Jennifer Aniston, Kathryn Hahn to star in 'The Facts of Life' live reenactment

Nov 30, 2021

Washington [US], November 30 : Actors Jennifer Aniston and Kathryn Hahn have been recruited as a part of Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear's Live in Front of a Studio Audience series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jimmy and Norman have recruited Jennifer Aniston as Blair along with Gabrielle Union as Tootie, Allison Tolman as Natalie and Kathryn Hahn as Jo. Ann Dowd, who will also appear in the live reenactment of Diff'rent Strokes on the same night, is set to play Mrs Garrett.
"I cannot imagine a better group ... and I can't wait to do their hair," joked Kimmel, who announced the news on Monday's Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The Facts of Life recreation will air on December 7 on ABC, where it will be paired with previously announced recreation of Diff'rent Strokes. The latter will also star John Lithgow and Kevin Hart as Mr Drummond and Arnold, respectively.
The TV event will see Lear return to executive produce and host alongside Kimmel. Also executive producing are Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux, Brent Miller and Jim Burrows, who, with Andy Fisher, will also direct the night's double-header.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Live In Front of a Studio Audience' franchise got its start in the spring of 2019, when a coterie of A-listers -- including Woody Harrelson, Viola Davis, Jamie Foxx and Martin Short -- re-created memorable episodes of Lear's 'All in the Family' and 'The Jeffersons'.
Later that same year, he and Kimmel, in partnership with ABC and Sony Pictures Television, produced a second installment featuring another episode of 'All in the Family' along with a re-creation of Good Times. 'The Facts of Life' and Diff'rent Strokes marks the third.
Both 'The Facts of Life' and Diff'rent Strokes were originally produced by Lear's Tandem Productions, with the former spun off from latter. Mrs Garrett is the through line, becoming a dorm housemother at an all-girls school in New York, which Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Jo attend.
'The Facts of Life', which ran from 1979 to 1988, was created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon.