Live In Front Of A Studio Audience - General Discussion

[Vgmastr]

Why did they pick one of the only Diff'rent Strokes episodes that Dana Plato wasn't in?  That couldn't have been a coincidence, especially since it wasn't a very memorable episode, there are so many better ones they could have chosen.

And yeah, I agree with most, Dowd and Lithgow were great since they were adults playing adults.  This would have been so much better with young actors and actresses playing the kid parts.  I'm surprised that any of the Facts of Life set was left after all of the adults playing teenagers chewed it up so bad.

[greekmom]

1 minute ago, vb68 said:

They probably should have had Lisa Whechel play Blair again. I think that would have added something more to it.

I like Aniston fine, but it was more like Blair by way of Rachel. 

Aniston was the worst of them all - agreed. I see it was probably nepotism as one of the executive producers was Justin Theroux.

I really could see Miles Brown from Black-ish playing Willis. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I liked Facts of Life, Mrs. Garrett and the commercials. Diff'rent Strokes seemed to go on and on. 

I wouldn't have picked those 2 episodes. 

[greekmom]

They should have done One Day at a Time and Maude.

 

[vb68]

I have wondered who they would get for Maude since the first All in the Family they did.

ETA: Honestly I don't even associate Different Strokes or Facts of Life with Norman Lear. I guess I should, but they seem more like shows for kids/young teens than I associate with Lear. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by vb68

[ByaNose]

The sets were amazing considering they’re 40 years old. Lisa Whelchel looks exactly the same. Kim Fields looked like she didn’t want to be there since she probably knew the script they were using and “she” barely had any lines. Jo was was good but much meaner here than when Nancy McKeon played it. Mrs. Garret and Mr. Drummond were spot on. They were both well done but not as ground breaking as All in the Family & The Jefferson’s were. I would think Maude & One Day at a Time would have to be next special whenever the next ones are done. 

[seasons]

I suspended my disbelief and just went with it on both shows tonight. I really enjoyed both. I was just glad to see both shows come to life again. I do wish they had recast Kimberly Drummond, would have been nice, felt like something was missing for me. Kevin Hart as Arnold with John Lithgow lap scene was fantastic. Kevin Hart overall as Arnold was great.

I enjoy reading everyone's take on it. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by seasons
Lisa W. I'll have what she's having!

[greekmom]

Just now, seasons said:

 I do wish they had recast Kimberly Drummond, would have been nice, felt like something was missing for me.

Kimberly was not in the original episode.

Would have been nice if they picked an episode that the character was in.

[kib]

Nice Easter Egg ABC tossed in with a couple of the 3:4 aspect ratio promo's voiced by none other than the late, great voice of the American Broadcasting Company, Mr. Ernie Anderson.  They were for Kimmel's show, which Anderson would have still been alive to do the actual voiceover.

[greekmom]

25 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I have wondered who they would get for Maude since the first All in the Family they did.

Jane Lynch for Maude.

 

[Irlandesa]

31 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Aniston was the worst of them all - agreed. I see it was probably nepotism as one of the executive producers was Justin Theroux.

Unless I'm not keeping up with celeb gossip, Justin and Jennifer haven't been together in years.  She got cast because she's a big name.  (And good friends with Kimmel, I believe.)

I do agree that she was the weak link in The Facts of Life reboot.  I enjoyed the others, though. 

The Different Strokes episode was more polished.  I didn't care that adults played children.  I think that was part of the intended fun of the two episodes and it definitely worked for me.  I loved how Damon wayans waddled up the staircase.  Casting tall actors like Lithgow, Damon and Snoop against Hart was inspired casting and Hart played the physicality of it all to perfection.  Snoop was surprisingly natural.

[UYI]

On 12/4/2021 at 1:47 PM, UYI said:

I feel like Lisa Whelchel is a lock. 

WHO CALLED IT? XD

Okay, so I'm not THAT surprised, but I didn't expect her to do the theme song! I've been a fan for years, so I already knew how fantastic she still looks; this is just further confirmation. 58 and fabulous, indeed.

And of course, I loved seeing Mindy (I've gotten used to the gray hair--she has a show on YouTube called Mondays with Mindy, and I've seen snippets of it before), and Kim as well. The only reason I wasn't completely shocked that Nancy wasn't there is because she skipped the reunion movie 20 years ago--but I was still surprised that there wasn't even a mention of her.

I won't lie--I started crying when Todd Bridges named all of his late co-stars. I especially loved/love Dana Plato--knowing that her son, Tyler, committed suicide almost eleven years to the day after she did--damn, just tragic. (And it was quickly overshadowed by Gary Coleman's death shortly afterwards, too.)

But it really is true that no one would have expected, all those years ago, that he would have outlived them all, given how turbulent his own life was for many years. He has survived, and thrived, and it is has been WELL-earned, for sure. 

As for the shows themselves--yes, there were some cringe moments, for sure, but I learned to enjoy it for what it was, and I loved how faithful Mrs. Garrett and Tootie were to the originals, especially in how they were dressed and made up (there was a bit of Mrs. G's voice that verged too much on parody for me at times, but it was certainly very accurate overall!).

And OMG, the commercials (Alfonso Ribeiro will be making BANK from tonight, that's for sure). The 80's style promos with the announcer imitating the late great Voice of ABC, Ernie Anderson. Just wonderful. I may have been born in 1989, but I am an expert, if amateur, historian in 80's television, thank you very much. ;)

And yes, like Betty White, Norman Lear will be 100 next year! We must PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS, too! :D 

 

3 hours ago, kib said:

Nice Easter Egg ABC tossed in with a couple of the 3:4 aspect ratio promo's voiced by none other than the late, great voice of the American Broadcasting Company, Mr. Ernie Anderson.  They were for Kimmel's show, which Anderson would have still been alive to do the actual voiceover.

You beat me to it! What a great, distinctive voice he had. He did a lot of radio voiceover work, too. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by UYI

[kib]

Quote

You beat me to it! What a great, distinctive voice he had. He did a lot of radio voiceover work, too. 

If we want to go down the rabbit hole even further, I noticed there was a commercial in the broadcast for the new film "Licorice Pizza". The film was directed by Ernie's son, Paul Thomas Anderson.

Edited December 8, 2021 by kib

[possibilities]

Weird that the super ewalthy Mr Drummond didn't have enough bedrooms. I never thought about that before.

[UYI]

1 minute ago, possibilities said:

Weird that the super ewalthy Mr Drummond didn't have enough bedrooms. I never thought about that before.

I literally said the same thing, like, you're rich, dude, they shouldn't HAVE to share a bedroom in a damn penthouse. 

[Bastet]

I never watched either of these shows regularly - I'm not sure I ever realized they were Norman Lear shows; they're certainly not his best! - but I saw them enough to know the basics of the main characters.

Who I don't know is half these actors.  Every time someone walks out, the audience goes wild, and half the time I either don't know them or it takes me a bit to recognize them, and I'm sitting here muttering Damn, I'm out of touch.

I'd be even worse off if they'd cast younger folks, and I can't decide if they should have.  On one hand, of course, but on the other I kind of like people who probably remember these shows paying homage.

Whoever is playing Mrs. Garrett is doing a parody of Charlotte Rae, but oddly it is totally working for me, but whoever is playing Jo is terrible.  Gabrielle Union really isn't evoking Tootie for me, but I'm enjoying her.

And I'm loving the hell out of the commercials.

Unfortunately, I tuned in late, so I missed the original FoL cast members singing the theme song.  I'll have to watch that online, as it sounds fun.  Ooh, I just got to see them at the end.  I've seen Kim Fields recently, on The Upshaws, but the others I haven't seen since back in the day.  Lisa Whelchel looks the same.  I just know her as being so obnoxiously God Squad she nixed a totally logical storyline of Blair - who, ya know, did not share her religious rules - having, gasp, sex, so I'm certainly not a fan, but it was nice to see her and the others do this (not that I blame Nancy McKeon for skipping it, mind you).

Now DS is starting; this might be a bit sad since almost all the originals couldn't participate even if they wanted to, being dead and all.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Bastet

[UYI]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

 

 Lisa Welchel looks the same.  I just know her as being so obnoxiously God Squad she nixed a totally logical storyline of Blair - who, ya know, did not share her religious rules - having, gasp, sex, so I'm certainly not a fan, but it was nice to see her and the others do this (not that I blame Nancy McKean for skipping it, mind you).

 

For what it's worth, Lisa Whelchel seems to have evolved a LOT on her views--she's still a Christian, but from interviews I've seen in recent years, including one she did with Mindy Cohn on the latter's podcast earlier this year, she's MUCH more open-minded now--I think the turning point was her divorce a decade ago; she has talked about how the religious views she grew up with led her to marry someone (her pastor at the time, at that--who was also over a decade older than her) who she otherwise didn't have very much in common with (although they still had three kids together); she has since remarried and seems to accept a type of Christianity that is not so uptight and old-fashioned now.

She has also been open about her support for LGBTQIA+ rights, too. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by UYI

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, vb68 said:

I guess I should, but they seem more like shows for kids/young teens than I associate with Lear. 

If you've seen the first season of Diff'rent Strokes, it has more of a Norman Lear flavor to it.  The humor is a little more topical, and this episode aside, it's less of what it becomes later. 

1 hour ago, ByaNose said:

The sets were amazing considering they’re 40 years old.

I'm not completely sure how to take this comment, but they weren't using the original sets.  They just rebuilt the sets for this show.   

[UYI]

2 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

 

I'm not completely sure how to take this comment, but they weren't using the original sets.  They just rebuilt the sets for this show.   

This. 

I believe they were in the original studio/soundstage, though.

[coconspirator]

I enjoyed the heck out of both shows despite the flawed casting. A big chunk of my childhood childhood revolved around watching DIff’rent Strokes and Facts of Life. Silver Spoons was in there somewhere too! 
 

Anyone know why Nancy McKeon didn’t make an appearance. I don’t recall hearing she passed on so I ask assuming she’s still alive. 
 

Lisa has aged like fine wine. 
 

It was sad when Todd Bridges acknowledged the passing off all his co-stars. I knew they were gone but hearing their names reminded me of how much time has passed. 

[UYI]

3 minutes ago, coconspirator said:

 

Anyone know why Nancy McKeon didn’t make an appearance. I don’t recall hearing she passed on so I ask assuming she’s still alive. 
 

 

She's definitely still alive, but I'm not sure why she wasn't there. I know she didn't do the reunion TV movie in 2001 because she was starring on the Lifetime series The Division at the time--and there was definitely a period of time where she was distancing herself from Jo as much as possible--but I somehow don't think that's the case now; God knows she's done COUNTLESS interviews talking about the show since then. 

[Bastet]

Unlike with FoL, I recognized the DS cast, and without sitting here squinting and asking my cat "I know them; who is that?"

It was a boring episode, though, at least for someone like me who doesn't really know the show.  It's weird they picked one without Kimberly.

(And, yeah, how in all hell does someone Drummond rich not have enough bedrooms for the brothers not to have to share?).

Lawdy, though, these commercials are the greatest part of this whole thing.  Kudos to all involved.

It was nice to see everyone (OGs and actors from both casts) enjoying each other so much after the second episode ended.  But Lisa Whelchel's placement in the back meant she was totally hidden by Jimmy Kimmel; at first I thought she wasn't even there.

And was Todd Bridges still there?  Now that I type this I can't place him.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Bastet

[UYI]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

  And was Todd Bridges still there?  Now that I type this I can't place him.

He was there; I spotted him and his bald head a few times, lol. 

[possibilities]

I never watched FOL so I can't compare to the original,  but Jo was my favorite part of this episode. Did people not like her because she's different than the original, or ...?

[McKavity]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I never watched FOL so I can't compare to the original,  but Jo was my favorite part of this episode. Did people not like her because she's different than the original, or ...?

I didn’t like the portrayal because other than the ponytail, it was nothing like the original character.  Jo was never obnoxious (as portrayed here - it felt like someone doing an over the top Shatner impression!). Jo was tough but sensitive.  Tough outer shell because she came from a different economic background than the rest of the students, and didn’t think she’d fit in.  She was always my favourite character…

Edited December 8, 2021 by McKavity

[ch1]

Hahn was trying way too hard.  She was doing a caricature of Jo.  

 

 

[shapeshifter]

A bit too weird for me, but then most of the popular SNL is too weird for me to enjoy too.

Most distractingly weird for me were 99-year-old Norman Lear’s pony tail and Jennifer Anniston’s Botox-frozen mouth. 

Nevertheless, Kevin Hart might get an Emmy nom out of this farce.

And, while I agree that Ann Dowd did well, Allison Tolman was at least equally good in her role—as she always is, and deserving of recognition.   
But check out Allison Tolman in season 2 of Why Women Kill on Paramount+ and season 1 of Fargo on Hulu to see her talents more fully utilized as a lead.

Edited December 8, 2021 by shapeshifter

[greekmom]

They really did pick two of the worst episodes to portray on the show.

FoL they could have done Season 6 episode 12 (the girls were in college by then) of  "The Rich Aren't Different" where Jo borrows and breaks Blair's watch and Blair takes her to small claims court.

Different Strokes is harder but I would say a great one would have been from Season 6 episode 1: "Mr. T and Mr. t" "The Idol" when an episode of The A-Team is filmed in the Drummonds' apartment, Arnold has to compete with Mr. T for the affection of Dudley's cousin Angela, so Arnold tries to turn himself into a mini Mr. T, with embarrassing results.

I think those two episodes could have worked with the adults especially if they actually got Mr. T to reprise his role. 

While I love Kevin Hart, and he tried his best, I don't see him winning an emmy for this.

I hope the casting is better next time.

[alexa]

I definitely preferred Facts of Life, though I agree Jennifer Aniston didn't add much, and Jo's character was awful in this version.  I thought the same thing that Blair could have just been Blair--she was fabulous.  I thought Kim Fields came across as super awkward and uncomfortable which seemed strange to me.  

Different Strokes just bored me to no end.  I liked Mr. Drummond, and Ms Garrett, but the storyline dragged and it really needed to be an episode with Kimberley.  I didn't mind the older actors, but the storyline seemed silly to have the grown men playing boys fighting about the space in their bedroom.  

[seasons]

I read that in DS they tried to cast taller actors to make KH's Arnold seem smaller. Kevin really nailed that role in every way, especially the facial expressions. Also loved the somersault onto his bunk bed and the struggle to climb back down to the floor. 

[bunnyface]

I didn't see any previous information about this, just kind of stumbled across it in the guide and watched it because I loved FoL when I was a kid.  Lisa Whelchel looked amazing and is a decent singer.  If I didn't know about her religious leanings, I'd think she'd made a deal with the devil.  Because the other actresses her age last night?  Have destroyed their looks with weird procedures.

On DS, I thought it was weird that there weren't enough bedrooms either, but then when you count, there are 4 bedrooms.  (Mrs. Garrett lived here originally, Mr. Drummond, Kimberly and the boys.)  From what I understand of Manhattan real estate, four bedrooms is pretty good.  I mean they could move or something, but for the circumstances they were in, four is a large apartment.  If I ever saw that episode originally, I wouldn't have questioned it and really didn't thing about it hard last night either.  

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But check out Allison Tolman in season 2 of Why Women Kill on Paramount+ and season 1 of Fargo on Hulu to see her talents more fully utilized as a lead.

Also, the short lived Emergence, which made me let go of my irrational hate for her lol.

The Facts of Life one was pretty bad, which was a bit disappointing since I love Facts of Life.

I'm not as familiar with Different Strokes but I absolutely loved this version. Kevin Hart was amazing. They all were.

[UYI]

49 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

I didn't see any previous information about this, just kind of stumbled across it in the guide and watched it because I loved FoL when I was a kid.  Lisa Whelchel looked amazing and is a decent singer.  If I didn't know about her religious leanings, I'd think she'd made a deal with the devil.  Because the other actresses her age last night?  Have destroyed their looks with weird procedures.

 

What's amazing is Lisa is actually the OLDEST of the original FOL girls:

Lisa Whelchel: Born May 29th, 1963 (age 58)

Nancy McKeon: Born April 4th, 1966 (age 55)

Mindy Cohn: Born May 20th, 1966 (age 55)

Kim Fields: Born May 12th, 1969 (age 52)

And since I forgot to mention this night: I love Jennifer Aniston, I always have, but her Blair was basically Rachel Green Goes to Eastland. 

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, alexa said:

I definitely preferred Facts of Life, though I agree Jennifer Aniston didn't add much, and Jo's character was awful in this version.  I thought the same thing that Blair could have just been Blair--she was fabulous.  I thought Kim Fields came across as super awkward and uncomfortable which seemed strange to me. 

Yeah, Kim did seem uncomfortable, but I suppose it is kind of a strange environment.  Lisa got to dress up and sing the theme song, while Kim and Mindy just kind of stood there for a few seconds of smiling and waving without much else to do.

 

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

On DS, I thought it was weird that there weren't enough bedrooms either, but then when you count, there are 4 bedrooms.  (Mrs. Garrett lived here originally, Mr. Drummond, Kimberly and the boys.)  From what I understand of Manhattan real estate, four bedrooms is pretty good.  I mean they could move or something, but for the circumstances they were in, four is a large apartment.  If I ever saw that episode originally, I wouldn't have questioned it and really didn't thing about it hard last night either.  

 I would look at it this way.  The apartment was originally meant for three people to live there, i.e. Kimberly, Mr. Drummond and the housekeeper.  Arnold and Willis were unexpected additions.  They may have to share a room, but the room is large and has its own bathroom.  That's a pretty darn good setup.   

[Blakeston]

These were definitely not the best episodes of either show, but I think they were chosen because all of the scenes could easily be done within the confines of the houses where they were set.

The biggest disappointment for me, casting-wise, was Gabrielle Union, because she wasn't even trying to act or sound like Tootie. She was playing the role flippantly, with zero enthusiasm, which was not what Tootie was like at all.

Kathryn Hahn did a caricature of Jo, which was based more on how a lot people remember Jo (super-butch and in-your-face) than what Jo actually was like. But I didn't have a problem with that. It was kind of funny, and it worked with what Jo said and did in the episode.

Anne Dowd and Allison Tolman were great, which I fully expected. Kevin Hart was also great, which I was not expecting.

[DanaK]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

Weird that the super ewalthy Mr Drummond didn't have enough bedrooms. I never thought about that before.

Wasn't it possible that the brothers simply wanted to share a bedroom when they first got there? It's been too long since I watched the show so I can't recall

[Blakeston]

In this episode, Mr. Drummond told them that there were no other bedrooms available.

This reminded me how much of a brat Arnold was. i wish someone had told him, "If you don't want Willis to resent sharing a room with you, don't put disgusting old food in his drawers, and don't mess with his school project."

[cpcathy]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Anne Dowd and Allison Tolman were great, which I fully expected. Kevin Hart was also great, which I was not expecting.

Tolman and Hart were my heroes of the night. On the downside, these shows are getting worse, can we move away from the Norman Lear shows or is that set in stone?

[GHScorpiosRule]

I haven't seen these. Not sure I want to, but...

From some of the behind the scenes I've watched, Anne Dowd has Mrs. Garrett's look down pat from her year on Diff'rent Strokes. Plus, I've seen her in many shows, going back to her many appearances on Law & Order and its spin offs.

As for Nancy not appearing? I don't blame her. She may not want to revisit the show, or be part of any movies, but she did show up for interviews. She was there in the last/final interview Charlotte Rae was doing about the show on some anniversary, I think. And all the girls showed up.

I love Jon Stewart, but good GOD. The issue with the character he's playing was horrible acne--being called "Pizza Face" and the like.

Now I may just check it out for Anne Dowd and John Lithgow.

And add me to the list that didn't know that these shows were part of Norman Lear's creations! And I grew up watching both; and watched Facts of Life after it went off the air in syndication and I swear, I don't recall ever seeing his name in the credits.

Too Bad they didn't do the Jermaine Jackson episode!😝

[UYI]

Steve French, who did the Ernie Anderson impression last night, made a Twitter thread of the ABC promos:

 

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And add me to the list that didn't know that these shows were part of Norman Lear's creations! And I grew up watching both; and watched Facts of Life after it went off the air in syndication and I swear, I don't recall ever seeing his name in the credits.

 

I think they were a part his production company, Tandem Productions, so while he had a hand in developing them, since he wasn't technically the creator of either of them, like he was for All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, that's probably why his involvement isn't as universally known. 

[Lovecat]

14 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Also, Kevin Hart as Arnold was inspired casting.

It was indeed!  A lot of commenters here have been wondering why they didn't cast more age-appropriate folks, but I think that was part of the fun, and the DS cast definitely leaned into the absurdity a lot more than the FoL cast.  The physical comedy alone--John Lithgow carrying Kevin Hart out of the kitchen on his hip, then Hart climbing into Lithgow's lap; Hart struggling to get down from the bunk bed; Hart and Damon Wayans squeezing into that twin bed--had me laughing out loud.  Yeah, that was kind of a stinker of an episode, but I thought they put just enough wink-wink into the performance to save things.  The ad libs were hilarious, too: "Why do I have to go to bed at the same time Arnold does?  I'm 13 [hee!]...and even though he looks 45, Arnold's only 8! [ah-hahahaha!!]."  "Hey Willis? [though Hart said "Hey, Vern" first]...why does Vern always smell like weed?"  Wayans and Hart were great. 

14 hours ago, McKavity said:

Kathryn Hahn as Jo is not enjoyable (Jo was always one of my favourites).  Never been impressed by Jennifer Anniston, and this didn’t change my opinion - and Lisa Welchel was right there!  Gabrielle Union didn’t have enough to do, and I enjoyed Allison Tolman and Anne Dowd.

Agree with the comments above that it would have been better with actual teenagers (or even 20 somethings), but still a fun watch!

Agree with all this.  I loved Jo and Natalie as a kid--I was kind of a combo of the two, a chubby non-girly girl--and thought Hahn was a little OTT.  Tolman did a great job, but I think Anne Dowd was the MVP of both episodes.

14 hours ago, greekmom said:

So nice to see Todd Bridges and I'm shocked that he is the only one left from the cast.

That was sobering, no pun intended.  I don't think I ever realized that they were all gone now except him.  I'm glad he seems to have turned his life around, but kept thinking "For the love of god, keep Todd away from Snoop!"

14 hours ago, vb68 said:

I like Aniston fine, but it was more like Blair by way of Rachel. 

I accidentally erased the part of your quote talking about Lisa Welchel being RIGHT THERE and ready to be Blair again, but I agree with you--I even found myself wondering if she was wearing her original Eastman uniform!  She looked fantastic, and yeah, if I didn't know how much she loves Jesus, I'd swear she was bathing in the blood of the innocent.  Blair had a very particular way of speaking--she just oooooozed snobbery--and Jennifer Aniston didn't even try to put her own spin on that.

 

[UYI]

11 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

 

I accidentally erased the part of your quote talking about Lisa Welchel being RIGHT THERE and ready to be Blair again, but I agree with you--I even found myself wondering if she was wearing her original Eastman uniform!  She looked fantastic, and yeah, if I didn't know how much she loves Jesus, I'd swear she was bathing in the blood of the innocent.  Blair had a very particular way of speaking--she just oooooozed snobbery--and Jennifer Aniston didn't even try to put her own spin on that.

 

It's funny--even though Lisa Whelchel was never the world's greatest actress or anything, I DO think, for all of her (Blair's) snobbery, she still brought a humanity to Blair that I'm not sure/don't think just any other actress would have necessarily brought to the part, if that makes any sort of sense. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by UYI

[Thalia]

2 hours ago, bunnyface said:

Lisa Whelchel looked amazing and is a decent singer.  If I didn't know about her religious leanings, I'd think she'd made a deal with the devil.  Because the other actresses her age last night?  Have destroyed their looks with weird procedures.

Actresses like Jennifer Anniston and Courtney Cox have always been, and apparently work to stay, stick thin.   Their faces have suffered for it, and they are apparently smokers, which also ruins the skin.  Whelchel has always had a beautiful figure, but it is one that carries a few more pounds than Hollywood deems acceptable for female leads.  The upside for Lisa is that her face remains absolutely gorgeous.  

Edited December 8, 2021 by Thalia

[Yogisbooboo64]

For me, Facts of Life gets a ‘D-‘ for effort.

The only standouts were Ann Dowd as Mrs. Garrett and Kathyrn Hahn as Jo, though Kathyrn was a bit Laurie Metcalf-ish.  Gabrielle Union was miscast as Tootie, she was playing Gabrielle Union doing Tootie.  Jennifer Aniston is too handsome to play the beautiful Blair Warner, hell they should have had Lisa do it.

Dang Nancy….you did Dancing with the Stars, you couldn’t have shown up for at least a few minutes?  Kim did look uncomfortable being there.

Diff’rent Strokes – ‘B’

Heh, I was hoping they’d do the ‘very special’ bicycle shop eppy too.  Kevin Hart was hysterical as Arnold and I liked John Lithgow.  Loved the addition of the legendary Snoop Dogg.  Good to see Todd Bridges, always had a soft spot for him.

Alfonso Ribeiro is a fool!  Loved the commercials, Jennifer Beals was funny too.  Also thought the current shows done in 70’s prime-time was cool.

If they do this again, I want One Day at a Time, and not that awful remake!  Maude would be great too.

[Arcadiasw]

They should've casted Lisa Whelchel again for Blair. Jennifer Aniston casting was the worst. Sad that Todd Bridges is the only main cast  member still alive.

I loved the commercials! They made up for an underwhelming show

Edited December 8, 2021 by Arcadiasw

[UYI]

Sorry, I feel like I keep coming back here too much--I can't help it; I am in my ELEMENT talking classic TV/TV trivia in general (it's kind of pathetic how little modern TV I watch, especially given how young I am--I'm 32) , this is like Heaven for me--but this is actually not the first time Lisa has turned up in her old Eastland uniform again.

In 2012, when she appeared on Survivor: Philippines (which was the same year she divorced her first husband--I think both events marked a turning point in how rigid/open-minded she was/is in her Christian beliefs; she essentially did these two things back-to-back), she guest hosted the Talk one day, with everyone dressed up in full FOL regalia--and here is Lisa, who was 49 at the time, dressed in the old Eastland uniform.

Like I said before, it amuses me seeing so many people so shocked at how Lisa still basically looks EXACTLY the same, because for us diehard FOL fans/TV trivia nuts, as the kids today would say: WE BEEN KNEW! ;) 

Edited December 8, 2021 by UYI

[GHScorpiosRule]

I thought Hahn was HORRIBLE as Jo. No subtlety there at all, not to mention there was nothing of Jo in her performance; or Union's of Tootie, or Aniston as Blair. Not familiar with the actress who played Natalie, but she was...okay.

Ann Dowd got the voice of Edna Garrett just so RIGHT.

They should have gone with the original plot-that Carl had a severe case of acne; and his character was very *wink* *wink* when bidding for dinner with Blair, and very confident. Not whatever Jon Stewart was going for here.

Kim Fields just did NOT want to be there. I see no reason why Lisa couldn't have reprised her role and just played Blair again. Aniston was horrible. I think Elle Reese Witherspoon could have been a better Blair.

Difff'rent Strokes was better. And the two members from Boyz II Men's singing the theme song gave me goosebumps!

The commercials were a HOOT!

Edited December 10, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[Browncoat]

Just in case you want to watch the ads again (like I did!):

https://www.adweek.com/agencies/here-are-the-surreal-retro-ads-that-ran-during-the-diffrent-strokes-facts-of-life-reboot/

 

[UYI]

 

[Yogisbooboo64]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Kim Fields just did NOT want to be there.

I bet she was thinking - “I played the legendary Regine Hunter now I’m Regina Upshaw and sometimes I even direct yet you motherfuckas STILL call me ‘Tootie’?!”

Edited December 8, 2021 by Yogisbooboo64