Jon Stewart Books Surprise Role In ABC’s ‘Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Facts Of Life’

Rosy Cordero
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Jon Stewart joins ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience that’ll see the characters from Diff’rent Strokes and the Facts of Life back to life by a new, all-star cast of talent. The special airs Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET.

Stewart will appear as part of the Facts of Life cast in a surprise role. He will work opposite Jennifer Aniston, Kathryn Hahn, Gabrielle Union, and Allison Tolman who will play private school teens from the Facts of Life‘s fictional Eastland School: Blair (originally played by Lisa Whelchel), Jo (Nancy McKeon), Tootie (Kim Fields), and Natalie (Mindy Cohn), respectively.

More from Deadline

Ann Dowd will play Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae), the girls’ housemother.

Diff’rent Strokes (created by Bernie Kukoff and Jeff Harris) follows the lives of an unconventional family brought together by circumstance. Arnold (Gary Coleman) and his older brother Willis (Todd Bridges) were two Black brothers from Harlem who moved to a Park Avenue penthouse to live with their mother’s rich employer after her demise.

Arnold and Willis oftentimes struggled to fit in with their new white family—a successful businessman, Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato). Mr. Drummond not only kept his promise to the boys’ mother to raise them, but he grew to adore them as his own.

Mrs. Garrett joined the family as the new housekeeper to help Mr. Drummond care for his growing family. When she grows tired of the monotony of daily life, she leaves the Drummond family for the Diff’rent Strokes spin-off The Facts of Life (created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon) in search of new dreams and personal fulfillment.

The cast for the Diff’rent Strokes re-do includes John Lithgow as Mr. Drummond, Kevin Hart as Arnold, and Damon Wayans embodies Willis.

Live Before a Studio Audience‘s executive producers Norman Lear, Jimmy Kimmel, Brent Miller, Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Theroux, and Jim Burrows are returning for this round.

It’s produced by Kimmelot, ACT III Productions, Gary Sanchez Productions, D’Arconville, Simpson Street, and Sony Pictures Television. Burrows and Andy Fisher are set to direct the live show.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.