Did You Know That ‘The Facts of Life’ Was a ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ Spin-off?

The Facts of Life fans, do you remember Cindy and Sue Ann? How about Molly, Nancy, headmaster Mr. Bradley and science teacher Miss Mahoney? They were all introduced on the season one finale of the NBC hit series Diff’rent Strokes, all present on the beloved boarding school sitcom when it premiered on August 24, 1979 — and they were all gone by Facts’ second season.

Major cast and storyline changes were, well, a fact of life for The Facts of Life, which followed Edna Garrett (then 53-year-old Charlotte Rae), who served as the Drummond family’s housekeeper on Diff’rent Strokes, as she left to take a new job as housemother of the exclusive Eastland School.