Here comes that perky theme song again! (See also the parent show.) | |
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Reverse Cerebus Syndrome | |
The Facts of Life / int_ad03437f | comment |
Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: Seasons 2-4, right after the re-tool faced the girls with some rather harsh situations (teen suicide, child prostitution, racial tensions, elopement, censorship. poverty, cancer...) that wouldn't feel out of place in a typical Norman Lear sitcom like All in the Family, Maude, or Good Times. As the characters grew up and learned to take on more responsibility, they began to play less off of hot button teen issues and more off each other's personalities. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_ad03437f | |
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Deadpan Snarker | |
The Facts of Life / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: Jo and Natalie. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_aed65980 | type |
All for Nothing | |
The Facts of Life / int_aed65980 | comment |
One episode has high school senior Natalie taking A.P. classes at Langley College. Unfortunately, she ends up hanging out with some older, popular alumni, neglecting her duties at the shop and worst of all, talking down to her old friends. In the end, she ends up with a smaller paycheck and flunking out of the classes/school itself. When she then has to admit what happened, the other girls are quick to rub it in her face. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_aed65980 | |
The Facts of Life / int_afab5e94 | type |
Reunion Show | |
The Facts of Life / int_afab5e94 | comment |
Reunion Show: Aired in 2001. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_afab5e94 | |
The Facts of Life / int_b01abe4f | type |
Catchphrase | |
The Facts of Life / int_b01abe4f | comment |
Subverted in the case of Natalie's dating-service boyfriend Rex Winchester, whose good looks are totally cancelled out by his dweebie personality (including his own Catchphrase, "It works for me!") | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b01abe4f | |
The Facts of Life / int_b24ce4b2 | type |
Rearrange the Song | |
The Facts of Life / int_b24ce4b2 | comment |
Rearrange the Song: The theme song was redone at least twice during the show's run, with the best-known opening lyrics ("You take the good, you take the bad...") debuting in Season 2. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b24ce4b2 | |
The Facts of Life / int_b4a44588 | type |
Tough Love | |
The Facts of Life / int_b4a44588 | comment |
Mr. Gideon, the journalism teacher from "Front Page" who singles out Jo for apparently her own good (which equates to him routinely embarrassing her in class and dismissing her efforts, in addition to giving her low grades). After she writes an ill-researched paper that tarnishes his reputation, he ends up fired. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b4a44588 | |
The Facts of Life / int_b61b755f | type |
Tomboy | |
The Facts of Life / int_b61b755f | comment |
Tomboy: Cindy in season 1, Jo after. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b61b755f | |
The Facts of Life / int_b7e74b77 | type |
Five-Token Band | |
The Facts of Life / int_b7e74b77 | comment |
Five-Token Band: A ruling-class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (Blair), a working-class girl from The Bronx (Jo), a black Genki Girl from Washington, D.C. (Tootie), a happy-go-lucky nice Jewish girl (Natalie), and a middle-aged housemother from the rural Midwest (Mrs. Garrett). | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b7e74b77 | |
The Facts of Life / int_b8e3f20a | type |
Demoted to Extra | |
The Facts of Life / int_b8e3f20a | comment |
Demoted to Extra: Mrs. Garrett during seasons 6 and 7. She was absent for a good portion of both seasons before finally leaving the series. The few times she did appear, her character had been flanderized into an absent-minded sidekick. George's role was reduced to recurring guest during season 8 before being put on a bus. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b9561236 | type |
A Good Name for a Rock Band | |
The Facts of Life / int_b9561236 | comment |
A Good Name for a Rock Band: Subverted in "Doo Wah," in which the girls are entered (unknowingly, at first) in a contest where the winning group gets to sing with El Debarge. Only when they make it to the final round do the girls discover that they are called Sexy Lingerie. Inverted with The Sha-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-las. By the third or fourth time someone tries to say it, it's shortened to "Sha-la-la-whatever." | |
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The Facts of Life / int_b9561236 | |
The Facts of Life / int_bc03c871 | type |
Child Hater | |
The Facts of Life / int_bc03c871 | comment |
Child Hater: Inverted. Jo claims children have always been uncomfortable with her, even when she was one. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_bc03c871 | |
The Facts of Life / int_be9392d | type |
The Quincy Punk | |
The Facts of Life / int_be9392d | comment |
The Quincy Punk: In "The Americanization of Miko," the writers demonstrated total ignorance about the Stray Cats. Based on the characters' dialogue—specifically, the adults' horror about this crazy new music and the girls' references to wild concerts wherein Brian Setzer evidently ate his guitar—the writers seemed to think the band put out earsplitting punk tunes rather than what really amounted to old-time rockabilly. Also, when troublemaker Kelly enters the cast, she claims to be a member of the (fake) local gang the Lords of Discipline, who specialize in vandalizing Edna's Edibles and dress like the guys in the "Beat It" video. In the episode "Let's Face the Music," Pippa joins an all-girl band. They call themselves "heavy metal," and are the farthest thing from it. The girls later fantasize about playing a fundraiser as the band, including weird wigs, key-tar, and studded leather. Still not heavy metal. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_be9392d | |
The Facts of Life / int_beb932ca | type |
Big Applesauce | |
The Facts of Life / int_beb932ca | comment |
Big Applesauce: Takes place in Peekskill, but NYC is frequently mentioned, most of their outings end up there and three of the main cast are from there. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_beb932ca | |
The Facts of Life / int_c10da874 | type |
The '80s | |
The Facts of Life / int_c10da874 | comment |
The '80s: Pretty much one of the definitive shows of the 1980s. The show ran from 1979 to 1988 and is a time capsule of every 80s fashion trend, hairstyle, what was popular in pop culture, slang, etc. Given it ended in 1988 it also doesn't have any of the hints of the 90s that sitcoms that lasted well into the very late 80s and early 90s did. The Facts of Life was pure 1980s. Once they opened up "Over Our Heads" boutique it was just an explosion of sheer 'Eightiesness'. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c10da874 | |
The Facts of Life / int_c313d43a | type |
True Companions | |
The Facts of Life / int_c313d43a | comment |
True Companions: The main cast is essentially this because they seldom see their real families or have trouble at home. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c313d43a | |
The Facts of Life / int_c33ba0a8 | type |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome | |
The Facts of Life / int_c33ba0a8 | comment |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The faculty from Season 1. Initially averted with the other students from Season 1, who made sporadic guest appearances during the second and third seasons after the Retool focused the show on the four main girls Kevin, who moved into the attic and was Brother Chucked at the end of Season Five without any explanation. In the eighth season the girls open up the attic into another bedroom, without any mention of his time there. In season one's "Overachiever", Natalie had a sister who spoke at career day. After the retool, she became an only child. Cousin Geri, who was one of the series most prominent recurring characters disappeared without any explanation after Season 5. 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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c33ba0a8 | |
The Facts of Life / int_c40c8b74 | type |
And Starring | |
The Facts of Life / int_c40c8b74 | comment |
And Starring: "Nancy McKeon as Jo." | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c40c8b74 | |
The Facts of Life / int_c673210e | type |
Informed Judaism | |
The Facts of Life / int_c673210e | comment |
Informed Judaism: Natalie. It only comes up once or twice. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c673210e | |
The Facts of Life / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Facts of Life / int_c75df49a | comment |
Jo's name is a Shout-Out to Little Women, since the cast reminded the writers of the book. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c75df49a | |
The Facts of Life / int_c76f81b8 | type |
Non-Idle Rich | |
The Facts of Life / int_c76f81b8 | comment |
Non-Idle Rich: Blair likes to flaunt her privilege and her looks, often times bragging about how kept she is. She's actually an over-achiever who ends up becoming a lawyer. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c76f81b8 | |
The Facts of Life / int_c8548756 | type |
Hero with an F in Good | |
The Facts of Life / int_c8548756 | comment |
Hero with an F in Good: Blair could come off as so condescending, it often hurt when she was trying to be genuinely nice. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_c8548756 | |
The Facts of Life / int_cca8c07b | type |
"Metaphor" Is My Middle Name | |
The Facts of Life / int_cca8c07b | comment |
"Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: Blair says Beauty is her middle name. Natalie says hers is Latisha. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_cca8c07b | |
The Facts of Life / int_cceab1c4 | type |
Special Aesop Victim | |
The Facts of Life / int_cceab1c4 | comment |
Special Aesop Victim; In one episode, a Eastland student attempts suicide via pill swallowing. While she is transported to the hospital in an attempt to save her, she ends up dead in the end. While the girls are confused on why she did, its strongly implied that her unstable family life was a factor in her suicide. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_cceab1c4 | |
The Facts of Life / int_ce6555f0 | type |
Lighter and Softer | |
The Facts of Life / int_ce6555f0 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_ce6555f0 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d0347bf0 | type |
Four-Girl Ensemble | |
The Facts of Life / int_d0347bf0 | comment |
Four-Girl Ensemble: Of course. Blair (glamour-obsessed pretty one), Jo (tomboyish, straight-laced one), Tootie (sweet-naïve, one) & Natalie (quirky, odd one) (students/roommates). | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d0347bf0 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d22a7df2 | type |
Troubled, but Cute | |
The Facts of Life / int_d22a7df2 | comment |
Troubled, but Cute: Jo, in a Rare Female Example. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d22a7df2 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d2f3b5a3 | type |
Replacement Flat Character | |
The Facts of Life / int_d2f3b5a3 | comment |
Replacement Flat Character: 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 Rich Bitch, without a heart of gold, who doesn't lift a finger and horribly mistreats her cook. Jo meets up with Jesse, a friend from the old neighborhood who is cruel to the elderly and rampantly Hispanophobic. By the end, Jo and Blair appreciate their friendship with each other a lot more. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d2f3b5a3 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d392974f | type |
Credit Card Plot | |
The Facts of Life / int_d392974f | comment |
Credit Card Plot: "Post-Christmas Card" has Natalie fall victim when she receives a pre-approved credit card from the bank. Though responsible at first, buying only an appointment book and a pair of bunny rabbit earmuffs, she quickly loses control, running up a $1000+ bill on a new wardrobe in an effort to have a "more professional image." | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d392974f | |
The Facts of Life / int_d7fc9fd0 | type |
Vitriolic Best Buds | |
The Facts of Life / int_d7fc9fd0 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d7fc9fd0 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d820f28 | type |
Reaction Shot | |
The Facts of Life / int_d820f28 | comment |
Reaction Shot: In "Breaking Point", there is a long, panning shot of the girls' reactions whilst Mrs. Garrett receives the news via phone that their classmate, Cynthia, has passed away from her suicide attempt. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d820f28 | |
The Facts of Life / int_d90ab0d2 | type |
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head | |
The Facts of Life / int_d90ab0d2 | comment |
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Society-girl Blair is trying to insult street-wise Jo: | |
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The Facts of Life / int_d90ab0d2 | |
The Facts of Life / int_da46a2c0 | type |
Hollywood Atheist | |
The Facts of Life / int_da46a2c0 | comment |
Hollywood Atheist: Blair is an atheist for most, if not all, of the series because she prayed for God to not have her parents divorced and didn't get it. Arguably ends when her sister is born. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_da46a2c0 | |
The Facts of Life / int_dabc7a46 | type |
Sixth Ranger | |
The Facts of Life / int_dabc7a46 | comment |
Sixth Ranger: Andy, who appeared in the second half of the show, and stayed for the rest of the series. There was also Kevin Metcalf, the son of one of Mrs. Garrett's old boyfriends. He sticks around for a few episodes and even briefly moves in with the girls but is quietly written out of the show at the end of Season 6. The next example was George the handyman, who built Over our Heads in Season 7, but left the show in Season 8. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_dabc7a46 | |
The Facts of Life / int_dc579c91 | type |
Contrived Coincidence | |
The Facts of Life / int_dc579c91 | comment |
Contrived Coincidence: When Andy mixes up Blair's little sister with another little girl at a movie theater costume party, the mother of the other girl takes Blair's sister to the community center where Jo just happens to be working instead of going to the police. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_dc579c91 | |
The Facts of Life / int_e68d9ddd | type |
Not Blood Siblings | |
The Facts of Life / int_e68d9ddd | comment |
Not Blood Siblings: Blair and her former stepsister (portrayed by Eve Plumb) are not actually related but treat each other as genuine siblings. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_e68d9ddd | |
The Facts of Life / int_eb8ec7c8 | type |
Jerkass | |
The Facts of Life / int_eb8ec7c8 | comment |
Jerkass: Mr. Bradley, Eastland's headmaster from season one. Even when the girls weren't doing anything mischievous or potentially dangerous, he's still unnecessarily abrasive and snarky and seems to care more about Eastland's reputation than the students themselves. Thankfully, he's gone by season two. Mr. Gideon, the journalism teacher from "Front Page" who singles out Jo for apparently her own good (which equates to him routinely embarrassing her in class and dismissing her efforts, in addition to giving her low grades). After she writes an ill-researched paper that tarnishes his reputation, he ends up fired. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_eb8ec7c8 | |
The Facts of Life / int_eefce6c6 | type |
Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts | |
The Facts of Life / int_eefce6c6 | comment |
Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts: Would you believe this is the Trope Namer? S8's "Seven Little Indians". Good thing it was All Just a Dream, because the entire group died. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_eefce6c6 | |
The Facts of Life / int_f12d9d83 | type |
Promotion to Parent | |
The Facts of Life / int_f12d9d83 | comment |
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. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_f12d9d83 | |
The Facts of Life / int_f5a3e496 | type |
Suspiciously Similar Substitute | |
The Facts of Life / int_f5a3e496 | comment |
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Beverly Ann, who replaces Mrs. Garret as the girl's denmother/landlady. Bruce, the man Mrs. Garret marries in the 8th season, is pretty much the same character as Ted, the man Mrs. Garret was engaged to in the 6th season. Both were old flames that Edna instantly re-fell in love with and decided to marry almost immediately. She ran away with both of them, traveling with Ted and then joining the Peace Corps with Bruce, which makes one wonder why they even bothered to bring in a new character for Edna to marry when they already had Ted. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_f5a3e496 | |
The Facts of Life / int_f6c1a6d1 | type |
Religious Russian Roulette | |
The Facts of Life / int_f6c1a6d1 | comment |
Religious Russian Roulette: Blair describes how this applies to her: she once prayed to God to stop her parents' divorce; He didn't, and she stopped believing in Him. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_f6c1a6d1 | |
The Facts of Life / int_f75cf3bd | type |
Terrible Interviewees Montage | |
The Facts of Life / int_f75cf3bd | comment |
Terrible Interviewees Montage: At the start of "Into the Frying Pan," Mrs. Garrett interviews contractors to rebuild Edna's Edibles after the fire. The four interviewees are asking for too much money. | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_f75cf3bd | |
The Facts of Life / int_f85354eb | type |
Attempted Rape | |
The Facts of Life / int_f85354eb | comment |
Attempted Rape: Blair, Jo, and Natalie in separate, early episodes. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life | hasFeature |
The Facts of Life / int_f85354eb | |
The Facts of Life / int_fb9e25e9 | type |
Team Mom | |
The Facts of Life / int_fb9e25e9 | comment |
Team Mom: Mrs. Garrett. | |
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1.0 | |
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The Facts of Life / int_fb9e25e9 | |
The Facts of Life / int_fccd06b6 | type |
Beware the Nice Ones | |
The Facts of Life / int_fccd06b6 | comment |
Beware the Nice Ones: Natalie could get gleefully vengeful or just plain mean if she felt betrayed. Even Blair is afraid of her. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_fccd06b6 | |
The Facts of Life / int_fe1b2e75 | type |
Bigger on the Inside | |
The Facts of Life / int_fe1b2e75 | comment |
Bigger on the Inside: The kitchen during the Edna's Edibles/Over Our Heads episodes was somehow able to fit in between the store and the living room despite there being no room for it. This was made even more confusing during the Over Our Heads episodes when the space behind the counter was turned into a storage room. So, now there was somehow enough space for both a kitchen and a storage room between the store and the living room. | |
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The Facts of Life / int_fe1b2e75 | |
The Facts of Life / int_ffb1df90 | type |
Perpetual Poverty | |
The Facts of Life / int_ffb1df90 | comment |
Perpetual Poverty: Much is made of Jo's poverty for most of the show. When a later episode attempted to give the Polniacseks an incredible financial windfall, Nancy Mckeon nearly quit over the idea that Jo would suddenly become rich since it would take away the defining trait of her character and the root of her animosity with her rival/friend Blair. The writers decided to make it just a temporary situation, so that by the end of the episode everything was back to normal. (Though Jo insisted on keeping the fancy motorcycle helmet her dad bought her.) All of the stories of Season 3 have the girls living together in one room and doing manual labor to pay off the damage done to the school van when the girls stole it to go have some beers at a bar. Despite their parents (except Jo who is a scholarship student) paying a lot of money in tuition, the girls must endure the problems associated with living in a poorly-maintained room where the heat doesn't always work and the plumbing is sometimes broken. | |
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The Facts of Life |
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