The Facts of Life is an NBC network sitcom and spin-off of "Diff'rent Strokes" created by Dick Clair & Jenna McMahon and developed by Howard Leeds, Ben Starr & Jerry Mayer. The show premiered on August 24, 1979 and ended on May 7, 1988 after 9 seasons & 209 episodes, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s.