Charlotte Rae lived to the age of 92 and played a character that many of us grew up with and loved. "Mrs. Garrett" was a fixture on TV in the 70s and 80s, doling out advice to mischievous kids and teenagers. In a way, she was delivering the same messages to all of us through TV magic.

When I was a kid, we were told TV would "rot your brain." Well, I am here to tell you that TV sitcoms from the 80s and 90s are likely responsible for a large part of my success in radio. Two of the shows that used to "rot my brain" were Different Strokes and The Facts of Life. Mrs. Garrett was a secondary character on one and "the boss" on another. Thank you, Charlotte Rae, for the laughs.

SIDE BAR - The Facts of Life TV theme did not make my blog about the best TV themes last week, and this is criminal.

DOUBLE SIDE BAR - The Golden Girls TV theme did not make that list either and this is a HUGE problem.

TRIPLE SIDE BAR - I had a MAD crush on Nancy Mckeon, who played "Jo Polniaczek" on The Facts of Life.

The Paley Center For Media's PaleyFest 2014 Fall TV Preview - "The Facts Of Life" 35th Anniversary Reunion
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That's Nancy on the left and Lisa Whelchel on the right. Lisa played "Blair Warner." Look at that, I woke up this morning thinking I USED to have a crush on "Jo" and now I know, I still do.

Let's play it one more time for "Mrs. Garrett."

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