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The Best Episodes of The Facts of Life

Every episode of The Facts of Life ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Facts of Life!

The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making...
Genres:DramaComedy
Network:NBC

Best Episodes Summary

"Take My Finals, Please" is the best rated episode of "The Facts of Life". It scored 8.6/10 based on 89 votes. Directed by Asaad Kelada and written by N/A, it aired on 4/27/1983. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Slices of Life".

  • Take My Finals, Please
    8.6/1089 votes
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    #1 - Take My Finals, Please

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 4/27/1983

    It's finals week at Eastland and the girls are planning an all night study session. They soon find out that studying is going to be hard with so many distractions, including Blair and Jo's fears of the future in college and Natalie's fear of an upcoming Chemistry exam in which she must memorize the atomic symbols.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • Slices of Life
    8.4/1074 votes
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    #2 - Slices of Life

    Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/1984

    Jo begins a pizza business with her mom's secret pizza recipe that has everyone's mouths watering, including a fraternity house that buys pizzas in bulk. However, the business begins running Jo and her workers, Natalie and Tootie ragged which leads Jo to make a business decision on how to make pizzas faster and cheaper.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Jerry Mayer

  • The New Girl (2)
    8.3/10121 votes
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    #3 - The New Girl (2)

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 11/26/1980

    Mrs. Garrett bails the girls out of jail and announces that they all have been expelled from Eastland. However, they can stay if they move in with Mrs. Garrett and work in the cafeteria. This prompts Jo's want to leave to become even stronger.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Four Musketeers
    8.3/1088 votes
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    #4 - The Four Musketeers

    Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 2/10/1982

    Constant squabbling between the girls prompt Mrs. Garrett to announce that the debt for wrecking the van has been paid off and they are all now free to move out and live in the dorms. However, the girls soon realize the living above the cafeteria is something they do not want to change.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • Runaway
    8.3/10135 votes
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    #5 - Runaway

    Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 2/24/1982

    Jo, Natalie and Blair are going to New York to see a Broadway play and a left out Tootie sneaks out to meet them in front of the theatre without Mrs. Garrett's knowledge. However, when Tootie doesn't find the girls she stops in a coffee shop across the street unaware she's about to get a dose of the downside of New York life.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • Kids Can Be Cruel
    8.3/10105 votes
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    #6 - Kids Can Be Cruel

    Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 3/17/1982

    Natalie has a big crush on Tim and has filled Blair's slambook with words of praise. However, in Blair's slambook instead of signing your name you sign a number, Natalie's number is 10. When Blair tells Tim who number 10 belongs to, Natalie is furious and wants revenge no matter who she hurts in the process.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Jerry Mayer

  • Graduation (1)
    8.3/1071 votes
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    #7 - Graduation (1)

    Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 5/4/1983

    Graduation has everyone rushing around and Natalie and Tootie are worried that their isn't going to be enough time for Jo and Blair to say goodbye, especially since Blair and Jo are at each other's throats, as usual.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • Graduation (2)
    8.3/1071 votes
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    #8 - Graduation (2)

    Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 5/4/1983

    As graduation day arrives, Monica is furious that Blair's father won't attend, Rose is furious at Charlie due to his sudden tranformation into a big spender and Natalie and Tootie are scared that they will lose Blair and Jo as friends when they leave for college.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • The Christmas Show
    8.3/10115 votes
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    #9 - The Christmas Show

    Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/21/1983

    The holidays bring joy to the girls when they all plan on going home for Christmas but when Jo's mother temporarily moves to Miami, Jo is stuck in Peekskill.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Jerry Mayer

  • Crossing the Line
    8.3/1089 votes
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    #10 - Crossing the Line

    Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 1/11/1984

    Natalie starts dating a black guy, and Tootie thinks that Natalie hates him because of his color.

    Director: Mark W. Travis

    Writer: Andy Borowitz

  • Breaking Point
    8.2/10119 votes
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    #11 - Breaking Point

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 1/28/1981

    Blair is running for class president but things get out of hand when one of the candidates commits suicide.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • Brave New World (1)
    8.2/1079 votes
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    #12 - Brave New World (1)

    Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/21/1983

    Jo and Blair have a hard time adjusting to college.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • Brave New World (2)
    8.2/1074 votes
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    #13 - Brave New World (2)

    Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1983

    Ms Garret decides to re-open an abandoned department store and turn it into her own.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • The Halloween Show
    8.2/10122 votes
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    #14 - The Halloween Show

    Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/1983

    A strange man tells the girls that years ago a murder occurred in the shop. Later, when the girls see Mrs. Garret with a knife they assume that she's possessed by the murderer's spirit and is out to get them.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Jerry Mayer

  • Working it Out
    8.2/1066 votes
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    #15 - Working it Out

    Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 1/9/1985

    Mrs. Garrett and the girls all become concerned about Blair's bizarre behavior, she's skipping class, dating nonstop and is out all night every night, all this just after a breakup with her first serious relationship, Cliff.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • With a Little Help From My Friends
    8.2/1078 votes
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    #16 - With a Little Help From My Friends

    Season 6 Episode 18 - Aired 1/30/1985

    Blair is devastated when she learns that her boyfriend is into cocaine. Lisa Whelchel. Jo: Nancy McKeon. Kevin: Ryan Cassidy. Father Donovan: John Ingle.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Less Than Perfect
    8.2/1070 votes
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    #17 - Less Than Perfect

    Season 9 Episode 18 - Aired 2/20/1988

    One evening, a tired Blair falls asleep at the wheel and has a car accident landing her in the hospital with a gash in her for-head. This leads her to begin worrying about how her once ""perfect"" self will recover from this tragedy.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • New York, New York
    8.1/1094 votes
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    #18 - New York, New York

    Season 3 Episode 19 - Aired 3/3/1982

    Both Blair and Jo head to New York to meet two old friends. Blair discovers her old friend, Dina, is the same old snob she's always been and Jo discovers her friend, Jesse, is the same old prejudiced bully she's always been. Blair and Jo soon realize their friendship is much more meaningful.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Peter Noah

  • I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
    8.1/1081 votes
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    #19 - I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can

    Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1983

    For a birthday surprise, the girls take Mrs. Garrett to a club featuring male exotic dancers, but the one who's in for the real surprise is Blair.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • The Last Drive-In
    8.1/1083 votes
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    #20 - The Last Drive-In

    Season 6 Episode 22 - Aired 3/13/1985

    The local drive-in theatre is closing and the girls decide to pay it one last visit on the final night it's open. However, chaos reigns when people begin to loot the theatre and Blair gets into a cat fight.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Paul Haggis

  • Sisters
    8.1/1055 votes
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    #21 - Sisters

    Season 6 Episode 23 - Aired 3/20/1985

    During an alumni weekend at Langley, Blair's mother and Jo's father bond which leads to Blair and Jo's fears of becoming sisters.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Concentration
    8.1/1061 votes
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    #22 - Concentration

    Season 7 Episode 18 - Aired 2/8/1986

    On the day Blair is to accept an award, she encounters two burdens. First, she's stuck babysitting her baby brother and second she becomes trapped in an elevator, where she learns an important lesson from a concentration camp survivor.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Sex Symbol
    8.0/1090 votes
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    #23 - Sex Symbol

    Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 2/4/1981

    Natalie hits it off with Neil, a boy she meets at a dance and they later begin studying together. However, rumors are spread that Natalie and Neil did more than just study which brings on calls from a number of boys who want to study with Natalie. Natalie encourages these rumors when she goes out with the boys due to the fact that Blair, Jo and Tootie laughed at the notion that Natalie could be a sex symbol.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Linda Marsh

  • The Affair
    8.0/1083 votes
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    #24 - The Affair

    Season 3 Episode 17 - Aired 2/17/1982

    Mrs. Garrett and the girls visit New York and have lunch in a Italian restaurant where Natalie discovers something she never expected, her father romancing someone other than her mother. This prompts Natalie to debate whether or not to confront her father, out of fear of a divorce between her parents.

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: N/A

  • The Source
    8.0/1074 votes
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    #25 - The Source

    Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1982

    Natalie makes up a source for the topic of her newspaper article on abortion and if she doesn't reveal who the source is, she could be kicked out of school. However, little does she know, that their is someone at Eastland who could fill the shoes of the ""made up source""

    Director: Asaad Kelada

    Writer: Peter Noah