The Facts of Life - The Complete Series

Like white bread and florescent-orange, salt-saturated snack treats, "The Facts of Life" takes no time to digest and isn't particularly good for you, but you can't stop eating.

You'll instantly remember the endless rivalry between the privileged, blond girl Blair (Lisa Whelchel) and the motorcycle-riding tomboy Jo (Nancy McKeon), as well as the round faced, funny girl Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and her pal in pigtails and roller skates Tootie (Kim Fields).

The series goes through quite an evolution. In the first season, a housekeeper becomes housemother as Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae), from the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," spins off into her own series, leaving Manhattan to work upstate at an all-girls boarding school.

In the premiere show of the first season, there's a whole school full of girls and the tomboy character, a petite blond named Cindy (Julie Anne Haddock), actually worries that she may be a lesbian! But Mrs. Garrett puts her in a dress and all fears are assuaged. If Cindy still enjoys "hugging and touching" the other girls as much as she used to, it somehow becomes less of a problem when she's not wearing pants.

The second season pairs down the cast to four girls, adding the more charismatic Nancy McKeon (who must have become a heartthrob for many a young lady herself). It's here that the series takes its stride with weekly morality lessons and "very special episodes."

By the final season, Mrs. Garrett has gone through several career changes and been replaced by Beverly Ann Stickle (Cloris Leachman), the set is a mess of inflatable, neon palm trees and the hair is feathery and enormous. Think of it as a less funny version of "The Golden Girls." The "very special episodes" are gone, replaced by "Twilight Zone" spoofs and sequined fantasies where the girls dream of joining a punk rock band. Along the way we also see quite an impressive list of guest stars, including Seth Green, Juliette Lewis and (the sexiest man alive before he was sexy) George Clooney.

The Shout! Factory's release of The Complete Series, which aired on NBC for an astounding 9 seasons, contains all 201 episodes plus a disc full of nothing but bonus features, 26-DVDs in all. See the original crossover episode "The Girls School" (it's worth it to see Gary Colman flirt with the girls), two made of TV movies where the girls go to both Paris and Australia, two featurettes, a trivia game and a 2014 cast reunion.

With over 84 hours of content, this box set is an absolute must for TV junkies and drag queen theatre troupes who want to study-up for an off-Broadway musical parody.

"The Facts of Life: The Complete Series"
DVD
Not Rated / + 84 hours
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