''Fame'' is an American television series originally produced between January 7, 1982, and May 18, 1987, by Eilenna Productions in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and sponsored by Yamaha musical instruments, which are prominently showcased in the episodes. The show is based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of comedy, drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts, now known as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Most interior scenes were filmed in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Picture ...

. In all seasons except the third, the show filmed several exterior scenes on location in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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. 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 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in the United Kingdom in 2008.

Episodes

Cast

Faculty

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

as Lydia Grant *

Albert Hague Albert Hague (born Albert Marcuse, October 13, 1920 – November 12, 2001) was a German–born American songwriter and actor. Early life Hague was born to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His father, Harry Marcuse, was a psychiatrist a ...

as Benjamin Shorofsky *Michael Thoma as Greg Crandall (season 1) * Carol Mayo Jenkins as Elizabeth Sherwood (seasons 1–5, final episode of season 6) *Ann Nelson as Mrs. Gertrude Berg (seasons 1.07–6) *

Morgan Stevens Morgan Stevens (October 16, 1951 – January 26, 2022) was an American actor, primarily seen on television. Biography Stevens played Paul Northridge in one episode of ''The Waltons'' and in three reunion movies. In ''A Wedding on Walton's Mou ...

as David Reardon (season 2; recurring seasons 3–4) * Ken Swofford as Principal Quentin Morloch (seasons 3–5.09) *

Graham Jarvis Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Early years Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...

as Principal Bob Dyrenforth (seasons 5.10–6) *

Eric Pierpoint Eric Pierpoint (born November 18, 1950) is an American actor and author. He is perhaps best known for his role as George Francisco on Fox Network's '' Alien Nation''. He has also notably appeared on each of the first four ''Star Trek'' televisi ...

as Paul Seeger (season 6.03)

Students

*Carlo Imperato as Danny Amatullo *

Gene Anthony Ray Gene Anthony Ray (May 24, 1962 – November 14, 2003) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He was known for his portrayal of dancer Leroy Johnson in both the 1980 film '' Fame'' and the 1982–1987 ''Fame'' television series ...

as Leroy Johnson *P. R. Paul as Montgomery MacNeil (season 1, final episode of season 6) * Lori Singer as Julie Miller (seasons 1–2) * Erica Gimpel as Coco Hernandez (seasons 1–3.08, episode of season 4, final episode of season 6) * Lee Curreri as Bruno Martelli (seasons 1–3, final episode of season 6) * Valerie Landsburg as Doris Schwartz (seasons 1–4, final episode of season 6) *

Billy Hufsey Billy Hufsey (born December 8, 1958 in Brook Park, Ohio) is an American actor and singer. Career Billy Hufsey was on television from 1983 to 1987, playing the role of Christopher Donlon on the NBC/syndicated drama, '' Fame''. He went on to play ...

as Christopher Donlon (seasons 3–6) *

Cynthia Gibb Cynthia Gibb (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress and former model who has starred in film and on television. She began her career as a cast member on the musical television drama '' Fame'', based on the movie of the same name. She ...

as Holly Laird (seasons 3–5.10, final episode of season 6) *

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

as Cleo Hewitt (season 4) * Jesse Borrego as Jesse Velasquez (seasons 4–6) *

Nia Peeples Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama '' Pretty Little Liars''; Karen Taylor Wi ...

as Nicole Chapman (seasons 4.02–6.10) * Page Hannah as Kate Riley (season 5.10) *Loretta Chandler as Dusty Tyler (seasons 5–6) *

Carrie Hamilton Carrie Louise Hamilton (December 5, 1963 – January 20, 2002) was an American actress, playwright and singer. Hamilton was a daughter of comedian Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton. She was also the older sister of Jody Hamilton, an ac ...

as Reggie Higgins (seasons 5.10-6) *

Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Passi ...

as Ian Ware (season 6) * Elisa Heinsohn as Jillian Beckett (season 6.02) *

Olivia Barash Olivia Barash (born January 11, 1965) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in television series such as ''Little House on the Prairie'', ''Charlie's Angels'', and ''Soap''. She subsequently had a lead role on t ...

as Maxie Sharp (season 6.12)

Recurring characters

* Carmine Caridi as Angelo Martelli (seasons 1–2) *

Judy Farrell Judy Farrell (née Hayden; May 11, 1938) is an American actress most noted for her role as Nurse Able on the television comedy series ''M*A*S*H''. She performed small roles in several other television series, then later wrote 13 episodes for the ...

as Charlotte Miller (seasons 1–3) * Michael DeLorenzo as Michael (seasons 1–3) *Bronwyn Thomas as Michelle (seasons 1–4) *

David Greenlee David Greenlee is an American voice actor and actor best known for his portrayals of the nerdy hall monitor Dwight in seasons two through five of the 1982 television series '' Fame'' and Mouse in the fantasy series ''Beauty and the Beast''. Pr ...

as Dwight Mendenhall (seasons 2–5) *

Connie Needham Connie Needham (born Connie Marie Bowen; December 5, 1959) is an American actress and dance instructor. As Connie Newton, she portrayed Elizabeth Bradford on the television series ''Eight is Enough'' from 1977 to 1981. Career Although her most ...

as Kelly Hayden (season 2) *

Stephanie E. Williams Stephanie E. Williams (born February 4, 1959) is an American actress best known for her work on TV soap operas, first on CBS-TV's ''The Young and the Restless'' as Amy Lewis, a character she portrayed from 1982 to 1988, then on ABC-TV's '' ...

as Stephanie Harrison (season 2) *

Jimmy Osmond James Arthur Osmond (born April 16, 1963), also known as Little Jimmy Osmond, is an American singer, actor, and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six gold r ...

as Troy Phillips (season 2) *Phoebe Yardon-Lewis as Alicia Morgan (season 3) *

Sam Slovick Samuel J. Slovick (born June 23, 1958) is an American actor, musician, and writer. Life and career Slovick grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.Bollier, Jeff (March 24, 2007). Oshkosh native nominated for Pulitzer Prize. ''Oshkosh Northwestern'' He cur ...

as Cassidy (season 4) *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Cor ...

as Lou Mackie (seasons 4–6) * Robert Romanus as Miltie Horowitz (seasons 5–6) *

Caryn Ward Caryn Michelle Ward Ross (née Ward) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer and producer. Life and career Ward was born in Los Angeles, California, Ward's mother is a lawyer and her father is a medical doctor. She attended Howard Universi ...

as Tina Johnson (seasons 5–6) *Carolyn J. Silas as Laura Mackie (season 6) * Denny Dillon as Corky (season 6)

Production

The show was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8:00–9:00 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

beginning on January 7, 1982. NBC promoted its Thursday line-up (''Fame'', ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'', ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

'' ater_''Night_Court''.html" ;"title="Night_Court.html" ;"title="ater ''Night Court">ater ''Night Court''">Night_Court.html" ;"title="ater ''Night Court">ater ''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 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 Ira Steven Behr (born October 23, 1953) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on '' Star Trek'', especially ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', on which he served as showrunner and executive producer. He was ...

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 James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

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." 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 Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

was a pop hit for singer

Irene Cara Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...

, 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

, 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 UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Four cast members from the original movie appeared in the television series. Lee Curreri portrayed the character Bruno Martelli, an introverted musical genius.

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.

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 Paul David McCrane (born January 19, 1961) 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 fil ...

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 Barry Miller may refer to: *Barry Miller (actor) (born 1958), American actor *Barry Miller (politician) Barry Miller (December 25, 1864 – June 20, 1933) was a Texas state legislator and Lieutenant Governor from 1925 to 1931 serving under Gover ...

) appeared in the first

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...

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 Maureen Jane Teefy is an American actress. She is best known for her appearances in the films '' Fame'' (1980), ''Grease 2'' (1982), '' Supergirl'' (1984), and '' Startime'' (1992). Her last film appearances to date were in 1997 film '' Men S ...

. The arts-focused cable network

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

began airing reruns of ''Fame'' in 2011 for a period.

International broadcasts

* France: Series started on March 6, 1982, on TF1 * United Kingdom: Series started on June 17, 1982, on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Only the first four seasons were screened on BBC One; the full series was broadcast on

The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat ...

in 1992. The BBC also helped pay for seasons 3 and 4. On November 7, 2021, music channel Now 80s begin showing the series. * Sweden: Series started on September 5, 1982, on

SVT1 SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden. History Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...

* 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 * Brazil: Series started in 1983 on

Rede Manchete Rede Manchete (; lit.: Headline Network; also known as TV Manchete or only Manchete) was a Brazilian television network that was founded in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1983 by the Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and businessman Adolpho Bloch. The ...

* Australia: Aired on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

*Hong Kong: Aired on

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television ...

on Saturdays in 1984-85

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures l ...

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. 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.

Awards

The series won a number of

Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, and in 1983 and 1984, it won the Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Musical/Comedy. Actress, director and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

Debbie Allen, who had a small role in the motion picture, but played a major character in the television version, also won several awards.

''Bring Back...Fame''

On 27 December 2008,

in the United Kingdom (despite ''Fame'' having originally been aired in Britain on

) 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 Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an actor and former radio and television presenter from Bristol, England. Collins began his career as a stand up comedian in the 1990s when he was in his late teens. He then presented a number of TV s ...

, 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.

References

External links

*
''Fame'' TV Series ArchiveFame U.K. Reunion 2019/2022
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fame (1982 Tv Series) 1982 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American drama television series 1980s American music television series 1980s American high school television series 1980s American teen drama television series NBC original programming Fame (franchise) First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Live action television shows based on films Television series by MGM Television Best Musical or Comedy Series Golden Globe winners American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows Television series about educators Television series about teenagers Television shows set in New York City Works about performing arts education