Out of Peekskill

"Out of Peekskill" is the two-part eighth season premiere of the American sitcom The Facts of Life that served as the 154th and 155th episodes of the series which originally aired as a one-hour episode on Saturday, September 27, 1986 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. EST on NBC. The episode was directed by John Bowab and written by Michael Maurer and Paul Haggis. The first part was videotaped on July 22 and the second on July 29, 1986 in front of a live audience at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California.
This was also the final episode to feature Charlotte Rae in her role as Mrs. Edna Garrett. Rae initially reduced her role in seasons six and seven, and later decided to leave the series altogether to pursue other projects. In this episode, Rae received a special credit in the show's opening as a "Special Guest Appearance". In addition to Rae's departure, Cloris Leachman joined the cast as Mrs. Garrett's sister, Beverly Ann Stickle, who took over her responsibilities as property owner for Mrs. Garrett's house and the boutique store called Over Our Heads, and looked after the girls. Mackenzie Astin also became the series' main cast regular as Andy Moffett.
Synopsis
Part 1
Natalie attempts to write a story and decides to explore a "personal and intimate" experience from her recent past. The girls return from summer vacation and Tootie reveals that Edna has been spending a lot of time with Dr. Bruce Gaines, an old flame from her Peace Corps days. The happy couple returns from a date and, once alone, they reminisce about their early days together overseas. Bruce proposes and Edna happily accepts, but he then reveals that he is returning to Africa with the Corps in two weeks and wants her to come along with him. She regretfully tells him that she has built a life in Peekskill and cannot leave, but she then suffers a strange nightmare depicting her own dull funeral. Blair admits that she killed her because she was "boring her to death," and the girls ignore her protests that her life had meaning.
Edna awakens and tells the girls about Bruce's proposal, deciding that she will marry him and head off to Africa after all. The girls are stunned, but admit that they too will eventually leave and, in "a flashback within a flashback," think back to the many ways that Edna has helped and supported them over the years. They begin to plan the wedding, but Edna then tells them that their departure date has been moved up and that she is leaving on the following day. She frets that she cannot marry without her sister Beverly Ann present, but Blair remains determined to give her a proper wedding and hands out assignments for assembling the late-night ceremony, badgering a city clerk for a license as Tootie attempts to pack Edna's belongings. When the scatterbrained Beverly Ann finally arrives, things go from bad to worse when they realize that she has accidentally run over the minister with her car.
Part 2
The minister is found to be relatively uninjured from his encounter with Beverly Ann's terrible driving, but Edna declares that she cannot get married "on a whim" after all and Bruce leaves, upset. Beverly Ann frets that she "always ruins things" for her sister, and Tootie and Blair attempt to convince Edna to go through with the wedding after all as Beverly Ann awkwardly talks to Jo and Natalie, revealing that she has always been jealous of her sister's close bond with the four of them. She sadly retreats to her trailer park and is surprised when all four girls arrive at her mobile home, agreeing that they did not give her a fair chance as their new "mother" because of their sadness over Edna leaving. Edna herself arrives and explains that she was nervous about the wedding and unfairly blamed Beverly, guessing that she and Bruce are not truly meant to be.
Bruce then joins them, however, declaring that he will give up Africa to be with her. She assures him that she wants to go with him, but as they attempt to head back to the house for the wedding, they accidentally drive partway over a cliff. Beverly Ann proves herself as she helps the girls to safety one by one, despite Jo's fear of heights, and then rescues the couple. They decide to hold the ceremony in the trailer park, and Edna takes a moment to tell each of the girls what they have taught her over the years. Beverly Ann promises to be as good of a leader to the girls as Edna has been, though Edna encourages her to be herself in doing so, and Bruce and Edna are finally married. Natalie finishes writing her story, noting that it is a new beginning for their family rather than an ending.
Cast
*Cloris Leachman as Beverly Ann Stickle
*Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner
*Kim Fields as Tootie Ramsey
*Mindy Cohn as Natalie Green
*Mackenzie Astin as Andy Moffett
*Nancy McKeon as Jo Polniaczek
Production notes
*"Out of Peekskill" originally aired as a one-hour episode. When the series went into syndication, it was aired as a two-part episode.
*Brandon Tartikoff, who was the president of NBC Entertainment at the time, described the new changes to season 8 of The Facts of Life saying he "was surprised that The Facts of Life performed well this season, as, with a major cast change and all, I thought it might not perform as it had in the past. Facts has been renewed for next season."
*Cloris Leachman wasn't signed until two weeks before production began when she replaced Charlotte Rae who wanted to go on to other projects.
*The role of Beverly Ann was quite similar to Leachman's character of Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Phyllis from the 1970s. Unfortunately, the character of Beverly Ann was not as popular with viewers as Mrs. Garrett had been. Nevertheless, Leachman remained with the show until it was canceled in 1988.
*The character of Beverly Ann was named after Charlotte Rae's real-life sister Beverly Ann.
*Of her departure, Charlotte Rae explained: "I wanted to move on to do different things. They wanted me to stay a couple more years, they offered me millions to continue."

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