I know, I know. You’re gonna hate me. I don’t post for months and months and then I give you TWO BACK TO BACK EPISODES OF THE FACTS OF LIFE.

First of all, let me introduce you to this episode with absolutely no context. (Yeah, I’m just being a jerk now).

So I’d like to go ahead and jump in here and say WHAT THE FUDGE IS GOING ON? Tootie is forlornly watching a pop star through a window and then Cloris Leachman just appears over her shoulder???

[And look, I don’t want this blog to turn into me shitting on Cloris Leachman. I think she’s a wonderful actress. I just don’t understand her role in this series and it feels like a big career misstep. She was on The Mary Tyler Moore Show for God’s sake! And I loved her as the grandmother in Now and Then).

But I digress, the reason I’ve called you all here today is I realized why George Clooney is in so few episodes of The Facts of Life. Or rather, why his character “George” is in so few episodes. (I imagine George Clooney the actor was like woah yikes the premise of this show doesn’t work anymore and I better get out of here as soon as I get literally any other decent opportunity.)

You see, here we are in the fifteenth episode of the season and George the Handyman leaves to become a roadie for pop singer, Stacey Q — who is playing the fictional character “Cinnamon.” She apparently played the same role in a previous episode where she won a role in a Broadway musical over Tootie. (Hence the forlorn look through the window, I believe.)

Anyway, Cinnamon is hanging out in Peekskill because she is afraid of going on her first national tour. She and George meet while they both work retail in the store that Cloris Leachman owns with Blair, Natalie, and Tootie.

Tootie is jealous that Cinnamon is running away from an opportunity that Tootie would kill to have, so she’s kind of a jerk to her until she finally apologizes live on the college radio station. Cinnamon and George overhear this in the studio because they have come to the station to tell Tootie that Cinnamon has decided to go on the tour with George as her roadie.

Tootie invites Cinnamon to sing on the air and Cinnamon is all reluctant to do so, but George conveniently has her backing track on-hand. So she sings We Connect:

And we never see George Clooney on The Facts of Life again.