Sunday, February 11, 2023

Flopcast 614: The Backs of Life 7 - Big Apple Blues

After a three year break, we're getting back to The Backs of Life! (As requested by absolutely no one! You're welcome!) Back in 2021, we started reviewing all the "backdoor pilot" episodes of classic 80s sitcom The Facts of Life. Now as we finally revive this very important project, we've brought in a special guest reviewer: friend of the Flopcast, Sci-Fi Explosion mastermind, and certified Factologist Chris Cummins! Kevin, Kornflake, and Chris are looking at the 1988 backdoor pilot episode "Big Apple Blues," in which Natalie moves to New York City to share an apartment with a pack of weirdos, including a pre-21 Jump Street Richard Grieco and a pre-SNL David Spade! Can Natalie make her dreams come true in the big city? Is a margarine spokesperson named King Toast somehow involved? And will it all lead to a successful long-running spinoff series? (Answers: Yes, yes, and absolutely not.) Meanwhile back in Peekskill with our regular cast, Blair has garage sale fever, Pippa might be a robot, and we get a brief but delightful glimpse of Tootie's old roller skates. It's magnificent. Kids, we still have one more Backs of Life episode to go, and we'll try to get to it before 2027.

Show Notes

Make sure to check out Sci-Fi Explosion!

Catch up with previous installments of The Backs of Life:

Tootie and Natalie meet performance artist Claire (Michele Little):

Franklin's own Richard Grieco plays Ben, the aspiring Ghost (and former King Toast):

"Do I look like I eat Twinkies?" asks Terra Bennett Smith:

The sarcasm is already strong in David Spade, such that this moment of vulnerability is a hard sell:

"No one needs these, right?"