Emmy® Award-winning “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” makes its highly anticipated return with a third iteration, featuring live reenactments of the hit series “The Facts of Life,” created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon, and “Diff’rent Strokes,” created by Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris.
“Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘The Facts of Life’ and ‘Diff’rent Strokes’” premieres Tuesday December 7th at 8:00-9:30 p.m. EST, on ABC. The all-new series is then set to air new episodes in its regular time period starting Tuesday January 4th, 2022.
The one-night-only live event will reunite executive producers Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Brent Miller, Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux and Jim Burrows and will feature an all-star cast with John Lithgow who will play Mr.Drummond, Kevin Hart assuming the role of Arnold and Damon Wayans and Ann Dowd who will play Willis and Mrs. Garrett in“Diff’rent Strokes.” The cast of “The Facts of Life” will be named at a later date.
“Other than with my family, there’s no place I’d rather be in my 100th year than on a soundstage at Sony with these glorious actors reliving what our company had produced all those years ago and sharing it with the millions of viewers who could use a little laughter,” stated Norman Lear.
Executive producer Kerry Washington said, “It has been an honor and highlight of my career to collaborate with the legendary Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Sony. Part of the magic of Norman’s iconic TV series is that they resonate with audiences today just as much as they did decades ago. Reliving and reimagining them feels like pure joy. I keep wondering when this will start to feel like work!”
The first two installments of the live broadcast television events captivated audiences with its all-star casts recreating episodes of “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” in spring 2019, and an additional classic episode of “All in the Family” and the groundbreaking sitcom “Good Times” in winter 2019.
The Sony Pictures Television special “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’” reached nearly 13 million Total Viewers on linear and digital platforms. In addition, the holiday-inspired live event averaged nearly 8 million Total Viewers after 35 days of delayed viewing across all platforms.
