Fame (1982 TV series)

The show was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8:00–9:00 on NBC beginning on January 7, 1982. Despite glowing reviews from critics, ratings were less than impressive, and NBC cancelled it 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.

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, and the only time they gave us any trouble was the last show I was going to write after I knew we were cancelled. It was going to be Road Warrior meets Fame. It was a show that takes place in the future, and you could only sing for the state. It was a fascist society, and we were going to have motorcycles going through the school and have Iggy Pop as the guest star. It was great, and I was in the midst of writing the episode when somehow MGM read somewhere that we planned to burn down the sets, which was a lie. We were going to trash them a bit, but it wasn't the last episode. We had one more after that, and they stopped me from writing it."[3]

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.

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.[4] 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 dance instructor 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.

Also, several characters were carried over from the movie, played by different actors. Irene Cara was offered the role of Coco Hernandez by the show's producers, but she politely declined, as she wished to focus on developing her budding singing career. The part was played by Erica Gimpel. Actor P. R. Paul played Montgomery McNeil in the series, while Paul McCrane portrayed the gay student in the film. The Montgomery character was changed for TV and 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 of Ralph Garci (Tommy Aguilar inheriting the role played in the film by Barry Miller) appeared in the first episode of the TV version, but was metamorphosed into the character of Danny Amatullo, (whose last name is after the associate producer Tony Amatullo) and played by Carlo Imperato. The character Doris Schwartz, played by Valerie Landsburg, was in the series, while the character Doris Finsecker appeared in the film version and was portrayed by Maureen Teefy.

The arts-focused cable network Ovation began airing reruns of Fame in 2011 for a period.

• France: Series started on March 6, 1982, on TF1
• United Kingdom: Series started on June 17, 1982, on BBC One. Only the first four seasons were screened on BBC One; the full series was broadcast on The Children's Channel in 1992.[5] The BBC also helped pay for seasons 3 and 4.[6]
• Sweden: Series started on September 5, 1982, on SVT1
• Israel: Series started in 1982
• Italy: Series was renamed "Saranno famosi" (literally, "They Will Be Famous"), started in January 1983 on Rai Due who also helped pay for seasons 3 and 4[7]
• Brazil: Series started in 1983 on Rede Manchete
• Australia: Aired on the Seven Network

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.[8] 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.

The series won a number of Emmy awards, and in 1983 and 1984, was voted 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.[9]

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.

In May 2019, eight members of the cast, Lee Curreri, Erica Gimpel, Carlo Imperato, Valerie Landsburg, PR Paul, Cynthia Gibb, Jesse Borrego, and Nia Peeples, performed two reunion concerts in Liverpool. This was the first time in over 35 years that the cast had performed together. A three-day fan convention, the Fame Family Experience, held in conjunction, was the first of its kind anywhere. Carol Mayo Jenkins, Loretta Chandler, and David Greenlee were special guests at the convention.

• The Kids from "Fame" – an article on the recording group
• Un Paso Adelante (Spanish series based on Fame)
• Fame Looks At Music '83

• Fame at IMDb
• Fame at TV.com
• Unofficial Fame episode guide
• Fame U.K. Reunion 2019