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Fame | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Christopher Gore |
Based on | Fame by Christopher Gore |
Starring |
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Theme music composer | |
Opening theme |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 136 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network |
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Release | January 7, 1982 – May 18, 1987 |
Fame is an American musical drama television series based on the 1980 film of the same name. It followed the lives of the students and faculty at New York City's High School of Performing Arts. [1] Most interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood, California. In all seasons except the third, the show filmed several exterior scenes on location in New York City.
The popularity of the series around the world, most notably in the United Kingdom, led to several hit records and live concert tours by the cast. [2] [3] Despite its success, few of the actors maintained high-profile careers after the series was cancelled. Several of the cast members were seen again briefly in Bring Back...Fame, a reunion special made for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2008.
Actor | Character | Seasons | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
Debbie Allen | Lydia Grant | Main | |||||
Lee Curreri | Bruno Martelli | Main | Guest [a] | ||||
Erica Gimpel | Coco Hernandez | Main | Guest | Guest [a] | |||
Albert Hague | Benjamin Shorofsky | Main | |||||
Carlo Imperato | Danny Amatullo | Main | |||||
Carol Mayo Jenkins | Elizabeth Sherwood | Main | Guest [a] | ||||
Valerie Landsburg | Doris Schwartz | Main | Guest [a] | ||||
P.R. Paul | Montgomery MacNeill | Main | Guest [a] | ||||
Gene Anthony Ray | Leroy Johnson | Main | |||||
Lori Singer | Julie Miller | Main | |||||
Morgan Stevens | David Reardon | Main | Recurring | Guest | |||
Cynthia Gibb | Holly Laird | Main [b] | Guest [a] | ||||
Billy Hufsey | Christopher Donlon | Main | |||||
Ken Swofford | Principal Quentin Morloch | Main [c] | |||||
Jesse Borrego | Jesse Velasquez | Main | |||||
Janet Jackson | Cleo Hewitt | Main | |||||
Nia Peeples | Nicole Chapman | Main [d] | |||||
Ann Nelson | Mrs. Gertrude Berg | Recurring | Main [e] | ||||
Loretta Chandler | Dusty Tyler | Main | |||||
Carrie Hamilton | Reggie Higgins | Main [f] | |||||
Page Hannah | Kate Riley | Main [f] | |||||
Graham Jarvis | Principal Bob Dyrenforth | Main [f] | |||||
Michael Cerveris | Ian Ware | Main | |||||
Elisa Heinsohn | Jillian Beckett | Main [g] | |||||
Eric Pierpoint | Paul Seeger | Main [h] | |||||
Olivia Barash | Maxie Sharp | Main [i] | |||||
Dick Miller | Lou Mackie | Recurring | Main [i] |
Notable guest stars include Paul Bartel, Frances Bay, Milton Berle, Carol Burnett, Art Carney, John Carradine, Nancy Cartwright, Marge Champion, Don Cheadle, Brian Patrick Clarke, Keith Coogan, Elizabeth Daily, Fran Drescher, Dominique Dunne, Greg Evigan, Fionnula Flanagan, Randee Heller, Arte Johnson, Russell Johnson, Tuesday Knight, Kevin McCarthy, Donna McKechnie, Dermot Mulroney, Bebe Neuwirth, Anthony Newley, David Paymer, Sydney Penny, Richard Simmons, Brenda Vaccaro, Gwen Verdon, Nancy Walker, Ray Walston, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Betty White.
Fame was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8:00–9:00 on NBC beginning on January 7, 1982. NBC promoted its Thursday line-up (Fame, Cheers , Taxi [later Night Court ], and Hill Street Blues ) as "The Best Night of Television on Television!" Despite glowing reviews from critics, ratings were less than impressive, and NBC cancelled Fame after only two seasons. However, by special arrangement with LBS Communications, MGM revived the series for first-run syndication in the fall of 1983, where it continued for four more seasons, with the last first-run episode airing in the US on May 18, 1987. Production on the series ultimately allowed MGM to retain the intellectual property on the Fame franchise for future use despite rights to the original film going to Turner Entertainment and now being held by Warner Bros., as Turner would sell the studio to United Artists shortly after acquiring it in 1986. [4]
Four cast members from the original movie appeared in the television series. Lee Curreri portrayed the character Bruno Martelli, an introverted musical genius. Gene Anthony Ray portrayed Leroy Johnson, a tough hood from the projects with a natural talent for dance, who muscles his way into an audition and wins. In the film, Leroy is also semiliterate, but this was dropped in favor of him having "fourth-grade reading level" in the television series. [5] Albert Hague played teacher Benjamin Shorofsky, a German music teacher who constantly battled with Bruno Martelli over musical styles. The final cast member from the film was Debbie Allen, who portrayed Lydia Grant. Allen only appeared briefly in the movie, but her character was expanded in the series. She also became the show's original choreographer, in addition to directing several episodes and co-producing one season.
Several characters were carried over from the movie, played by different actors. Irene Cara portrayed Coco Hernandez in the film, but the part on TV was played by Erica Gimpel. Actor Paul McCrane played gay student Montgomery McNeil in the film, but P.R. Paul portrayed Montgomery for TV and the character was no longer gay. English teacher Elizabeth Sherwood was played in the film by actress Anne Meara, but in the series was played by actress Carol Mayo Jenkins. The character Doris had her name changed from Doris Finsecker (portrayed by Maureen Teefy) to Doris Schwartz (Valerie Landsburg). The character of Ralph Garci (Tommy Aguilar inheriting the role played by Barry Miller in the film) appeared only in the pilot.
Also, two new characters were introduced in the TV series: cello player Julie Miller (Lori Singer), and actor-comedian Danny Amatullo (whose last name is named after the associate producer, Tony Amatullo) played by Carlo Imperato.
Ira Steven Behr wrote 12 episodes of the series. He recalled: "I did three years on Fame, which was a lot of fun and was also in syndication. We had no one looking over our shoulder. We got to do some wonderfully bizarre things on the show..." [6]
Following its cancellation, two versions of the series were syndicated in reruns: the original hour-long episodes, which usually contained a primary plot, a subplot, and two or more musical numbers; and a second version, stripped of the musical numbers and the subplot and reduced to 30 minutes in length.
The show's theme song was a pop hit for singer Irene Cara, having been featured in the motion picture. A re-recorded version of the theme, using similar instrumentation to the 1980 track, was used in the TV series and sung by co-star Erica Gimpel, who played Coco Hernandez.
Although Gimpel left the series midway through the third season (after the show moved from NBC to first-run syndication in 1983), her opening vocals were still heard on the show for two more seasons. An updated version of the song, featuring a modern, synthesized hard-rock flavor, was introduced in the fall of 1985 and performed by new cast member Loretta Chandler (Dusty). This version ran for the final two seasons of Fame.
"I Still Believe In Me", from an episode of the series titled "Passing Grade", was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Original Song. It was performed by Erica Gimpel and Debbie Allen, and co-written by Gary Portnoy, who went on to co-write and sing the theme from Cheers. In the United Kingdom, two singles credited to The Kids from "Fame", "Hi-Fidelity" and "Starmaker", peaked within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart.
The arts-focused cable network Ovation began airing reruns of Fame in 2011 for a period.
The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the series. The main vocalists of the group were Debbie Allen, Lee Curreri, Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato, Valerie Landsburg, Gene Anthony Ray, and Lori Singer. They performed live concerts and released several albums.
Year | Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS [11] | FIN [12] | NL [13] | NOR [14] | NZ [15] | SWE [16] | UK [17] | ||||
1982 | The Kids from "Fame" |
| 34 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
Again |
| – | 7 | 5 | – | – | 3 | 2 | ||
1983 | Live! |
| 88 | – | 10 | – | – | 28 | 8 | |
Songs |
| 73 | – | 17 | – | 8 | 12 | 14 | ||
Sing for You |
| – | – | 17 | – | – | 32 | 28 | ||
1984 | Rock 'N Roll World |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
Best of Fame |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
2004 | Ultimate Fame |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
2022 | Live in Liverpool |
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
– | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released |
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of Fame to DVD in Region 1 on November 1, 2005.
20th Century Fox, under license from MGM and MGM Television, released the complete first and second seasons of Fame on DVD in Region 1 and Region 2 on September 15, 2009. [19] On January 12, 2010, Fox released seasons 1 and 2 in separate collections.
DVD releases also followed a similar pattern in Europe and Australia. Due to licensing issues, all DVDs contain some unspecified music substitutions.
US DVD | Ep # | Release Date |
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Season 1 (MGM/Sony) | 38 | November 1, 2005 |
Seasons 1 & 2 (MGM/Fox) | 38 | September 15, 2009 |
Season 1 (MGM/Fox) | 16 | January 12, 2010 |
Season 2 (MGM/Fox) | 22 | January 12, 2010 |
The series won a number of Emmy awards, and in 1983 and 1984, it won the Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Musical/Comedy. Actress, director and choreographer Debbie Allen, who had a small role in the motion picture, but played a major character in the television version, also won several awards. [20]
On 27 December 2008, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom (despite Fame having originally been aired in Britain on BBC One) aired a 90-minute special titled Bring Back...Fame, which sought out and reunited some of the original cast members of the television series.
Hosted by Justin Lee Collins, and apparently filmed the previous summer, the show followed the presenter around the United States as he tracked down actors from the series and then staged a reunion. The program showed Collins appearing to surprise the former cast members in locations, including restaurants, a recording studio, a gym, LAX airport, and a cinema, before interviewing them and persuading them to take part in the reunion.
The actors featured were Debbie Allen, Carol Mayo Jenkins, Lee Curreri, Erica Gimpel, Valerie Landsburg, and Carlo Imperato. Also interviewed were Irene Cara and the mother of the late Gene Anthony Ray. Whether other actors from the series had also been approached but had declined to take part was not stated. Excerpts from the TV series were shown throughout the programme. The final scenes showed the six principal actors and a number of backing dancers taking part in a recreation of the title sequence of the TV programme.
George Richard Chamberlain is an American actor and singer who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several miniseries, such as Shōgun (1980) and The Thorn Birds (1983) and was the first to play Jason Bourne in the 1988 television film The Bourne Identity. Chamberlain has also performed classical stage roles and worked in musical theater.
Fame is a 1980 American teen musical drama film directed by Alan Parker and written by Christopher Gore. Set in New York City, it chronicles the lives and hardships of students attending The High School of Performing Arts, from their auditions to their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.
"Fame" is a song written by Michael Gore (music) and Dean Pitchford (lyrics) and released in 1980, that achieved chart success as the theme song to the Fame film and TV series. The song was performed by Irene Cara, who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the original film. It was also her debut single as a recording artist. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1980, and the Golden Globe Award the same year. In 2004, it finished at number 51 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
Susan Victoria Lucci is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Erica Kane on the ABC daytime drama All My Children during that show's entire network run from 1970 to 2011. The character is considered an icon, and she was called "Daytime's Leading Lady" by TV Guide, with The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times citing her as the highest-paid actor in daytime television. As early as 1991, her salary had been reported as over $1 million a year. During her run on All My Children, Lucci was nominated 21 times for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She won only once, in 1999, after the 19th nomination; her status as a perpetual nominee for the award had attracted significant media attention since the late 1980s.
Terrance Quinn, known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He is best known for his Primetime Emmy Award-winning performance of John Locke on the TV series Lost (2004–2010). In film, he’s also known for playing the title role in The Stepfather (1987) and Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer (1991) with roles in other films such as Heaven's Gate (1980), Silver Bullet (1985), Young Guns (1988), Blind Fury (1989), Tombstone (1993) and Primal Fear (1996).
Paul McCrane is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film Fame, Frank Berry in the 1984 film The Hotel New Hampshire, Emil Antonowsky in RoboCop, and Robert Romano on the NBC medical drama television series ER.
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television. He is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and elder brother of fellow actor Jeff Bridges.
Deborah Kaye Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. She has won a Golden Globe Award, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.
Anita, Lady May, known as Anita Dobson, is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Singles Chart with "Anyone Can Fall in Love", a song based on the theme music of EastEnders. She is married to Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Sir Brian May.
Ruta Lee is a Canadian-born American actress and dancer of Lithuanian descent. She was born in Montreal, Canada, to Lithuanian immigrant parents. Ruta Lee appeared as one of the brides in the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She had roles in films including Billy Wilder's crime drama Witness for the Prosecution and Stanley Donen's musical comedy Funny Face, and also is remembered for her guest appearance in a 1963 episode of Rod Serling's sci-fi series The Twilight Zone called "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain."
Livewire is a kids' talk show on the American television cable network, Nickelodeon that began in September 1980 and ended in 1985. The series was designed for kids of all ages, and the show's main focus discussed true current events and stories during those times. It was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York through Reeves Teletape Studios of Sesame Street fame. It was filmed "live on tape" with a participating audience of about 20-30 teenagers, and was hosted initially by Mark Cordray, but Fred Newman soon replaced Cordray as host. It was a CableACE Award winner, the first Nickelodeon talk show to achieve that feat. Livewire was the #1 rated show on Nickelodeon in 1982, and never went below #7 in the ratings during the 5-year span of the show. After the last episode aired, the show went into reruns until May 7, 1988.
Gary Portnoy is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for co-writing and performing the main theme song of the NBC sitcom Cheers, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name".
Erica Fawn Gimpel is an American actress, singer, dancer, and composer. She is best known for her roles on television shows Fame as Coco Hernandez and on Profiler as Angel Brown. She is also known for her recurring roles on the television shows ER as Adele Newman and on Veronica Mars as Alicia Fennel. From 2018 to 2020, Gimpel had a series regular role as Trish on the series God Friended Me.
Leonard Charles "Lee" Curreri is an American actor and musician, most known for his work in the film, Fame (1980) and its television spinoff, Fame (1982–1987).
Bring Back... is a British television series comprising one-off shows where Justin Lee Collins tries to locate people from music, TV, or film backgrounds to reunite them for a one-off performance or get-together. The series was broadcast on Channel 4.
Valerie Landsburg is an American actress, television and film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her portrayal of Doris Schwartz in the 1982 series Fame, interpreting, for television, the role that Maureen Teefy had originated in the film. She was also the lead singer on the UK top five hit "Hi Fidelity". Producer Alan Landsburg was her father, and she appeared in at least one installment of True Confessions, an anthology series program he produced.
Fame Looks at Music '83 was a special concert episode for the third season of the hit TV series Fame. The concert took place on December 27, 1983, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California before a live capacity audience. The broadcast was aired on January 28, 1984. This special features the cast of Fame, billed as "The Kids from Fame," along with the season three regular dancers. The concert is the second of the season, their first concert in the U.S., and their third overall. The concert featured performances of popular music by the cast taking a look back at popular music in the year 1983. Guest starring was Irene Cara, who sang "Fame" — the song an Academy Award winner — originally for the film of the same title in which she also starred as the original Coco.
The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the American TV series Fame who had a number of hit singles and albums at the height of the show's success in the United Kingdom. This success culminated in tours of Britain, where they performed live in concert. A live album was subsequently released.
Serinda Swan is a Canadian actress, best known for her work in film and television. She stars as Karla Dixon in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher. From 2019 to 2022, she starred as Jenny Cooper in the CBC/CW crime drama series Coroner. In 2017, she starred in Marvel's Inhumans and HBO's Ballers, and also portrayed Anne Bancroft in the first season of Feud (2017). Previously, she guest starred on the WB/CW Superman prequel series Smallville as Zatanna Zatara, a DC Comics-inspired recurring character who is an actual magician. She also starred as Paige Arkin in the USA Network action drama series Graceland (2013–2015) and as Erica Reed in the A&E drama series Breakout Kings (2011–2012). She is the director and cofounder of an online education technology company called Blueprint Kids.