Tansson Media Blog

 Jumping a season from my previous review of the season, I go to the second season premiere of The Facts of Life . Unlike the first season, the series now focuses on only four young girls at the Eastland School as opposed to the large ensemble of yesteryear, three of which are returning cast members, alongside Mrs. Edna Garrett. Starting off the season, we once again find ourselves with exposition, with Tootie (Kim Fields) and Natalie (Mindy Cohn) explaining to each other and Blair that Mrs. Garrett got a new job as the school dietitian, as opposed to being a housemother. Surprisingly, we also see Arnold Jackson (the late Gary Coleman) return from Diff'rent Strokes  in one of the final scenes the two shows crossover. Minutes into the show, we see the motorcycle driving Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon) enter, moving in from The Bronx, New York as Blair's latest foil, transferring from public education to start a new life. While they do not necessarily see eye to eye, they at least ...

"There's a place you've got to go for learning all you want to know about the facts of life." - Gloria Loring singing the original theme song of the series. Running from 1979 to 1988 on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network as a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes , the series The Facts of Life  ran nine seasons as a staple of television, produced by Norman Lear's Embassy Television. While I wasn't born until over a decade after the series ended, I began watching the series in syndicated reruns on The Hub Network in elementary school, instantly falling in love with the character's fun antics and the life lessons of housemother Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae). In my journey to become more familiar with the series from the era I adore so much, I chose The Facts of Life  as my first series to re-watch select episodes from. Despite focusing much of my rewatching on the later seasons, I did want to first re-watch the pilot episode, stemming from a season I...

 It's that time of year again! With the 2022-23 television season eager to begin its winter break halt, the networks each announced their schedule changes for the mid-season beginning this January. Having primarily watched ABC series for the past several years, that is where most of my attention will be spent throughout this article, though I will touch on my additional thoughts on the other major networks. Starting with Sunday nights, I was very disappointed to hear ABC opted to move the signature series The Rookie  off of their schedule and onto Tuesday nights, or rather early afternoons. While I will touch on this again soon, this is paired with the moving of Celebrity Jeopardy! and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune  to Thursdays, creating a full day of game shows as we enter the winter. This is all to make way for American Idol  alongside new series The Company You Keep . While I don't intend to judge The Company You Keep  before seeing the series, let alone a trai...

Three weeks ago, we saw the re-entry of comedian George Lopez to the sitcom genre, this time alongside his daughter Mayan. Lopez vs Lopez  is the latest sitcom on NBC to be added to their Friday night lineup, one I quite honestly keep forgetting exists, joining junior series  Young Rock . At first glance, the opening episode of the series sparked many connections with George Lopez's hit series George Lopez , especially in relation to his comedy style and the usage of the former series' theme music "Low Rider" within the first several minutes. However, while the comedy may have carried over from the other series, the delivery is more in-line with ABC series The Conners. For those familiar with The Conners , it is a series based on a working-class family trying to make ends meet, a spin-off of the popular 1990s series Roseanne . In this case, the Lopez family is also shown in a multigenerational and somewhat dysfunctional family, now coming together to create a 'new...

 While television has always been a part of my life since I was little, what I watch on television shifts rather frequently, usually keeping in-line my overall enjoyment of family-friendly shows that share a connection with the audience. In terms of linear television, each weekday evening starts off with Jeopardy! , a relatively new daily tradition within my household. As of writing, the 2022 Tournament of Champions is airing, featuring some of the most accomplished contestants in the show's history, leaving a legacy for future years to follow. Currently hosted by Ken Jennings, with Dr. Mayim Bialik also serving as a host, the daily viewings never get old. On Mondays, my lineup starts on CBS with their sitcom The Neighborhood  starring Cedrick the Entertainer. While I wasn't all too fond of the show when it initially aired, it's grown on me, and I enjoy the interactions between the Entertainer's character, Calvin, and his neighbor Dave (Max Greenfield). While more of a ...

In starting back up with my new media blog, I thought that it was only fitting that I review over the season seven premiere episodes of The Facts of Life : "Out of the Fire...," "Into the Frying Pan," and "Grand Opening" (1985). While I have seen these episodes several times throughout the years, I thought it may be fitting to review these over again as I start this new beginning. "Out of the Fire..." Starting off the episode, we see Tootie (Kim Fields) entering a plane to head back to her home of Peekskill, New York, waiting for her friends and co-stars Blair (Lisa Whelchel), Natalie (Mindy Cohn), and Jo (Nancy McKeon) to board. It is at this point that we introduce the episode's addition of thought narration, one of the more humorous parts of the episode. When we arrive back to Edna's Edibles to start off the season, we see a fire has occurred not long beforehand, charring much of the set and allowing for an easy retooling of the series...

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Studios. For fans of the Sony Pictures Television fan favorite answers-and-questions game Jeopardy! , this has been an interesting two years as there have been several major changes going on both in the studio and outside as the show is now halfway through it’s thirty-eighth season of original syndicated quiz programming. There was actually so many changes within the show these past two seasons that it actually took me over a page to give the short version of it all ( See below if interested ). Nevertheless, these past two seasons have been a fun one, and has seen the likes of various different contestants, and hosts for that matter (guest and permanent alike), have fun playing the game while earning tons of money. The ongoing pandemic aside, the biggest change to the show was the loss of beloved host Alex Trebek part way through season, with consulting producer and former champion Ken Jennings initially filling...