Why didn't The Facts of Life get a 10th season (1988-89)?
If I have my facts straight, NBC felt that there was still some life left in the show. It was still comfortably winning its timeslot (I think that it was on Saturday nights at this point). But the plans for 10th season went into disarray when Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon said that they were going to leave the show at the end of the ninth season.
But the final episode clearly felt like a sign that the show was going to revamp itself. The last episode involves Blair buying Eastland to prevent it from closing. She soon decides to make Eastland co-ed with Blair becoming the headmistress (in essence, the Mrs. Garrett role). Why didn't NBC go that route if they wanted TFOL to keep going?