| The Facts of Life Reunion | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Written by | Max Enscoe Annie de Young |
| Directed by | Charles Herman-Wurmfeld |
| Starring | Charlotte Rae Lisa Whelchel Mindy Cohn Kim Fields Joel Brooks |
| Music by | Steve Dorff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Ilene Amy Berg |
| Producer | Greg Copeland |
| Cinematography | Lawrence Sher |
| Editor | Ben Weissman |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Production companies | Berger Queen Productions Laurence Mark Productions Columbia TriStar Domestic Television Walt Disney Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | November 18, 2001 (2001-11-18) |
| Related | |
The Facts of Life Reunion is a 2001 Americanmade-for-televisioncomedy-drama film based on the 1979–1988NBCsitcomThe Facts of Life which reunited original cast membersCharlotte Rae,Lisa Whelchel,Mindy Cohn andKim Fields.Nancy McKeon was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts with her then-starring role in the television seriesThe Division.
The film originally aired onABC as a presentation ofThe Wonderful World of Disney on November 18, 2001. It is the third television film based on the series and is preceded byThe Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982) andThe Facts of Life Down Under (1987).
Thirteen years later, a widowedMrs. 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:
Natalie has talked to Mrs. Garrett and all the girls into spending theThanksgiving holiday together back inPeekskill, New York. 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 both 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.[1]
The Facts of Life Reunion was filmed from September 10, 2001 to October 8, 2001 inToronto, Ontario, Canada.[2] All the outdoor scenes in Peekskill and the train station were shot as theWorld Trade Center went down during theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks inNew York City.
Nancy McKeon 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 filmThe Big Chill. "It was a joke," McKeon later explained toBiography. "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."[3] During the reunion's filming schedule, McKeon was also busy filming the second season of herLifetime crime-drama series,The Division.
The original writers fromThe 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 aTV Guide magazine article in March 2001,Mackenzie Astin, who played Andy Moffett onThe 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, nor did series regularsCloris Leachman,George Clooney, orSherrie Krenn.[4]
Nielsen ratings forThe 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 theABC Family Channel on Saturday, September 14, Tuesday, September 17, and Wednesday, September 18.[5]