Shout Factory | 1983 | 690 mins. | Not Rated
A spinoff of the popular sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life was centered on the goings on at Eastland, a private school for girls in Peekskill, New York. Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae), Left her jobas the Drummond’s Housekeeper to become a dorm housemother, and then the school’s dietitian. During the series first season, the show featured seven girls in main parts—including future 1980’s movie star, Molly Ringwald. Wisely, be the time the second season began, the group of girls was paired down to the following: spoiled rich girl Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), the young, gossipy Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey (Kim Fields), overweight, impressionable Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn) and the perfect newcomer; tough, yet vulnerable Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon)
By the fourth season, The Facts of Life had really hit its stride. As a matter-of-fact, the show was popular enough that NBC sent the cast to France, for the 2-hour special, The Facts of Life Goes to Paris, which aired before the fourth season premiere. Having Mrs. Garrett travel overseas with the girls proved effective in two ways; it gave viewers a chance to see the characters away from the normal setting of Eastland, and because it was a school trip it served as a nice bookend—the two part season finale saw Blair and Jo graduating from high school.
Referred to as a situation comedy, The Facts of Life was really more ‘situation’ than ‘comedy’ in 1983. Looking backing, it’s amazing some of the episodes aired with little fanfare. In “The Source,” Natalie faces the possibility of expulsion after refusing to reveal her source for a school newspaper story on abortion. While the episode can’t be considered ‘hard hitting,’ it’s also impossible to imagine it being a topic for today’s situation comedies.
Other standout episodes include “September Song,” which has Jo’s favorite teacher (Deborah Harmon) leaving Eastland, but not for the reason she believes. In the two part episode “Best Sister”, Blair’s ‘sister’ Meg (guest star, Eve Plumb “The Brady Bunch”) visits to let everyone know that she’s decided to become a nun. While there, she strikes up a relationship with Jo, which makes the tough kid from the Bronx reconsider her career choices. “In Let’s Party,” Tootie comes to realize that her much loved brother has a drinking problem. But can she stop him before he gets into an accident?
By season four, The Facts of Life certainly had established itself and the characters and writing continues to be conventional, but entertaining and enjoyable. The season ends with Blair and Jo graduating and preparing to attend Langley College in the fall. Naturally, this leaves Natalie and Toootie wondering where they will fit in. As fans already know, in the fifth season the season would shift away from Eastland to Mrs. Garrett’s new business, “Edna’s Edibles.”; a pretty clever plot device by the writers to keep the girls together.
The Facts of Life: The Complete Fourth Season is presented by Shout Factory in 1.33:1 full-frame, the show’s original aspect ratio. Considering the series’ age, The Facts of Life looks surprisingly good. Sharpness and detail aren’t remarkable, but the picture still looks fairly crisp, with only an occasional touch of softness. There are a few noticeable moments of color blanching, but they are brief, and other digital anomalies didn’t crop up.
The audio is presented in basic mono. While that won’t tax your home theater system, it does the job for this dialogue heavy show.
The set comes with one special feature, “Know The Facts: Trivia Game” – A fun trivia game with fifteen questions about the first four seasons of the series. When you answer the question, you learn some fun facts about the series. Worth a look for fans.
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