Did you know there was a planned Blair Warner spinoff after The Facts of Life?

When Facts of Life bought the farm, the Collector's Call host bought the school!

December 26, 2024, 1:14PM By MeTV Staff

The Facts of Life premiered on NBC in 1979 and lasted an incredible nine seasons. The show spanned most of the '80s and became one of the quintessential pieces of pop culture ephemera associated with that decade. So, looking back, it's easy to see that Lisa Whelchel's Blair Warner was one of the most iconic characters of the era.

Blair embodies the '80s in ways the writers couldn't have anticipated while the show was still on. She is vain, materialistic, and obsessed with being popular. Eventually, a car accident brings Blair down to earth and smooths out some of her rougher social edges. While the other girls (particularly Jo) at Eastland Academy may have described her as snobbish and spoiled, Blair stands up for what is right and proves her heart is in the right place on several occasions.

With such a clear and developed character, it makes sense that NBC executives would want to hold onto its proven success after The Facts of Life concluded. That's why the two-part series finale was conceived as a Blair-centric spinoff!

"We don't have a name for it yet, but it would be a continuation of Facts of Life," Whelchel told the Greensboro, North Carolina News and Record in 1988. "But it would be a totally different series."

So, with The Facts of Life ending, its setting, the fictional Eastland Schools was in dire financial straights. That's where the wealthy Blair Warner stepped in to buy the academy, becoming, as Whelchel said "Headmaster, Headmistress, whatever."

It's a shame that the follow-up series didn't come to fruition, because it was a natural fit, both for Whelchel's character and for the growth she exhibited as an actor onscreen.

When asked if the transition from student to headmistress would be awkward at all, Whelchel responded, "No, I thought it would be but in filming the pilot it didn't feel strange at all, it really didn't. You know, I'm surprised myself, but it seemed to turn out OK."

TV viewers who feel robbed of seeing more Lisa Whelchel onscreen can find solace in MeTV's Collector's Call, where the multi-hyphenate talent steps inside the nostalgic world of personal collections. As host, Whelchel explores the amazing treasures of toys, books, memorabilia, and more.