Mindy Cohn says plans for a revival of “ The Facts of Life ” have officially been scrapped due to some unforeseen “drama” with a former co-star. Appearing on SiriusXM’s “ Jeff Lewis Live ” this week, Cohn said talks about a revival of the beloved sitcom ramped up in the wake of the 2021 ABC special “ Live in Front of a Studio Audience ,” which featured an all-star re-creation of a classic episode. The success of that special, Cohn explained, sparked the interest of producer Norman Lear , who quickly got in touch with her and her surviving cast mates Kim Fields, Nancy McKeon and Lisa Whelchel.
(Lear died in December.) “We got into talks and we hired a writer, and the four of us got together on Zoom,” she said. “This was during COVID, and we had meetings with Norman about it.
” Those discussions fell apart, however, after one of the actors allegedly attempted to seek out a different opportunity that would’ve involved her character from the series, which ran from 1979 to 1988. “One of the girls went behind our backs, tried to make a separate deal for a spinoff just for herself, and devastated the rest of us,” Cohn said. “For a 40-year friendship and sisterhood, there was a tidal wave of emotion around it.
” She went on to note: “She was a greedy bitch. I’ll say it.” “The Facts of Life” was initially conceived as a spinoff of “Diff’rent Strokes” and focused primarily on the character of Edna Garrett (played by the late actor Charl.