The Facts of Life
The Beginning of the Beginning
TV Flash files “The Beginning of the Beginning” as a desk essential hour — The Facts of Life (1979–1988) on NBC, season 9, episode 24, aired 1988-05-07, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S09E24: listed hour 200 of 200 in the The Facts of Life guide, last listed hour of season 9. It aired 1988-05-07 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Beginning of the End” (S09E23). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Beginning of the Beginning”. The Beginning of the Beginning doubles the closer: nine seasons of girls leading, a spin-off that outgrew the mothership's hallway.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
In the series finale, Blair becomes headmistress of Eastland School. A planned spinoff with Blair in the lead at Eastland never happened.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Beginning of the Beginning sit in the The Facts of Life guide?
S09E24 is listed hour 200 of 200 — last listed hour of season 9, season 9 episode 24.
When did The Facts of Life S09E24 air?
The Beginning of the Beginning aired 1988-05-07 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need Diff'rent Strokes first?
Only if you want Mrs. Garrett's origin. The Facts of Life is the spin-off that became its own young-womanhood appointment show once the Eastland ensemble locked.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Teen/young-adult multi-cam that actually let girls lead for years — chemistry over cool. Mrs. Garrett's Eastland wing, Blair Warner privilege, Jo, Natalie, Tootie, and very special episodes as a feature not a bug. A Diff'rent Strokes spin-off that became young-womanhood appointment TV. You take the good, you take the bad — still accurate.
A Diff'rent Strokes spin-off that outgrew the mothership's hallway: NBC's The Facts of Life (1979–1988) windowed Mrs. Garrett into Eastland School and kept her there while the girls aged into young-womanhood appointment TV. Charlotte Rae, Nancy McKeon as Jo, Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner, Kim Fields as Tootie, Mindy Cohn as Natalie. Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon. Very special episodes were a feature, not a bug. Blair Warner privilege energy remains undefeated. **Nine seasons, 200 episodes — long-running young…
Filed against
- Charlotte Rae as Edna Garrett
Charlotte Rae’s Edna Garrett walked out of Diff’rent Strokes’ penthouse and into The Facts of Life like a housemother with a catchphrase of care — 1970s catalog into 1980s young-woman appointment TV. TV Flash files her as the spin-off…
- Nancy McKeon as Jo Polniaczek
Nancy McKeon’s Jo Polniaczek brought Eastland some street into The Facts of Life — 1980s girls-lead multi-cam, Mrs. Garrett, Blair Warner privilege, Natalie, Tootie, very special episodes as a feature. A Diff’rent Strokes spin-off that…
- Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner
Lisa Whelchel made privilege look like a major as Blair Warner on The Facts of Life — Eastland girls leading a Diff’rent Strokes spin-off for years, Mrs. Garrett’s wing, very special episodes as a feature not a bug. Chemistry over cool.…
- Kim Fields as Tootie Ramsey
Kim Fields grew up on camera as Tootie Ramsey on The Facts of Life — roller skates, Eastland wing, very special episodes as a feature — then walked into Living Single’s Brooklyn brownstone as grown sitcom chemistry. Girls-lead multi-cam,…
- Mindy Cohn as Natalie Green
Mindy Cohn’s Natalie Green held The Facts of Life’s Eastland wing as the friend who made girls-lead multi-cam feel like a household — 1980s Mrs. Garrett, Blair Warner privilege, Jo, Tootie, very special episodes as a feature not a bug. TV…