''The Facts of Life Goes to Paris'' is a 1982 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

based on the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' The Facts of Life'' which featured the main characters of that series. It originally aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on September 25, 1982, four nights before the start of season four. The film was later split into four individual half-hour episodes when the series entered

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

.''The Facts of Life Goes to Paris'' site
at www.televisionhits.com

Synopsis

''The Facts of Life Goes to Paris'' occurred during the continuity of the original series. Mrs. Garrett and the girls – Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie – embark on an overseas vacation to

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

during summer recess. Mrs Garrett attends a prestigious cooking academy and the four girls take part in a program at a French

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

. While Mrs. Garrett is busy with French cooking lessons, the girls' summer boarding house is oppressive, located kilometers (miles) away outside of Paris, and they are constantly under the watchful eye of their European guardian, a strict woman named Mrs. Southwick (Vivian Brown). Determined not to let the trip be a total waste, all four girls decide to run away to Paris to enjoy their last few days in France: Blair searches for French romance; while attempting to go to a car race in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, Jo gets distracted and instead finds it with a young biker named David LeClair (

Frédéric Andréi Frédéric Andréi (born 23 October 1959) is a French actor and director. In 1980 he starred in ''Le Voyage en douce'' under director Michel Deville. The next year he played the lead in Jean-Jacques Beineix's ''Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin w ...

); Natalie and Tootie meet a famous down-on-his-luck American author, Garth "G.K." Kiley (

Frank Bonner Frank Bonner (born Frank Woodrow Boers Jr.; February 28, 1942 – June 16, 2021) was an American actor and television director widely known for his role as sales manager Herb Tarlek on the television sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati''. Personal li ...

) and encourage him to try to put down the bottle and pick up the pen again.

Cast

Charlotte Rae Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American character actress and singer whose career spanned six decades. Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and its spin-off, '' ...

Edna Garrett This is a list of characters from the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life''. Characters table Edna Garrett Edna Ann Garrett Gaines, known as Mrs. Garrett or Mrs. G, was played by the actress Charlotte Rae from 1978 to 1986. Garrett was the you ...

Lisa Whelchel Lisa Diane Whelchel (born May 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, author, and life coach. She is known for her appearances as a Mouseketeer on ''The New Mickey Mouse Club'' and her nine-year role as the preppy and wealthy Bla ...

Blair Warner This is a list of characters from the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life''. Characters table Edna Garrett Edna Ann Garrett Gaines, known as Mrs. Garrett or Mrs. G, was played by the actress Charlotte Rae from 1978 to 1986. Garrett was the you ...

Mindy Cohn Mindy Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress, who appeared on VH1's List of "100 Greatest Kid Stars". She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the ''Sc ...

Natalie Green This is a list of characters from the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life''. Characters table Edna Garrett Edna Ann Garrett Gaines, known as Mrs. Garrett or Mrs. G, was played by the actress Charlotte Rae from 1978 to 1986. Garrett was the you ...

Kim Fields Kim Victoria Fields-Morgan ( Fields, formerly Freeman; born May 12, 1969) is an American actress and director. Fields is best known for her roles as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey on the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–1988), and as Regine Hu ...

Tootie Ramsey This is a list of characters from the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life''. Characters table Edna Garrett Edna Ann Garrett Gaines, known as Mrs. Garrett or Mrs. G, was played by the actress Charlotte Rae from 1978 to 1986. Garrett was the you ...

Nancy McKeon Nancy Justine McKeon (born April 4, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as List of The Facts of Life characters#Jo Polniaczek, Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom ''The Facts of Life (TV series), The Facts of Life'' and Jinny Exs ...

as Jo Polniaczek *

as Garth Kiley *

as David LeClair *

Jacques Ferrière Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

as Pierre Petit * Vivian Brown as Miss Southwick *

Roger Til Roger Til (January 5, 1909 – June 28, 2002) was a French-American film and television actor. He played "Devillaine" in the miniseries ''The French Atlantic Affair''. He also appeared in numerous film and television programs, mostly as a Maitr ...

as Chef Antoine * Caroline Ducrocq as Angelique *

Laurie Main Laurence George "Laurie" Main (29 November 1922 – 8 February 2012) was an Australian actor best known for hosting and narrating the children's series ''Welcome to Pooh Corner'', which aired on The Disney Channel during the 1980s. Born in ...

as Reggie * Bernard Soufflet as The Innkeeper

DVD release

The full-length film was released as a bonus feature on ''The Facts of Life: The Complete Fourth Season''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

set on May 4, 2010 and was re-released on January 13, 2015 as part of ''The Facts of Life: The Complete Series'' 26-disc DVD set.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Facts of Life Goes to Paris, The 1982 television films 1982 films 1980s teen comedy films American teen comedy films NBC network original films Films set in schools Films about vacationing Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Films shot in France Films based on television series The Facts of Life (TV series) Television films based on television series 1980s American films