''The Facts of Life Reunion'' is a 2001 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-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

based on the 1979–1988

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 ...

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 reunited original cast members

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, '' ...

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 ...

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 ''S ...

and

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 ...

Nancy McKeon Nancy Justine McKeon (born April 4, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' and Jinny Exstead on '' The Division''. Early life and family Nancy Justine McKeon was born o ...

was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts with her then-starring role in the television series ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...

''. The film originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

as a presentation of ''

The Wonderful World of Disney The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'' on Sunday, November 18, 2001. It is the third television film based on the series and is preceded by ''

The Facts of Life Goes to Paris ''The Facts of Life Goes to Paris'' is a 1982 American made-for-television comedy film based on the sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' which featured the main characters of that series. It originally aired on NBC on September 25, 1982, four nights b ...

'' (1982) and '' The Facts of Life Down Under'' (1987).

Synopsis

Thirteen years after the events of the original series, a widowed Mrs. Garrett is heading back to America on a cruise ship, ready for a whole new life and also looking forward to seeing "her girls" again, all of whom have grown into successful, independent women: * Blair Warner is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and also owns a hotel empire (Warner Enterprises) with her husband Tad Warner, managed by Mrs. Garrett's son Raymond; Blair and Tad have no children. * Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey, now preferring to be called Dorothy, is a morning

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

host in Los Angeles and the widowed mother of 10-year-old daughter Tisha (fathered by her longtime boyfriend and later deceased husband, Jeff Williams, who was portrayed by Todd Hallowell). *

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 ...

is a behind-the-scenes television news producer at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

with an active love life and a frenetic work schedule that takes her all over the world. * Jo Polniaczek is a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

who is still married to Rick Bonner and the mother of a 12-year-old daughter Jamie. Natalie has talked to Mrs. Garrett and all the girls into spending the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

holiday together back in

Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fro ...

. When Jo is unable to attend the reunion because of work, her daughter Jamie comes instead in her absence. Natalie has received two different marriage proposals but when her two boyfriends–Robert and Harper–unexpectedly show up at the reunion, trouble soon starts and it's up to the girls to help solve Natalie's predicament. Over the course of the holiday, the girls reveal to one another the personal troubles they face in their adult years and discover that, despite the time that has passed, they need each other's friendship more than ever.

Cast

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 ...

as Blair Warner *

as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey *

Joel Brooks Joel Brooks (born December 17, 1949) is an American actor, known for his roles in '' Stir Crazy'', ''My Sister Sam'', '' Six Feet Under'', ''The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green'' and ''Phil of the Future''. Brooks also had a recurrin ...

as Raymond Garrett *

Carl Marotte Carl Marotte (born February 25, 1959) is a Canadian actor from Montreal, Quebec. He is a 1979 graduate of Dawson College's Professional Theatre Program and has received a Gemini Award nomination for his role in the television movie ''Net Worth'' ...

as Rick Bonner * Mallory Margel as Jamie Bonner *

Kevin Jubinville Kevin Jubinville (born April 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor known for playing The Shep in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and Bob Venton in '' Rabbit Fall''. Filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jubinville, Kevin 1967 births ...

as Tad Warner * Alexandra Johnson as Tisha Ramsey * Jeffrey Ray as Jonathan Monroe *

Barclay Hope Barclay Hope (born February 25, 1958) is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Clifford and Claudius Blossom on '' Riverdale'', Mike Hayden on '' Street Legal'', Peter Axon on ''PSI Factor'', Col. Lionel Pendergast on ''Sta ...

as Robert James * Mark Lutz as Harper Jason *

Joe Dinicol Joe Dinicol (born December 22, 1983) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Rory Regan / Ragman in a recurring role in the fifth season of ''Arrow''. Life and career Dinicol was born in Stratford, Ontario, the son of Emma (née ...

as Sam

Production

''The Facts of Life Reunion'' was filmed from September 10, 2001 to October 8, 2001 in

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. All the outdoor scenes in Peekskill and the train station were shot as the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

went down during the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

originally met with the reunion's producers early on and offered to direct the movie if the plot revolved around Jo's death, similar to the film ''

The Big Chill Big Chill can refer to: *The Big Chill (music festival), an annual music and comedy festival held in England * ''The Big Chill'' (film), a 1983 American film directed by Lawrence Kasdan *The Big Chill at the Big House, a 2010 U.S. college ice hock ...

''. "It was a joke," McKeon later explained to ''Biography''. "And it kind of took on some other life...I love that character. That show, that character has given me all that has come after. How could I ever not be grateful for something so wonderful in my life? But, I really don't think the world needs yet another remake of some show that was a hit back in the day." During the reunion's filming schedule, McKeon was also busy filming the second season of her Lifetime crime-drama series, ''

''. The original writers from ''The Facts of Life'' were said either not to care, weren't around, or didn't want to be a part of it so the script was written by Max Enscoe and Annie de Young with an assist by Kevin Hench and Heather Juergensen. In a ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' magazine article in March 2001,

Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor. Early and personal life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His brother is actor Sean Astin. He at ...

, who played Andy Moffett on ''The Facts of Life'' from 1985–88, was asked about the reunion and he was quoted as saying: "I keep hearing about that too. I hope it's not happening, because nobody's called me! If it does, I hope they do call." Ultimately, Astin did not appear in the movie, neither did series regulars

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

or Sherrie Krenn.

Ratings

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

for ''The Facts of Life Reunion'' were 11.5 million viewers, 7.1 rating, 11 share and ranked #51 out of about 123 shows. In 2002, it re-aired on the

ABC Family Channel ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on Saturday, September 14, Tuesday, September 17 and Wednesday, September 18.''The Facts of Life Reunion'': Nielsen ratings
retrieved February 23, 2015

References

External links

''The Facts of Life Reunion'' Site
* *
''The Facts of Life Reunion''
at

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Facts Of Life Reunion, The 2001 television films 2001 films 2001 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama television films Thanksgiving in films Films directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Films set in Westchester County, New York Films shot in Toronto Films based on television series Television series reunion films Disney television films Walt Disney anthology television series episodes

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

Television films based on television series 2000s American films 2000s English-language films English-language comedy-drama films