Sunday, May 9, 2021

Flopcast 470: The Backs of Life 3 - The Academy

Our ongoing analysis of every "backdoor pilot" episode of The Facts of Life continues, and we're creeping back to March 1982. "Pac-Man Fever" was on the radio, Porky's ruled the box office, and our Facts of Life girls met the boys at Stone Academy. The plan was to launch a spinoff series set at this military school. That didn't happen, of course, despite a strong cast of young actors from 70s/80s classics like The Bad News Bears, Silver Spoons, James at 16, Soap, Jennifer Slept Here, and Kornflake's beloved Combat Academy. Will one of the boys sneak out of the big dance with Blair and squish into Mrs. Garrett's tiny VW Bug? And then will absolutely nothing happen? Let's find out. Also: Happy Birthday to Facts of Life stars Mackenzie Astin (Andy) AND Kim Fields (Tootie)! (By the way, Tootie's giant fancy dress from this episode deserved its own backdoor pilot.)

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Show Notes

Boys' military academies are Kornflake's thing! Kevin, not so much.

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Here's the IMDB entry for this episode so you can go down your own rabbit hole.

L-R: Peter Frechette, Jimmy Baio, John P. Navin Jr.

Jo's big poofy dress

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Navin being a bully on Silver Spoons:

Trying to get served at Cheers:

Living with a hot ghost on Jennifer Slept Here: