This durable sitcom,
spun off from "Diff'rent Strokes", went through several changes of format
during its nine seasons; only
three regulars stayed with the series
for its entire run. Lisa Whelchel as the wealthy, self infatuated Blair
Warner; Mindy
Cohn as the chubby Natalie Green; Kim
Fields as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey, the black kid. Also, it starred Charlotte
Rae (1979-1986) as Mrs. Edna Garrett,
who left the Drummonds' employ on "Diff'rent Strokes" to become a
housemother at the Eastland School, a
prestigious girls boarding academy near Peekskill, New York. Also, John
Lawlor
(1979-1980) as Steven Bradley, the headmaster;
Jenny O'Hara (1979) as Miss Mahoney, one of the teachers; Felice
Schachter (1979-1980) as Nancy Olson;
Julie Piekarski (1979-1980) as Sue Ann Weaver; Julie Anne Haddock
(1979-1980) as Cindy Webster; and Molly
Ringwald (1979-1980) as Molly Parker.
In the fall of
1980, at the start of the second season, the show begun to air on Wednesdays,
which would remain until its last
few seasons. This season also marked the
shows first major change in format. The second season, the cast was trimmed
down
to include just Charlotte Rae, three original
girls and one new character. This newcomer, Nancy McKeon, was suggested
by
a NBC chief Fred Silverman after he had
seen the coming of age movie "Little Darlings". She was brought in as Jo
Polniazek, a street-wise kid attending
Eastland School on a scholarship. The other three original girls were Lisa
Whelchel,
Mindy Cohn, and Kim Fields.
From 1981 to 1984
comedienne Geri Jewell, who had cerebral palsy was occasionally seen as
Blair's cousin, Jeri Tyler.
She was one of the few disabled persons
ever to have a regular role on a Television series.
At the end of the
forth season Blair and Jo graduated from Eastland. That fall Mrs. Garrett
left the school and opened
Edna's Edibles, a gourmet food shop in
Peekskill; Blair and Jo, now enrolled at nearby Langley College, lived
above the
store and worked there part-time, as did
Tootie and Natalie.
In the fall of
1985 Edna's Edibles burned to the ground, and Mrs. Garrett opened a new
store. This time a novelty shop
called Over Our Heads. Again all of the
four girls continued to worked there. Pam Segall was featured during the
1983 -
1984 season as Kelly Alfonato. Added to
the cast was George Clooney (1985 - 1986) as handyman George Burnett and
MacKenzie Astin (1985 - 1988) as delivery
boy Andy Moffett.
In the fall of 1986 the
show was NBC's oldest prime time series in history. Mrs Garrett remarried
and moved to Africa with
her new husband. Cloris Leachman came
aboard as her sister, Beverly Ann Stickle, who took over the store. By
the spring
of 1987 all of the four girls were ready
to leave the nest. Tootie pursued an acting career. Jo had a job offer
in California and
later got married. Blair planned to go
to law school and eventually bought the Eastland Academy School for girls.
And Natalie
hoped to become a writer. Over Our Heads
closed its doors in the fall of 1987. Joining the cast for the series last
and farewell
final season were Sherrie Krenn as Pippa
McKenna, an Australian exchange student, Paul Provenza as Casey Clark,
Robert Romanus as Natalie's boyfriend,
"Snake" Robinson, Todd Hollowell as Tootie's fiance, Jeff Williams and
Scott
Bryce as the musician Rick Bonner who
later married Jo.
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