The Tootie Connection

In honour of this year's Academy Awards, I would like to point out that this is the first year when two -- not one, but two -- nominated directors are connected with "The Facts of Life." Everyone knows that George Clooney did a stint on the show after the girls had finished school and opened up some kind of store with Mrs. Garrett. (I think there was an episode where he dated Jo, which may be a reason why George Clooney seems so unflappable -- once you've dated Jo, what is there to fear?) But not everyone remembers that Paul Haggis was a writer-producer for several years -- in fact, he was there the year George Clooney was there. So think of Crash as a movie full of people who can't solve their problems because Mrs. Garrett isn't there to tell them what to do.

Haggis, of course, also created "Walker, Texas Ranger," which means that by definition anything he does is good.