The Jacksons: An American Dream | |
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Written by | Joyce Eliason |
Directed by | Karen Arthur |
Starring | Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs Angela Bassett Holly Robinson Peete Margaret Avery Alex Burrall Jermaine Jackson Jr. Bumper Robinson Floyd Meyers Jr. Monica Calhoun Jason Weaver Angel Vargas Terrence Howard Vanessa Williams Billy Dee Williams Wylie Draper Colin Steele |
Theme music composer | Harold Wheeler |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 2 |
Production | |
Producers | Suzanne de Passe Joyce Eliason Jermaine Jackson Margaret Maldonado Stan Margulies |
Running time | 300 min. |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | November 15 – November 18, 1992 |
The Jacksons: An American Dream is an American five-hour miniseries broadcast in two halves on ABC and originally broadcast on November 15 through November 18, 1992. [1] It is based upon the history of the Jackson family, one of the most successful musical families in show business, and the early and successful years of the popular Motown group the Jackson 5.
The miniseries was executive produced by Suzanne de Passe and Stan Margulies, produced by Joyce Eliason, Jermaine Jackson and Margaret Maldonado, and directed by Karen Arthur. The movie was filmed in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, where director Arthur had previously filmed her feature film Lady Beware . The miniseries stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as the Jacksons' patriarch Joseph Jackson, Angela Bassett as the family matriarch Katherine Jackson. Abolade David Olatunde, Alex Burrall, Jason Weaver and Wylie Draper played Michael Jackson in different eras, while Bumper Robinson and Terrence Howard played Jackie Jackson in different eras. Shakiem Jamar Evans and Angel Vargas played Tito Jackson, Margaret Avery played Katherine's mother, Martha Scruse, Holly Robinson Peete played Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams played Berry Gordy, and Vanessa Williams played Suzanne de Passe.
The Jacksons: An American Dream is based on Katherine Jackson's My Family autobiography. A critical and commercial success, the program won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography, while the performances of Hilton-Jacobs and Bassett received widespread acclaim.
The opening sequence of the film features footage of the real Jacksons rehearsing and performing on stage, a few clips from the "Can You Feel It" music video, album covers, magazine covers, a snippet from their cartoon, and pictures of the family. The film is mostly based on the autobiography written by Katherine Jackson, and issued in 1990, entitled My Family. The entire mini-series spans a period of about 40 years.
Act 1 of the film is based on young Katherine and Joseph meeting and courting in the 1940s and showing how they managed to start out raising their children in Gary, Indiana in the 1950s and 1960s, how Joseph discovers the children have talent and starts entering them in talent shows, and finally how the Jackson 5 go on to have early fame and face its consequences in the late 1960s.
Act 2 of the film deals with the struggles of young Michael Jackson as he faces his brothers marrying early into the Jackson 5's success, his problems with acne as a teenager, and the group's eventual switch to Epic Records in the 1970s, his eventual solo superstardom based on the success of his albums Off the Wall and Thriller , the commercial mishap that caused his hair to ignite, and his legendary Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean", as well as confronting his difficult relationship with his estranged father in the 1980s.
Michael Jackson's voice is heard on: "Beat It", "Human Nature", "Billie Jean", "I Want You Back", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", "I'll Be There", "Rockin' Robin", "ABC", and "Dancing Machine". On all other songs, the Michael Jackson vocal part is performed by Anthony Harrell, Jason Weaver or Kipp Lennon.
The Jacksons: An American Dream became one of the most popular and successful music-biography miniseries of the 1990s. Part 1 of the miniseries was the third highest-rated program broadcast during the week of November 9–15 with a 21.1 rating. [2] Part 2 of the miniseries was watched by 38.4 million viewers [3] in 22.3 million households [4] becoming the highest-rated program broadcast during the week of November 16–22 [4] posting a 23.9 rating, and 36 share. [3] Overall, the miniseries was watched in 38.3 million households and posted a 22.3 rating and 33 share. [5]
The series was ultimately nominated for four Emmy Awards, with Michael Peters winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography. The other nominations included Robert L. Stevenson for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special, Claude Riggins, Daniel J. Leahy, Michael C. Casper, and Gary Lux for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special for "Part 2," and Outstanding Miniseries. Bumper Robinson won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Television Movie and Alex Burrall and Jason Weaver both won a special award for Outstanding Young Performers Starring in a Mini-Series.
The miniseries was later rebroadcast on VH1 and released to VHS and DVD. [6] The DVD version of the miniseries was released as a two-disc set. The first disc was named "The Early Years" and the second disc was named "The Success Years".
The miniseries aired frequently after the death of Michael Jackson. Along with that, Wylie Draper died from leukemia just one year after the miniseries’ release. It has been shown on TV One, BET, Centric and VH1.
The Jacksons: An American Dream | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | October 20, 1992 | |||
Length | 37:52 | |||
Label | Motown | |||
The Jackson 5 chronology | ||||
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All songs performed by the Jackson 5 except where noted.
Chart (1992/93) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) [7] | 16 |
Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson is an American musician. He is an original member of the Jackson 5, who rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with the Motown label, and later had continued success with the group on the Epic label in the late 1970s and 1980s. Tito began a solo career in 2003 performing as a blues musician.
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the Jackson 5, and played bass guitar. In 1983, he rejoined the group, now known as the Jacksons, where he consistently played with the group during periods of activity, before departing again in 2020.
Marlon David Jackson is an American entertainer, singer, and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity worldwide.
Joseph Walter Jackson was an American talent manager and patriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers. He was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Katherine Esther Jackson is the matriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers that includes her children Michael and Janet Jackson.
Jason Michael Weaver is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Marcus Henderson on The WB sitcom Smart Guy, Jerome Turrell on the short-lived sitcom Thea from 1993 to 1994, and the preteen Michael Jackson on the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, which originally both aired on ABC. He was also the singing voice of the young Simba in Walt Disney Feature Animation's 1994 film The Lion King. He was featured on Chingy's 2004 hit single "One Call Away", which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. He played Teddy in the 2006 hit movie ATL.
Suzanna Celeste de Passe is an American businesswoman, television, music and film producer. De Passe serves as the co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group.
"Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists including The Miracles, who recorded the 1960 original version, The Temptations, The Supremes, Terence Trent D'arby, Brenda and The Tabulations, John Farnham, Human Nature, En Vogue, Michael Bublé and Giorgia Todrani and Jessica Mauboy. The most famous version is attributed to The Jackson 5. Shaheen Jafargholi, then twelve years old, performed the song at Michael Jackson's public memorial service in July 2009.
"The Love You Save" is a song recorded by the Jackson 5 for Motown Records. It was released as a single on May 13, 1970, and held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart in the US for six weeks and the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from June 27 to July 4, 1970 and sold over 2 million copies in the United States. In the UK top 40 chart, it peaked at number 7 in August 1970. The song is the third of the four-in-a-row Jackson 5 number-ones released. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 16 song of 1970, one place behind the Jackson 5's "ABC".
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 was the debut studio album from Gary, Indiana-based soul family band the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label on December 12, 1969. The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preadolescent Michael Jackson and his four older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release. The album reached number 5 on the US Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the US R&B/Black Albums charts. To date, the Jackson 5's debut album has sold estimated 5 million copies worldwide.
Jackson 5ive is a Saturday morning cartoon series that aired for two seasons on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972. Produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions, it is a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group the Jackson 5. The series was rebroadcast in syndication in 1984–85, during a period when Michael Jackson was riding a major wave of popularity as a solo artist. It also briefly re-aired in 1999 on TV Land as part of their "Super Retrovision Saturdaze" lineup. The series was animated mainly in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro and Topcraft.
"Don't Stand Another Chance" is a song by American recording artist Janet Jackson, included on her second studio album, Dream Street (1984). It was written by Marlon Jackson and John Barnes. Marlon also produced it, and provided backing vocals along with his brothers Michael, Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie. "Don't Stand Another Chance" was released as the lead single from Dream Street on August 13, 1984, by A&M Records.
The Jackson family is an American family of musicians and entertainers from Gary, Indiana. Many of the children of Joseph Walter and Katherine Esther Jackson were successful musicians, notably the brothers that formed the Motown boy band the Jackson 5. Several of the siblings also had successful solo careers. Joe worked as their manager. The Jackson family, both as a musical group and as solo artists, have achieved success in the field of popular music from the late 1960s and onward. They are sometimes called the "First Family of Soul", the "Imperial Family of Pop", or the "Royal Family of Pop", especially following the success of Michael and Janet Jackson, the former of whom is frequently dubbed the "King of Pop".
"I Wanna Be Where You Are" is a song written by Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and Leon Ware for Michael Jackson, who took the song to number 7 in Cash Box and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. It also reached number 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1972.
The Jackson 5, later the Jacksons, is an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. They were managed by their father Joe Jackson. The group were among the first African American performers to attain a crossover following.
Live at the Forum is a live album by American family musical group the Jackson 5. It was released on June 21, 2010. The live tracks contained in the album were mostly recorded on June 20, 1970 and August 26, 1972, during concerts at The Forum, in Inglewood, California.
de Passe Jones Entertainment (dJE) is an American entertainment content provider led by Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones that sources, develops, acquires, and produces a variety of television, motion picture, theater, new media, and print content. The company was founded by Berry Gordy Jr., in 1968, as Motown Productions, the film and television arm of Gordy's Motown Records label. It became de Passe Entertainment in 1992, then in 2008, joining forces with Jones, de Passe Jones Entertainment.
Michael Forever – The Tribute Concert was a music benefit concert which was held on 8 October 2011 at the 74,500 seater Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
The 14th Youth in Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Youth in Film Association, honored outstanding youth performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television, theater and music for the 1991-1992 season, and took place on January 16, 1993, at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, California.
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall is a 2016 documentary film directed by Spike Lee, chronicling the rise of pop star Michael Jackson through the creation of his landmark solo album, Off the Wall (1979). It is the second Michael Jackson-focused documentary Lee has made, after Bad 25 (2012). The film premiered on January 24, 2016, at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.