‘The Facts of Life’ Live Casts Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Allison Tolman, Kathryn Hahn
ABC is putting together an all-star cast for its upcoming Live in Front of a Studio Audience special, as Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Allison Tolman, and Kathryn Hahn join The Facts of Life reenactment.
Aniston will play Blair Warner, the incredibly wealthy and spoiled “daddy’s girl” from Manhattan, portrayed by Lisa Whelchel in the original series. Union stars as the gossip-loving Tootie Ramsey, originally played by Kim Fields, while Tolman portrays Tootie’s best friend Natalie Green, previously played by Mindy Cohn. Hahn appears as motorcycle riding trouble-maker Jo Polniaczek, first played by Nancy McKeon.
The four actresses join the previously announced Ann Dowd (The Leftovers), who is set to play former housekeeper Edna Garrett, who looks after the girls as the housemother of a dormitory at Eastland School, a private all-girls school in Peekskill, New York.
“I cannot imagine a better group than Jennifer Aniston, Allison Tolman, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Hahn, and Ann Dowd, and I can’t wait to do their hair,” said host Jimmy Kimmel (via Variety), who also serves as executive producer on the special alongside Norman Lear.
This marks the third installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, which has previously re-created episodes of Lear’s classic sitcoms All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. In addition to The Facts of Life, this year’s special will also see a live reenactment of Diff’rent Strokes, which will star John Lithgow (Dexter) as Mr. Drummond, Kevin Hart (True Story) as Arnold, and Damon Wayans (Lethal Weapon) as Willis.
“Other than with my family, there’s no place I’d rather be in my 100th year than on a soundstage at Sony with these glorious actors reliving what our company had produced all those years ago and sharing it with the millions of viewers who could use a little laughter,” Lear said in a previous statement.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience, Tuesday, December 7, ABC and then streaming on Hulu
