THE FACTS OF LIFE (1979 - 1988)

 

Created by: Dick Clair, Jenna McMahon

Starring: Hakeem Abdul-Samad, Sarah Abrell, David Ackroyd, Tan Adams, Ric Addison, Pamela Adlon, Robert Alda, Norman Alden, Frank Aletter, Toby Alexander, Judson Allen, Jeff Allin, Jane Anderson, Jerry Anderson, Richard Dean Anderson, Steven Anderson, Starr Andreeff, Bo Anthony, Bill Applebaum, Barbara Arms, Evan Arnold, Lee Arnone-Briggs, David Arnott, Rene Assa, John Astin, Mackenzie Astin, Alan Autry, Conrad Bain, Jimmy Baio, Wendell Baker, Patrik Baldauff, Alan Bardsley, Marcie Barkin, Jenna Barlow Grodsky, Jimmy Baron, Peter Barth, Harry Basil, Danielle Bateman, Orson Bean, John C. Becher, Matt Beck, Sam Behrens, Bern Bennett, Terrah Bennett Smith, Pat Benson, Rob Berger, John Bernabei, Jason Bernard, Robyn Bernard, Nat Bernstein, Mayim Bialik, Billie Bird, Alan Blumenfeld, William Bogert, David Bond, Barry Borofsky, Alexandra Borrie, Greg Bradford, Clark Brandon, Stephen Breithaupt, Randy Brenner, Richard Brestoff, Todd Bridges, Claude Brooks, Joel Brooks, D.W. Brown, Reb Brown, Woody Brown, Bella Bruck, Joseph Brutsman, Scott Bryce, John Buchanan, Vincent Bufano, Joyce Bulifant, Betty Bunch, Mark Burke, Mary Burkin, Fritzi Burr, Jan Burrell, Norman Burton, Warren Burton, Sky Bushey, Thomas Byrd, Jon Caliri, Mars Callahan, Dean Cameron, Alan Campbell, Bonnie Campbell-Britton, Adam Carl, Christopher Carroll, Andrew Cassese, Judith Cassmore, Ryan Cassidy, Richard Cerenzio, Charles Champion, Jeffrey Alan Chandler, Sidney Chankin, Charo, Lilyan Chauvin, Colby Chester, Marcus Chong, Blake Clark, Tim T. Clark, Patrick Cleary, George Clooney, Jeff Cohen, Mindy Cohn, Pamela Cohn, Gary Coleman, Signy Coleman, Rusty Colemon, Bill Collins, Ray Combs, Paul Comi, Kelly Ann Conn, Kathy Connell, Paige Conner, Cathleen Cordell, Nick Corri, Nicolas Coster, Jerome Courshon, Kimberly Craig, Grant Cramer, Lee Crawford, Patrick Cronin, Pepe Crow, Kristin Cumming, Barry Cutler, Hannah Cutrona, Concetta D'Agnese, Ken Daly, Michael Damian, Bill Dana, Kim Darby, Johnny Dark, Linda Darlow, David Datz, Lewis Dauber, Gary Lee Davis, Joshua Davis, Susan Davis, Joel Davison, Mark Davitt, Cristy Dawson, Danny Dayton, El DeBarge, Peter DeLuise, John DeMita, Sean De Veritch, Eddie Deezen, John Del Regno, Charlie Dell, Flo Di Re, Edith Diaz, Cindi Dietrich, Edna Dix, Beverly Dixon, Robert DoQui, Don Dolan, Michelle Downey, Dennis Drake, Tom Dreesen, Ja'Net DuBois, Gary Dubin, Jane Dulo, Kelley Dunn, Murphy Dunne, Christopher Durham, Marj Dusay, Phyllis Ehrlich, Belle Ellig, Tom Eplin, Cheryl Epps, Gary Erwin, Laura Esterman, Troy Evans, Nancy Everhard, Sandra Evigan, Fabian, Ron Fassler, Paul Feig, Darrell Fetty, Chip Fields, Edith Fields, Jere Fields, Kim Fields, Mike Finneran, Takayo Fischer, Rick Fitts, Rob Roy Fitzgerald, Tom Fitzsimmons, Megan Follows, Jeffrey Fox, Peter Fox, Stuart Fratkin, Peter Frechette, Joan Freeman, Kathleen Freeman, Lisa Freeman, Dan Frischman, Brian Fuld, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Holly Gagnier, Steven M. Gagnon, Bill Galligan, Ed Galloway, Martin Garner, Siedah Garrett, Larry Gelman, Rhoda Gemignani, Jami Gertz, Ian Michael Giatti, Donald Gibb, Amy Gibson, Ruth Gillette, Hugh Gillin, Clarence Gilyard Jr, Joanne Giudici, Bruce Glover, Crispin Glover, Susie Goddard, Peter Michael Goetz, John Gowans, Sarina C. Grant, Leif Green, Seth Green, Brian Greene, Kim Morgan Greene, Dawn Gregg, Richard Grieco, Evelyn Guerrero, Julie Anne Haddock, Todd Hallowell, Denise Halma, Dean Hamilton, Danna Hansen, Noelle Harling, Deborah Harmon, John Harnagel, Michael Harrington, Johnny Haymer, Dennis Haysbert, Kyle T. Heffner, Heidi Helmer, Bill Henderson, Linda Henning, Tom Henschel, Grant Heslov, Thomas Hill, Mitzi Hoag, Peter Hobbs, Tom Hodges, Anthony Holland, Fred Holliday, Shannon Holt, Robert Hooks, Hillary Horan, Patrick Horgan, Fitz Houston, Gary Hudson, Helen Hunt, Lisa Hunter, Pam Huntington, Darrow Igus, Harriet Ikenson, John Ingle, Anne Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Peter Marc Jacobson, Seth Jaffe, Talieson Jaffe, Brenda James, Kathryn Janssen, Marc Jefferson, Geri Jewell, Jay Johnson, Mike Jolly, Russ Jolly, Jeff Joseph, Jake Jundef, Richard Kantor, Ed Karvoski, John Kassir, Rosanne Katon, Nicky Katt, Betty Kean, Jane Kean, Elizabeth Keifer, Paul Keith, Dori Keller, Alexa Kenin, Elizabeth Kerr, Heather Kerr, Evonne Kezios, Dana Kimmell, Casey King, Kip King, Dudley Knight, Tuesday Knight, Sherrie Krenn, Suzanne Krull, Clyde Kusatsu, Duane LaDage, Maurice LaMarche, Dinah Lacey, Rene Lamart, Sal Landi, Dwight Larick, Richard Lasting, Cynthia Latham, Tammy Lauren, John Lawlor, John D. LeMay, Cloris Leachman, Eugene Lebowitz, Andrew J. Lederer, Beverly Leech, Nancy Lenehan, Lu Leonard, Sheldon Leonard, Ken Lerner, Loren Lester, Charles Levin, Juliette Lewis, Tyler Linkin, Philip Linton, Michele Little, Twyla Littleton, Tony Longo, Shanin Lonsway, Scotch Ellis Loring, Lisa Lucas, Franc Luz, Meredith Scott Lynn, Ryan MacDonald, Philip Charles MacKenzie, Bill Macy, Mako, Rosie Malek-Yonan, Arthur Malet, Claire Malis, Jill Mallorie, Robert Mandan, Ruth Manning, Marc D. Mantell, Ralph Manza, Ben Marley, William Marquez, Kenneth Mars, Maurice Marsac, Yves Andre Martin, Pierrino Mascarino, Murray Matheson, Walter Mathews, Donald May, Lenora May, Heather McAdam, Chip McAllister, Shane McCabe, Chuck McCann, Jim McCawley, Patrick McCollum, Scott McGinnis, Terence McGovern, Richard McKenzie, Nancy McKeon, Frances Megan, Richard Mehana, Roger Menache, Marissa Mendenhall, John Mengatti, Kres Mersky, Kerry Michaels, Michael Milhoan, Penelope Ann Miller, Richard Moll, Greg Monaghan, Sheila Monique, Jeffrey Paul Morgan, Rick Moser, Erik Moses, Danielle Nathanson, Kristin Nathanson, John P. Navin Jr, Jason Naylor, Ann Nelson, Peter Nelson, Beverly Nero, Paul Nesbitt, Lois Nettleton, Richard M. Newkirk, Kerry Noonan, Greg Norberg, Noelle North, Shawnte Northcutte, Cliff Norton, Patrick T. O'Brien, Jenny O'Hara, John O'Leary, Dick O'Neill, Devon Odessa, Lyla Oliver, Michael Orion, Perren Page, Catherine Paolone, Peter Parros, Randal Patrick, Bruce Penhall, Edward Penn, Kent Perkins, Jonathan Perpich, Roger Perry, Nehemiah Persoff, Dan Peterson, Thos Peterson, George Petrie, Robert Phalen, Demetre Phillips, Ben Piazza, Molly Picon, Julie Piekarski, William Pierson, Dana Plato, Eve Plumb, Mike Pniewski, Larry Poindexter, Tony Pope, Marc Poppel, Albert Popwell, Shirley Prestia, Michael Preston, Benito Prezia, Renee Props, Paul Provenza, Gary Quinn, Jan Rabson, Diane Racine, Charlotte Rae, John Randolph, David Raynr, Peter Reckell, Phil Redrow, Elliott Reid, Kerry Remsen, Clive Revill, Donnelly Rhodes, Adrian Ricard, Beah Richards, Lou Richards, Paul Richards, Stefanie Ridel, Susan Rinell, Molly Ringwald, Brian Robbins, Francesca P. Roberts, Bumper Robinson, John Mark Robinson, Paris Robinson, Alex Rocco, Lela Rochon, Jeffrey Rogers, Robert Romanus, Stanley Ralph Ross, Gloria Rusch, Robert Rusler, Bobby Rydell, Hodari Sababu, Ernie Sabella, Al Sapienza, Mark Savalle, Doug Savant, Joseph Savant, Felice Schachter, Georgia Schmidt, Read Scot, Danny Scott, Peter Sebastian, Eileen Seeley, Penina Segall, Aaron Seville, Matt Shakman, Barbara Sharma, Thom Sharp, John Shearin, Dave Shelley, Hazel Shermet, Armin Shimerman, Steve Shubert, Casey Siemaszko, Dean Simone, Rick Simone, Sandy Simpson, Jean Sincere, Ron Sloan, Jean Smart, Eve Smith, Tonia Gayle Smith, Suzanne Snyder, Bruce Solomon, David Spade, Dan Spector, Larry Spinak, Kevin Spirtas, Pamela Springsteen, Stacey Q, Timothy Stack, Richard Stahl, James Staley, Tony Steedman, Ashleigh Sterling, Shawn Stevens, Barbara Stock, Rob Stone, Scott Strader, Cary Stratton, Amzie Strickland, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Laura Summer, Bunny Summers, Charles Summers, Todd Susman, Steve Susskind, Kristoffer Tabori, Jill Tandy, Andre Tayir, Irene Tedrow, Claudia Templeton, John Terlesky, Kenny Tessel, Oliver Theess, David Tiefen, Kenneth Tigar, Roger Til, Lauren Tom, Paul Tompkins, Brad Trumbull, B.J. Turner, Mark Tymchyshyn, Bob Tzudiker, Mark Valenti, Dick Van Patten, Sal Viscuso, Ethan Tudor W, David Wakefield, Susan Walters, Douglas Warhit, Laura Waterbury, Louis Welch, John Welsh, Elmarie Wendel, John Wesley, Jim West, Ellen Wheeler, Lisa Whelchel, Sam Whipple, Bradley White, Sabrina Wiener, JoAnn Willette, Jeff Williams, Justin Williams, Larry Wilmore, Grant Wilson, Lee Wilson, Patricia Wilson, Thomas F. Wilson, William Windom, Greg Winfield, Sonya Winton, Roz Witt, Ian Wolfe, Meg Wyllie, David Wysocki, Erica Yohn, Moon Unit Zappa, Michael Zorek

201 episodes

(TV-PG - adult themes, adult situations)

PLOT:

Mrs. Edna Garrett, housemother and dietitian at the Eastland School, teaches to a group of girls in her charge how to solve those problems that every teenager has to face.

season 1 - 

Cindy decides not to attend the Harvest Ball when Blair intimates that because of her tomboyishness she might be a lesbian. Blair fears she will get a reputation for being "easy" because her multiple-divorce' mother is caught flirting with another student's married father. Mrs. Garrett considers her ex-husband's proposal of remarriage, but changes her mind when she discovers he is teaching the girls how to gamble. When Tootie stumbles upon elementary school IQ results ordered by their headmaster, the girls are stunned to find out that their scores don't necessarily match their current academic reputation. Tootie's father thinks Mrs. Garrett's influence over his daughter is holding her back. Tootie's latest ambition? To open a beauty salon! Blair plagiarizes an Emily Dickinson poem about beauty, but gets caught when the headmaster submits it into a competition, and it wins. Sue Ann goes on a crash diet after the pressure of everyone's body-consciousness, and Blairs intimating that a boy won't like her, makes her feel fat. To the chagrin of the headmaster, Mrs. Garrett holds a sex education class. Meanwhile Blair gets into a compromising situation with a boy and has to make a tough decision. A serious flood hits Peekskill, so Blair and Tootie rush to the stables to protect the animals, only to become trapped there. When Mr. Bradley rescues them, Blair develops a case of hero worship which she mistakes for love. Blair noses into Natalie's business and arranges for her to talk to her birth mother by phone. The headmaster pits two of the girls against each other in a track competition, which causes conflicts. Molly's upset that her parents are getting a divorce, so the girls decide to try and get them back together. But her father shows up with "someone". Blair gets Sue Ann into a clique known as "The Group, " whose members are all marijuana smokers. 

season 2 - 

A new student, Jo Polniaczek, arrives at Eastland. The girls are put on probation and must work in the cafeteria to pay off their damages. Blair is shocked when her boyfriend invites Jo to a cotillion at a country club. Tootie falls for a black boy who tries to drive a wedge between her and her white friends. Blair's cousin Geri, a comedian who has Cerebral Palsy, comes to visit. Mrs. Garrett's birthday is coming up, and when Jo can't afford a present for her, she decides to steal one. Jo's boyfriend Eddie goes AWOL from his Naval base in Chicago to propose marriage. Mrs. Garrett tries to stop Jo and Eddie from driving to West Virginia to get married. Tootie's gossiping causes a rift between Blair, Jo, and Nancy, and almost costs Mrs. Garrett her job. Blair gets involved in a tough campaign for class president but things take a serious turn when one of the girls commits suicide. A boy with whom Natalie studies spreads rumors about their friendship that damage her reputation while supposedly helping his own. Jo is up for the Best New Student of the Year award, but her joy is dampened by a letter from her father. She never told anyone that he is in the State Penitentiary for burgling the warehouse where he once worked. Tootie is lured into doing a photo shoot for a fashion photographer. Blair is selling Countess Calvert cosmetics, and she uses Natalie as a model. Mrs. Garrett's son Alex visits her at Eastland. Natalie is impressed by his claims of having played on several recording sessions for popular musicians, but Blair doesn't trust him. Tootie's uncle Brian and aunt Sylvia are a mixed couple -- he's white and she's black. When Tootie and Natalie visit them in Buffalo, Sylvia receives a job offer in New York City. 

season 3 - 

Blair brings home two bottles of fine European wine, and Tootie drinks some to show how "adult" she is. Natalie withdraws from her life after an attempted sexual assault. Blair's friend Allison disappears after visiting, leaving her baby in the girls' care. Blair's mother arrives on a surprise visit and Blair is ecstatic until dire news is revealed about her mother's health. In an article for the school newspaper Jo reports that her journalism teacher, Mr. Gideon, whom she thinks dislikes her, was arrested in a cocaine raid. Mrs. Garrett must take a second job at the Howard Johnson's when she loses her pension. This takes a toll on her mood and her Eastland work, so she must choose between the two. Jo's boyfriend Eddie returns just as she is partnered with another boy, Bob, in a marriage study group. Jo soon starts to take more of an interest in him beyond their studies, but this bothers her because of her loyalty to Eddie. Natalie's Grandma Mona, a Russian Jewish immigrant, comes to visit her. Tootie wants to impress the older girls who are going on a camping trip with some boys from Bates. She types a phony love letter from a camp counselor at the summer camp she attended. Mr. Palmer, the French teacher, asks Geri out on a date. She seems to be having a good time, but Blair believes the man has an ulterior motive for taking her cousin out. Blair learns that her late grandfather, whom she idealized, was a supporter and benefactor of the Ku Klux Klan. When Tootie beats Natalie for the lead role in the school play, a rift grows between the two of them. A Japanese student's father objects to her daughter's adoption of Western cultural values. Blair goes on a double date with Mrs. Garrett and her longtime friend Ernest Melbourne, worrying that the two of them might get married. For the thrill of her life, Tootie was invited to Jermaine Jackson's concert due to her efforts of his fan club. However, Jo was preparing for a Scholarship Fair which falls on the same night of the concert. Mrs. Garrett, informed Tootie that she cannot go to the concert because, she made a prior commitment. In order to get her way, Tootie throws a full blown tantrum with tears in her eyes. At the concert, Tootie finally got to see her idol but sadly, she was left heartbroken in the dressing room. The girls start to become annoyed by each other's little personality quirks. When Mrs. Garrett tells them they've paid off their damages to the school van, they decide to go their separate ways. Mrs. Garrett and the girls spend an afternoon in New York City, where they go to Pagliacci's, a high-profile Italian restaurant. Natalie is devastated when she sees her father kissing another woman across the dining room. Even though her parents refused to give her permission to go with Mrs. Garrett and the older girls, Tootie runs away to New York to meet up with them. There, she meets a teenage prostitute who tries to recruit her into her line of work. Blair and Jo go to visit old friends in New York, where they find that things have changed considerably. During the preparations for a box lunch charity auction, the girls are gazing over an Eastland/Bates "Slam Book", in which those writing the comments are identified by numbers instead of names. Mrs. Garrett is horrified by the cruel comments in there. When Blair reveals to one of the Bates boys that Natalie is number 10, Natalie gets her revenge by telling a Bates boy named Carl Price, whom the other boys tease because of his severe acne, which of the box lunches belongs to Blair. Natalie institutes nine rules of privacy after she learns that Blair looked in her diary. The girls go to a school dance with boys from nearby Stone Military Academy. Jo visits her relatives in New Jersey, where her tomboyish 14-year-old cousin Terry puts on a dress and makeup to impress a boy. When the school library institutes a censorship policy, Natalie is bounced from the school paper for speaking out against it, and Mrs. Garrett is asked by Mr. Parker not to comment on the issue. 

season 4 - 

Due to budget cuts at Eastland, Jo will lose her scholarship. With a deadline to find another at the end of the week, she is excited to find the one for which she qualifies--until she discovers that it's funded by Blair's family. Natalie fabricates a story about an unnamed Eastland student who had an abortion. Tootie refuses to believe she is suffering from hearing loss until she is in an accident. Eastland's oldest living graduate returns to the school. Blair befriends a mentally handicapped artist. Natalie finally uncovers the name of her biological mother. While working at a garage, Jo receives a promotion after impressing her boss. However, this causes a rift between her and Doug, her boyfriend and coworker. When an IRS agent pays her a visit, Blair discovers that her father has been using her for a string of potentially illegal tax dodges. Natalie covers a boxing match at Stone Military Academy, the nearby boys' school, for the school paper. Natalie refuses to go to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance. Mrs. Garrett receives a marriage proposal from her elderly boyfriend. An obnoxious young heiress enrolls at Eastland. Jo is concerned by Blair's infatuation with a boy who treats her poorly. When Mrs. Garrett learns she has high blood pressure, the girls try to protect her from stress. Jo learns that her favorite teacher is terminally ill. Tootie defends her brother Marshall after he drives the girls home from a party after having five beers. Blair's sister Meg, a nun, inspires Jo. Blair belittles Jo for wanting to become a nun. Mrs. Garrett's cooking instructor from Paris visits Eastland. Meanwhile, the girls try to deal with a squirrel who got into their bedroom. When Natalie starts spending all her free time with a boy she likes, Tootie gets so jealous that when she picks up a call from him about their upcoming study date, she lies to Natalie and tells her that he canceled it. Both Blair and Jo are accepted to the prestigious Langley College, however Jo decides she's not going because of the cost and the financial burden it would put on her mother, who is already working multiple jobs just to put Jo through Eastland. Her mother and father, however, are adamant about her attending. Their assertion is that they will somehow come up with the money because Jo's future is their most valuable asset. The girls study for final exams together for the very last time. In the days leading up to graduation, Mrs. Garrett becomes overworked because Mr. Parker has put her in charge of the entire ceremony, while Tootie worries whether she'll see Blair and Jo again. Meanwhile, Jo, who has to give the class valediction, is under additional pressure because of her parents' fighting, while Blair's father is unable to come to the ceremony, making her mother angry. Before Jo and Blair graduate, Tootie and Natalie want to preserve as much time with them as possible, still fearing they'll never be together again. Meanwhile Jo's father tries to mend a rift with her mother. 

season 5 - 

As Blair and Jo enter Langley college, Mrs. Garrett decides to quit her job at Eastland. Mrs. Garrett decides to open a gourmet delicatessen and asks the girls to assist her. Blair is nominated for a placement in the Gamma Gamma sorority at Langley. When Jo finds out her new boyfriend is the son of distinguished and wealthy parents, she feels uncomfortable continuing the relationship. Tootie discovers that her boyfriend Jeff, a school athlete, cannot read. The girls fear Mrs. Garrett ground up a missing customer into her homemade bratwurst! Natalie is allowed to take a course at Langley and gets so caught up in the social life of college that she begins skipping classes at Eastland and work at Edna's Edibles. Blair and Jo take Mrs. Garrett to a male strip club for her birthday, where Blair discovers a shocking revelation about her boyfriend. Kelly begs for a fresh start from Mrs. Garrett and the girls when her attempt to extort money from Edna's Edibles is thwarted by Jo. Kelly informs Mrs. Garrett that Pete, the underhanded owner of Pete's Deli, is aiming to put Edna's Edibles out of business by selling gourmet food at a discount. While Mrs. Garrett gets worried, Jo gets devious and uses the store's computer to mess with the files in Pete's computer. Jo thinks her father's intentions to remarry means that her parents are reconciling. The girls prepare to go their separate ways for Christmas vacation. All four girls are fired from Edna's Edibles by Mrs. Garrett. They hope she'll give them a second chance. Mrs. Garrett and the girls befriend a little boy whose single mother doesn't have time to take care of him. Natalie and Tootie's relationship is strained when Tootie questions Natalie's reasons for refusing and then accepting a date with Tootie's cousin Michael. Jo faces a harsh political reality when she's elected to the Langley College Board of Regents and then battles with them. Natalie's father dies from a sudden heart attack. Blair is confused as to why she isn't as popular at Langley as she was at Eastland and needs Jo's help to turn things around. Natalie has stopped having fun since the death of her father so Tootie and Mrs. Garrett try to help her get over it. Blair encourages Cliff to have a more open and less demanding relationship with her. But she quickly changes her mind when the first person Cliff starts seeing is Heather Hunt, a Hollywood movie star who is visiting Langley. Blair dreams of what her life might be like in the year 2000. Tootie's mother is visiting her in Peekskill and feels compelled to confront her on why she doesn't confide in her about anything. Blair's cousin Geri asks for her help with a charity function for disabled children. Eddie, Jo's old flame, returns to rekindle their romance, even though he's married to another woman. If Mrs. Garrett doesn't save her son's troubled marriage, Edna's Edibles might be sold off in the divorce. As the girls prepare for their summer vacations, they look back on the past.

season 6 - 

Mrs. Garrett and the girls return home to tell each other about their respective summer vacations. Jo begins a pizza business, but when demand begins running Jo and her assistants, Natalie and Tootie, ragged, Jo must make a business decision on how to make pizzas faster and more cheaply. Natalie secretly signs Blair and Jo up in a computer dating service, hoping to get information she can use in a term paper. Tootie's boyfriend, Jeff, comes to visit her after several months and she learns that things between them have changed. On a dateless Saturday night, the girls cruise downtown Peekskill in hopes of finding Mr. Right. However, a string of bizarre events leads the girls to hide out in their car at closed gas station. Jo meets a guy named Sam Hall. They date, and after a while, he reveals that he has a 7 year old son named Robbie that will live with him. Robbie asks Jo to come to parents night at his school and she says 'yes'. Jo bonds with the Sam and Robbie. Jo continues dating Sam and becomes more involved in the life of his son Robbie. Blair warns Jo the effects on a child if she doesn't see herself as part of their futures. Mrs. Garrett enrolled in a Shakespeare class, but worries that she might neglect her business and have trouble fitting in with the college crowd. When Jo and Blair have been a each other's throats because of a misunderstanding. Jo who's working on the computer activates it to converse with her. So she talks about what happened between her and Blair and what should she do. The girls fill in as disk jockeys at the Langley College radio station. Natalie is nervous after an interview for a job with the town newspaper. However, after she learns she didn't get the job, her strange behavior threatens her relationship with her boyfriend. Blair takes Jo to small claims court over a broken wristwatch. Blair plans a charity event at what she believes is an orphanage but is really a prison. Tootie portrays Eleanor Roosevelt in a play. Mrs. Garrett worries about Blair's constant dating. When they find an obituary for a man they worked with one summer at a resort in the Poconos, Natalie and Tootie recount the experience to Andy. When her high school sweetheart from Appleton, Wisconsin arrives in town, Mrs. Garrett apologizes for dumping him years before. They begin to rekindle their romance, but the girls fear they are moving too fast when they announce a wedding. Blair's plans for a date with her boyfriend keep getting delayed by excuses that he has to wait for a "friend" who Jo fears is the campus drug dealer. The girls spend spring break in Florida when a hurricane hits. While in Florida on spring break, Blair falls in love. She is headed for a 2-year job in Alaska and she needs to decide what to do. Kevin moves into the attic and quickly becomes a nuisance to the girls. The girls write a petition to save a dilapidated drive-in movie theater but find little interest from anyone else. Blair's mother and Jo's father go out on a date. While Mrs. Garrett is away, Blair takes charge of the shop, but the other girls desert her when she decides to stay open late to compete with another eatery. When Natalie graduates from Eastland, she shocks her mother and her friends by deciding not to go to college. Mrs. Garrett and the girls are interviewed for a documentary about Eastland Academy. 

season 7 - 

Mrs. Garrett and the girls return home from summer vacation to find that their home and business have been destroyed by a fire. Mrs. Garrett and the girls decide to rebuild their store into an update version of a 1950s malt shop. Mrs. Garrett hires a good-looking young carpenter, named George Burnett, to help out, but who causes more of a distraction to the rest of the ladies. Mrs. Garrett and the girls open a novelty shop called "Over Our Heads." Jo works as a substitute teacher at an elementary school. The store gets into hot water with Langley officials for carrying a beefcake calendar featuring the men's swimming team. Monica reveals to Blair that she is pregnant by her soon-to-be-ex-husband. The girls go to an audition to perform as backup singers for El DeBarge. Natalie is in a truck stop diner in Pennsylvania where she writes a story, relating the characters in it to the people in her own life. Tootie helps Andy prepare for an audition for a play. Jo handcuffs herself to Blair, who has to anchor the Langley TV station's newscast. An old friend of Mrs. Garrett's comes for a visit and accuses her of having an affair with her deceased husband after finding 15 years worth of letters they exchanged. Jo,hesitantly,takes up ballroom dancing. Discovering,to her surprise,that she likes it more than she thought she would but seemingly shrugging it off when her friends ask about her interest in it. Quote: "I'm just doing it for exercise". Blair's mother goes into labor on Christmas Eve. Mrs. Garrett tutors Tootie for a driving test. The girls agree to let police use the store for a stakeout, while trying to hide it from Mrs. Garret. Tootie serves as an agent to an aspiring comedian trying to get a TV gig. George asks Blair to be his date for his high school reunion, so he can show off a blonde beauty to make his old crush jealous. At the last minute, she can't go and Jo fills in. Blair gets stuck in an elevator with her baby sister and an elevator operator on the way to accept an award. The girls' trip to Atlantic City reunites Jo with Flyman, the aspiring singer she met in Florida. An elderly song-and-dance woman hired for Blair's birthday party stays with the girls. Natalie runs for mayor to stop a tacky amusement park from being built. Blair, however, is campaigning for her opponent. Jo's father, Charlie Polniaczek, believes that has made a fortune in citrus futures. Meanwhile, Natalie returns from a trip to Miami and has brought back the wrong suitcase. It's Graduation Day at Eastland, but Tootie would rather audition for the lead role in a musical play than continue her education. Natalie and Tootie move into their own apartment, but it's not exactly the creative oasis they were hoping for. 

season 8 - 

Mrs. Garrett becomes reacquainted with Bruce Gaines, a man she met when she was serving in the Peace Corps. He proposes marriage to her, and she accepts. Her sister, Beverly Ann Stickle, comes to the wedding in her Winnebago recreational vehicle. In spite of a scare at Depressed Person's Cliff, Mrs. Garrett and Bruce are married, and they rejoin the Peace Corps. Beverly Ann takes over her duties at Over Our Heads. When Tootie starts getting really serious with her boyfriend, Beverly worries she's moving too fast, but Tootie doesn't want advice from anyone now that she's an adult. When Jo decides to move out, the girls come up with a plan to remodel their room to add more space. Jo has trouble coming up with the money for renovations. Tootie goes to audition for a Broadway show. When she learns that another girl is not only going to sing the song she intends to sing but is better than her. One of the persons who's auditioning tells Tootie to sabotage her which she reluctantly does. Three of the girls who used to live in the dorm with Blair, Tootie, and Natalie return for a reunion. Jo feels left out because she never knew them. Blair has a ratings system for guys and decides to prove to Jo how accurate it is by fixing her up with a '2' while Blair dates a '10'. Jo tampers with the scores to trade partners. Jo agrees to marry an illegal alien so he can get his green card. Natalie hires Blair as an employee at the Mexican restaurant Señor Sombrero, where she is assistant manager. Blair's father is charged with insider trading and when he pleads guilty, she doesn't know how to react. Beverly Ann helps Natalie confront Andy's grandmother for plagiarizing one of her stories. On a dark and stormy night, the girls and their friends all meet with gruesome ends. Tootie decides to pledge a sorority and clashes with Natalie when she begins to investigate rush week for a newspaper article. Natalie goes on a spending spree when the bank approves her for a credit card. Cinnamon visits Tootie and tells her she's leaving show business after losing her Broadway role. When the girls go to a ski resort, their cabin is already occupied by a group of guys there for a bachelor party. But the groom has his eye on Blair. A cupid statue arrives at the store right before Valentine's Day and the love lives of Beverly and the girls go a bit crazy. A flashback to the early 1960s, complete with teen idols, beatniks, and girl groups. When Andy's parents break up, Beverly Ann decides it is time to adopt him. Beverly Ann's ex-husband, Frank Stickle, comes to visit, and has a heart attack. When Jo's dad comes to visit and Blair finds out he was recently dumped, she tries to fix Charlie up with a friend's mother, but things go awry. Blair panics about taking the law school entrance exam when she finds out her wealth won't guarantee her admission to the Langley Law program. College graduation has arrived for Jo and Blair, which means their families are in town, including Jo's grandfather from Poland. Blair is asked to give the graduation speech after Jo turns it down. Tootie heads off for summer stock, Natalie quits her taco job to take a writing class, Jo gets a job offer in LA, and Blair waits for her LSAT score and law school acceptance. 

season 9 - 

When Jo gets a job house sitting for Richard Moll in Malibu, she tries to pass the house off as her own to the others when they come to visit. Richard Moll has the girls put in prison when he sees what has happened to his house. Blair starts law school. She spends a lot of time with her law professor. While the two of them are in his office talking, his wife comes in and assumes that they're "together". So word gets around about Blair and her professor. She considers dropping out. Natalie's been given an assignment to do an article on the ROTC. Natalie gets close to a cadet. Later when they get a new drill sergeant, they learn that they're going sky diving which makes Natalie nervous. She has to decide if she wants to stick with it or drop out when the cadet she got close to will. Jo's looking for a job. She finds one at a community center but unfortunately the center is strapped financially so she's not getting paid. And she clashes with the guy who runs the center. Pippa McKenna, a teenage girl from Eastland's Australian sister school, Colunga Academy, enrolls at Eastland. With Tootie's boyfriend, Jeff, away she gets asked by another guy to go out on a date. At first, she doesn't want to because it might seem she's stepping out on Jeff. But Blair convinces her to. And on the night they're suppose to go out, Jeff shows up. And Natalie's boyfriend, Snake finally shows up. Blair invites a third year male student over for a study date, but he's more interested in Beverly Ann than Blair. Blair's baby sister Bailey gets lost while in the girls' care. Everybody has their own plans for Christmas and Beverly Ann feels unappreciated. During a visit with Santa, she tells him she wishes she'd never come to Peekskill. He shows her what it would have been like without her. The girls imagine what their lives will be like 50 years into the future. Jo takes Andy to the center to find a male role model. He meets Rick, but they worry that he is too irresponsible and a bad influence because he believes he'll die soon since no men in his family have made it to age 30. Jo is dating Rick, when she introduces him to her father. He is not impressed by him because of his playful attitude. Blair interns at a law firm and learns that her law professor who resigned because it was assumed that they were having an affair, works there. He asks her to help her with the case, he's working on, which is defending a man who's accused of murder. She brings him and everybody acts nervous around him. Later Blair comes up with a strategy for the trial. Tootie and Natalie are excited about a dinner with Jeff and Snake, but the guys clash immediately and the evening ends early. While those two clash, Blair decides to help Jo go to court with a mechanic who didn't fix her bike properly. Natalie goes to bed with her boyfriend, Snake. A slip-up at a spa turns Jo's hair blonde and Blair's hair green, causing problems at a banquet. Meanwhile, Pippa gets kicked out of her band. Blair gets in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel late at night. She is worried about how she will look after getting stitches across her forehead, so she breaks up with Casey. Rick shows up to play a game with a hidden question that ends up being a proposal. While Jo considers her answer, Casey admits to Blair that he doesn't believe in marriage. Pippa and Andy throw a party while everyone else is out of the house. She puts on a necklace that Jeff gave Tootie from his grandmother. After the party, the pendant is missing. Beverly Ann doesn't want Andy to get his ear pierced. A social worker, from the center where Jo works, threatens to jump from a building. Natalie finds an apartment in the Soho district of New York, living with several eccentric characters. When Blair discovers that Eastland Academy is in dire financial straits, she decides not to go to law school but buy it and save it from closing. When Blair decides to make some changes to Eastland to save it, things don't get off to a good start. She also has to deal with a student who seems intent on getting kicked out so Blair tries to find out why.