Here are the facts about the upcoming The Facts Of Life live production over at ABC: new cast additions include Jennifer Aniston as Blair, Gabrielle Union as Tootie, Allison Tolman as Natalie, and Kathryn Hahn as Jo.
For the third installment of Live In Front Of A Studio Audience, executive producers Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel are working on re-creations of episodes from the iconic late ‘70s comedy Diff’rent Strokes and its spinoff, The Facts Of Life.
Per Variety, the four join previously announced stars John Lithgow, Kevin Hart, Damon Wayans, and Ann Dowd. Jim Burrows (Cheers, Fraiser, Will & Grace) and Andy Fisher (Jimmy Kimmel Live) will serve as co-directors on the live production. Executive producers on the show include Lear, Kimmel, Burrows, Brent Miller, Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, and Justin Theroux.
Diff’rent Strokes, starring Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges, premiered in 1978, and ran for 8 season through 1986. Coleman and Bridges starred in the series as two young Black boys from Harlem, who, after the death of their mother, move into the Park Avenue home of rich white widower Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain). The Facts Of Life aired for nine seasons between 1979 and 1988, following former housekeeper Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) as she becomes the housemother of a dormitory at a private all-girls school in Peekskill, New York.
Previous installments of Live In Front Of AStudio Audience featured reproductions of episodes from All In The Family and The Jeffersons, starring Woody Harrelson, Jamie Foxx, and Martin Short. The second edition featured All In The Family and Good Times, with performances from Andre Braugher, Viola Davis, Tiffany Haddish, and Jay Pharoah. Both installments won Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: The Facts of Life And Diff’rent Strokes will air live Tuesday, December 7 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.