The Facts of Life

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

I relied on the reviews of others to make a decision about whether or not to purchase this set, so I figured I would add mine to the list now that I have it in hand. In short, I am very happy with my purchase! I was a bit worried about video quality, because I did purchase The Wonder Years DVD set a few months ago. As some may know, that series was filmed from 1988 – 1993 – well AFTER The Facts of Life. I was alarmed to see that some of the video quality on The Wonder Years episodes was extremely grainy – surprisingly so. In fact, Netflix has the entire WY series online, and the episodes from Netflix are much CLEARER than the ones in the CD set (which, btw, I paid $200 for). So you can imagine why I was very hesitant about purchasing Facts of Life. I am delighted to say that the video quality on this FOL set is very satisfactory. Of course it is not HD, but it is very respectable – especially for a series that was filmed in the early 80s. I have not watched every single episode yet, but I have found no vid quality issues thus far. Someone in one of the reviews mentioned that some of the audio in the episode “62 Pickup” was missing. I did NOT find this to be the case with my set. Maybe they fixed the issue? If so, I’m glad!

I grew up watching this series (I was Kim Fields’/Tootie’s age, and the show ran from the time I was about 10 to when I was about 19), and I remember it so fondly. I admired all of the girls, but the Jo character was always my fave. Nancy McKeon is so naturally talented (she was EVERYWHERE in the 80s!), and I am still wondering why her later career did not bring her more visibility and an even higher degree of success. Would love to see her in another series. I am finding that watching these episodes makes me laugh even harder than it did when I watched them as a kid. The jokes are funnier, and the memories even sweeter. This was (and is) a show about female friendship – one of the strongest bonds you can experience in life. The experiences of these teenage girls are ones that most everyone whose ever BEEN a teenage girl can relate to, and the show never talked “down” to its audience. Great cast, great chemistry, and the stories hold up well. Even the occasional dated mention makes me smile, and anyone who grew up in the 80s will recognize it all – the hair, the fascination with Duran Duran and Springsteen, the approach to daily life in an – Cathy

I’ve been meaning to pick up the first five seasons which have been previously released for a long time. Now I’m glad I never got around to it. As soon as I saw this I ordered it, and I’m not sorry I did. It is packaged in a sturdy outer box with with five traditional-looking DVD cases, each of which holds multiple discs. The first four cases hold two seasons each, while the final one holds season nine and the bonus features disc. I’m really happy that they didn’t devise some sort of wildly over-sized, lopsided case with cardboard sleeves that only serve to damage the discs. No, you’ll have no problem fitting this on a shelf with the rest of your collection, and rest assured the discs will stay well protected.
Video quality is about as good as can be expected for a DVD set. Of course, I would have preferred it on Blu, but I doubt it would have looked much better. As far as the extras go, they have included a couple of mildly informative featurettes, the Diff’rent Strokes episode, ‘The Girls’ School,’ from which The Facts of Life was spun, and the two TV movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris, and The Facts of Life Down Under. Also included is a 2014 reunion, which is essentially a panel interview with a few of the original cast members, and a trivia game. Finally, there is a booklet that includes the names and descriptions of all of the episodes.
My only small complaint is that they didn’t include the 2001 reunion movie. That, in my opinion, really would have rounded out the set. However, we can’t have everything, can we? The bottom line is that the good far outweighs the bad, and if you are a fan of the series, then you really can’t go wrong with this set. Highly recommended.

-duke4711

For those of you who are mega fans of this show I have to tell you to BUY THIS COMPLETE SERIES SET! Since this series has been showing on various television stations I bet you have tried to watch it whenever and where ever it was being shown. The thing about all those showings that I noticed was that the episodes are chopped for time and were missing a minute here and there. Well let me tell you all how WONDERFUL and REFRESHING it is to see those episodes just as they were when originally aired. I am sitting here today, smiling ear to ear, laughing too because I had completely forgotten how truly enjoyable this show was in its original length. You get used to the reruns and the way the dialogue is performed so seeing the show now is a shock to the system(in a good way). I am tipping my hat to SHOUT! and sending thanks for this complete series DVD box set. I had read some critical reviews about playback and various complaints about quality that almost had me NOT buy this set. I have been watching on my computer and my discs are quite perfect in all ways. I know for sure that I would not see this the same way if I chose to watch on today’s HD t.v.’s or a larger flat screen t.v.The reality is that you really can not transfer old video to look like digital. if you have glitches or scratches on the discs that is an issue but please try not to expect the overall technical quality to be up to today’s standards. Just pretend it is the ’80’s and you are watching it in your room on your little 13 inch television. revel in the memories it will evoke and try not to want it to be more than it is. I know that true fans will be thrilled with this set. I will revise my review if I find any of those issues that others have spoken about but so far I am sincerely satisfied with my purchase. It was the perfect set to buy to get me through the soon to be here Winter season. A gift to myself because as Blair would say, I am worth it! you are too, so buy it!

-Joyce D.

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Mindy Cohn, Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Nancy McKeon, Charlotte Rae
Directors: John Bowab
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 27
Studio: Shout! Factory
DVD Release Date: January 13, 2015
Run Time: 4440 minutes