Earlier this month it was announced that the Emmy Award-winning Live in Front of a Studio Audience will make its highly-anticipated return with a third special that will feature a live re-enactment of the hit series The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes. At the time, only the cast for Diff’rent Strokes was announced, but now we have the cast for The Facts of Life.
Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) will play Edna Garrett, Jennifer Aniston (Friends, The Morning Show) will play Blair, Gabrielle Union (L.A.'s Finest) will play Tootie, Allison Tolman (Fargo) will play Natalie, and Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision) will play Jo.
For this third installment of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, executive producers Norman Lear and Jimmy Kimmel are pairing two iconic sitcoms, Diff’rent Strokes and its spin-off The Facts of Life. The previously announced cast for Diff’rent Strokes will see John Lithgow as Mr. Drummond, Kevin Hart as Arnold, Damon Wayans as Willis, and Dowd as Mrs. Garrett.
When announcing the cast, Kimmel had this to say:
“I cannot imagine a better group than Jennifer Aniston, Allison Tolman, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Hahn, and Ann Dowd, and I can’t wait to do their hair,”
The first two installments of this live event captivated audiences with its all-star casts and faithful recreations of classic episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons in spring 2019, and another classic episode of All in the Family and Good Times in winter that same year. Both installments won Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
The live special event will feature an episode from The Facts of Life, created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon, and one from Diff’rent Strokes, created by Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris, and will reunite executive producers Lear, Kimmel, Brent Miller, Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux, and Jim Burrows. Burrows and Andy Fisher are set to direct the live show.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience is produced by Sony Pictures Television, Kimmelot, ACT III Productions, Gary Sanchez Productions, D’Arconville, and Simpson Street.
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 and will stream on Hulu the next day.