The Facts of Life Reunion

I had been waiting for this for a long time. When I finally got the scoop on it, I was very upset that "Jo" would not be there! Its okay though. "Ms." Garrett, Nat, Blair, & Dorthy(formally know as Tootie) reunite in this cute made-for-tv-movie. It appears that Tootie is now a talk-show host. Nat is a writer. Ms. Garrett, who left for Africa with her new husband has become a widow. & the ever-so popular & beautiful Blair went into the hotel business. The story is Natalie has two boyfriends who she has to choose from. They just so happen to show up at the reunion in Blair's hotel. The girls are once again learning the facts of life all over again with their crazy & exciting adventure. If thats not enough, Tisha (Tootie's daughter) & Jamie (Jo's daughter) are on their on adventure as well. I have a B I G feeling this will spawn the "All New Facts Of Life" or maybe two more Facts movies. It was good to see the girls (minus one) back together again. 1-10 (8)

This nice reunion movie from the long-running sitcom reunites nearly all of the main characters of the Facts of Life. The plot concerns a Thanksgiving reunion in Peekskill for Natalie, Blair, Tootie, and Mrs. Garrett. The girls are now all grown up with families of their own, but it still hasn't stopped them from getting into zany situations and seeking life advice from Mrs. Garrett much like they did during the show's run. The women very obviously enjoy rehashing these parts with each other and there is a nice feeling that flows through the movie. One thing missing however is Nancy McKeon as "Jo" because she complimented the other girls so well and was such an integral part of the show. Still though a plug for her television show on Lifetime made its way into the movie, and the other women do make up for her absence.

Even without Jo being able to show up, this movie had so much more potential. The chemistry between the three girls and Ms. Garrett was there and I enjoyed seeing it again, but the plot sucked. I find it hard to believe that whoever wrote this script couldn't come up with a better plot than Natalie having two boyfriends at the same time. When shes found out they degrade themselves for her love and it's horrible to watch. The only old characters in this movie you will see is Blair, Tootie, Natalie, Ms. Garrett and her son Raymond. I think Tootie has a much more interesting story and I think the focus of the movie should have been on her and not Natalie, and Natalie was my favorite character. Lisa, Kim, Mindy and Charlotte must have really missed each other to agree to this script. It wasn't a terrible movie overall, it had it's good and bad moments, but it was no masterpiece either which is why I gave this movie a 6 out of 10. If the Facts Of Life cast ever decides to come together for another project like this, I hope they are more pickier about the plot.

The Facts of Life Reunion disturbed me because it little uncomfortable knowing that I'm now old enough to begin seeing reunion movies of some of my favorite childhood shows. Aside from that, it was really refreshing seeing the cast again. The main cast really seemed to be enjoying themselves back in their old roles and the old chemistry was still there. The producers did a great job in staying true to events in the series and informing us of the changes in that time, fans will see many, sometimes minor, references to the past (like Mrs. Garrett's Peace Corps journey, Blair's purchase of Eastland and allowing boys to go to the school...etc) which makes it seem like someone behind the scenes cared enough to get the details right. The recreation of the Eastland Cafeteria was excellent and was upgraded from the bland 4-sided look of a TV sitcom set to the full 6-sided realistic looking sets found in hour long dramas. While the writers did a great job in packing a lot into this movie, they didn't really create a good plot. Natalie had 2 dates in one night and attempted to prevent both men from knowing about the other, that's about as sitcom cliche as replacing a friend's dead pet with a look-a-like, but who knows? Maybe a movie based on a sitcom should embrase their sitcom-ness! Some things I hoped for but didn't see: a tour of their old "Edna's Edibles" house, you'd think Beverly Anne might still be living there. I would have loved to have seen an upgraded 6-sided version of that significant set too! The main flaw was the lack of Nancy McKeon, her absense was very noticeable but the writers did a good job in acknowledging her importance by having her kid and husband show instead. McKeon supposedly wanted to put the Jo role behind her and move on, but sorry Nancy, skipping out of a reunion show doesn't help break a typecasting problem it just makes you look like an ungrateful David Caruso who couldn't be bothered with the role that made her famous in the first place. You stood out more by NOT being there. On a side note, the cast of "Facts" kids fortunately had enough smarts to stay away from the problems that plagued the "Diff'rent Strokes" kids. Maybe "Jo's" case involved a troubled Willis Drummond...

After more than a decade, the cast of the show did this film and it is not a bad film. The only sad part was that "Jo" was not in it, and boy, did "Natalie" look OLD!! She looked like she was in her fifties!! But I enjoyed the film very much and it was also something to see the "Eastland School" cafeteria recreated so close to the original. Would have been nice if they had invited some of the girls from the first season to this movie reunion, but then, maybe they did not think the public would remember them. But, if you like the series, then you should enjoy this film!!