Before They Were Stars

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Before They Were Stars
Genre Documentary
Written byPhilip Gurin
Directed byEllen Brown
Presented by Scott Baio
Narrated by John Cramer
Theme music composer Ray Colcord
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
Production
Executive producers Tony Danza
Bruce Nash
Scott Sternberg
Running time30 minutes
Production companies Nash Entertainment
Scott Sternberg Productions
Katie Face Productions
Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network ABC
Release1 February (1996-02-01) 
1 June 1996 (1996-06-01)

Before They Were Stars is a 30-minute American television show that aired on ABC in 1996 and was hosted by Scott Baio, [1] with John Cramer as announcer and narrator.

Contents

The program originated as a series of specials that aired during 1994 and 1995; Joey Lawrence hosted the first two installments, with Karen Duffy taking the reins for the next two, and eventual series host Baio doing so for the fifth and final edition. All of the specials were an hour long, except the third, which was a half-hour.

The term "Before They Were Stars" has since become widely used by television shows and magazines when featuring segments and articles on famous actors in their lesser-known performances (and non-entertainment jobs).

Description

This TV series showed film clips, commercials, television clips and screen tests of celebrities before they became famous, divided into segments spotlighting different genres: "Song of the Week" featured a musical performance by a then-unknown celebrity, while "As the Star Turns" showed celebrities who got their start in minor soap opera roles, and each episode ended with a "Viewer Mail" segment, in which Baio would read letters from home viewers who wanted to see a particular celebrity early in his or her career.

Each episode also featured a segment in which announcer Cramer would call on an audience member, who would be shown a clip of an unnamed celebrity in an early work, and then have the chance to win a cash prize by correctly identifying the celebrity in question.

Examples

Cast

Production credits

References

  1. "NEW ABC SERIES A CHEAP CLIP JOB". The Sun Sentinel. February 28, 1996. ProQuest   388588940 . Retrieved May 18, 2022.