Tread Perilously is a podcast in which hosts Erik Amaya and author Justin Robinson watch the “worst” episodes of popular TV shows, attempting to determine if they would continue to watch the series based on the most off-key moments.

This Week: The Face of Life‘s “The Beginning of the Beginning”

Tread Perilously‘s month of backdoor pilots continues with The Facts of Life‘s attempt to backdoor reboot itself in its final half-hour — an episode called “The Beginning of the Beginning.”

When Blair learns Eastland is due to close, she cashes in her trust fund to buy the school. She quickly learns operating a private academy is anything but easy thanks to dwindling enrollment and a mansplaining science teacher. To save the enterprise, she decides to admit boys. Surprisingly, the addition of a whole gender is less of an issue than a girl who wants to be expelled. Will Blair learn how to be Mrs. Garrett in time to save her pupil?

Paul Pakler of Paul and Corey Cross the Streams joins Erik and Justin for another visit to Peekskill. He credits the show’s theme song for a deep philosophical tie. Justin decides the Facts of Life TV movies are more entertaining. The trio tries to unravel the mystery of Juliette Lewis. They also fondly remember character actor Kathleen Freeman. Continuity flubs point out just how little such things matter in the late 1980s. Erik recalls the time Elijah Wood stalked him at Comic-Con. Paul finds the one funny joke about Shirley MacLaine’s 1980s New Age adventures, and Justin recasts Seth Green as Bud Bundy.

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