''Jem'', also known as ''Jem and the Holograms'', is an American animated musical television series that ran from 1985 to 1988. The series is about record company owner Jerrica Benton, her singer

alter-ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

Jem, and the adventures of Jem and her band the Holograms. The series was a joint collaboration by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

Sunbow Productions Sunbow Entertainment (known as Sunbow Productions until 1995) was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United States. Griffin ...

and

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of ...

, the same team responsible for ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'' and ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...

''. The creator of the series,

Christy Marx Christy Marx is an American scriptwriter, author, and game designer, especially narrative designer. She is best known for her work on various TV series including '' Jem'', ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', '' Conan the Adventurer'', ''G.I. Joe'', ...

, had also been a staff writer for the aforementioned programs. The animation for most of the episodes was provided by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese animation studio

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

with some provided by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n studio

AKOM AKOM Production, Ltd. (Animation KOrea Movie 애이콤 프로덕션) is a South Korean animation studio in Songpa-gu, Seoul that has provided much work since its conception in 1985 by Nelson Shin. Its biggest claim to fame is the overseas animati ...

Plot

The series revolves around Jerrica Benton, the owner and manager of Starlight Music, and her alter-ego Jem, lead singer of the rock group the Holograms. Jerrica adopts the

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...

of Jem with the help of a

holographic Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...

computer, known as Synergy, which was built by Jerrica's father to be "the ultimate audio-visual entertainment synthesizer" and is bequeathed to her after his death. Jerrica is able to command Synergy to project the hologram of Jem over herself by means of the remote micro-projectors in her earrings, thus disguising her features and clothing, enabling her to assume the Jem persona. Jem, through the use of her earrings, is also able to project holograms around her and uses this ability throughout the series to avoid danger and provide special effects for the performances of her group. The Holograms consists of Kimber Benton, Jerrica's younger sister,

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

, and main

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

for the band; Aja Leith, Asian-American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

; Shana Elmsford, African-American, who plays the synth

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s. Aja and Shana are also childhood friends, and adopted foster sisters of Jerrica and Kimber, having lived with the Benton family since they were young. Shana briefly leaves the group to pursue a career in fashion, at which point a new Latina character, Carmen "Raya" Alonso, is introduced as her replacement. The Holograms are aware of Jem's secret identity and the existence of Synergy when the series begins, while Raya is made aware unintentionally shortly before joining the group. Upon her return to the Holograms, Shana becomes the band's

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

. The Holograms have two rival bands: the Misfits and the Stingers: * The Misfits (no relation to the real-world band

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

) consist of petulant rich girl Pizzazz (real name Phyllis Gabor) and her group: no-nonsense guitarist Roxy (Roxanne Pelligrini) and kind-hearted, sensitive keytar player Stormer (Mary Phillips). They are joined later by the manipulative

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Jetta (Sheila Burns). * The Stingers debut in the third season when they cause disruptions for both groups by becoming co-owners of Stinger Sound with Eric Raymond. Originally from Germany, the Stingers are composed of egotistical lead singer Riot (Rory Llewelyn), guitarist/con artist Rapture (Phoebe Ashe), and keyboardist Minx (Ingrid Kruger). The real names of Minx and Rapture are not disclosed in any of the installments. Episodes of the series frequently revolve around Jerrica's efforts to keep her two identities separate, protect Synergy from those who might exploit the holographic technology, and support the twelve foster children known as the Starlight Girls who live with her and the Holograms. The Misfits frequently attempt to upstage Jem and the Holograms' endeavors, often nearly resulting in physical harm to members of the group. This rivalry is encouraged and manipulated by their manager and central villain in the series, Eric Raymond, the former half-owner of Starlight Music who runs Misfits Music (later Stinger Sound) while working under Pizzazz's father, Harvey Gabor. During the series, Eric Raymond constantly plots to become owner of Starlight Music and get revenge on Jem and the Holograms for having cost him control of the company. Jerrica also deals with a complex and emotionally draining faux- love triangle involving her alter identity, Jem, and Rio Pacheco, Jerrica's longtime boyfriend. Rio romantically pursues both women, not knowing they are one and the same. Later in the series, Jem is also romantically sought after by Riot, who becomes infatuated with her – adding further complications to her relationships. In the final episode of the series, the Misfits and Jem declare a truce when Ba Nee, one of the most troubled foster girls in Starlight House, is claimed by her long-lost father. Her father is found by Jem and the Holograms with the help of Riot's father. Riot's relationship with his father is mended with the help of Jem.

Characters

Episodes

Production

Conception and staffing

hired advertising agency

Griffin-Bacal Advertising Griffin-Bacal Advertising was a global advertising agency founded in 1978 by Tom Griffin and Joe Bacal. One of their first clients was Hasbro, which employed their services for coming up with advertising campaigns for several of their toy lines su ...

, the founders of

, to create the 65-episode animation series. Griffin-Bacal ( Sunbow), as well as

, had previously created the successful ''

'' series for

. ''G.I. Joe'' writer

was hired to create the series based on the line of dolls and the original concept, which consisted of the two girl bands, Synergy, the boyfriend Rio, and the Rockin' Roadster. Marx created the full character biographies and relationships, including the love triangle aspect between Rio and Jerrica Benton/Jem, Starlight Music and Starlight House, the Starlight Girls, the villain Eric Raymond and various secondary characters. Later, Marx was asked to develop new characters as they were introduced. Marx wrote 23 of the 65 episodes. Other writers for the series included Cary Bates,

Greg Weisman Greg Weisman (born September 28, 1963) is an American novelist, writer, producer and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the animated series '' Gargoyles'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' and '' Young Justice''. Early life and caree ...

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

Buzz Dixon Buzz Dixon (December 7, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, film, and cartoons. He has written comics for multiple companies, including Eclipse Comics (where he wrote ''Destroyer Duck'' alongside Steve Gerber), Marvel Comics, and a ''Bu ...

Ellen Guon Ellen Guon Beeman is an American fantasy and science fiction author, television screenwriter and computer game designer/ producer. She has published four novels and has worked on over 40 video games. Career in the game industry Ellen Beeman ...

, Steve Mitchell,

Michael Reaves James Michael Reaves (born September 14, 1950) is an American writer, known for his contributions as scriptwriter and story editor to a number of 1980s and 1990s animated television series, including '' Disney's Gargoyles'' and '' Batman: The An ...

, David Wise,

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...

Mary Skrenes Mary Skrenes is a comic book writer and screenwriter. She may be best known as co-creator (with Steve Gerber) of Omega the Unknown for Marvel Comics, although she worked on other Marvel characters such as the Defenders and Guardians of the Galax ...

, Beth Bornstein,

Roger Slifer Roger Allen Slifer (; November 11, 1954 – March 30, 2015) was an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer who co-created the character Lobo for DC Comics. Among the many comic-book series for which he wrote was DC's '' O ...

, Richard Merwin, Sandy Fries, Cheri Wilkerson, Misty Stewart-Taggart,

George Arthur Bloom George Arthur Bloom (born 1945) is an US-born Canadian screenwriter and producer known for his work on Nelvana television titles such as ''The Magic School Bus'' and ''Cyberchase''. He also wrote the pilots for '' The Transformers'' and '' My Lit ...

, Jina Bacarr, Barbara Petty, Chris Pelzer, Michael Charles Hill, Eric Early, Clare Noto, Carla Conway and Evelyn A. R. Gabai. The executive producers were Joe Bacal, Jay Bacal, Tom Griffin and

Margaret Loesch Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...

. The story editor was

and

featuring industry veteran

Wally Burr Walter Story Burr (June 2, 1924 – July 9, 2017), also credited as Wally Burr and Walter Burr, was an American voice actor and director. As the voice director for '' The Transformers'' and '' The Transformers: The Movie'', Burr was known for h ...

as the series' voice director. The series' directors and supervising animators included many veterans of the DePatie-Freleng cartoon studio including Gerry Chiniquy, John Gibbs,

Norm McCabe Norman McCabe (February 10, 1911 – January 17, 2006) was an English-born American animator who enjoyed a long career that lasted into the 1990s. Early career McCabe was born in England and raised in the United States. He soon developed a ...

Warren Batchelder Warren Batchelder (April 18, 1917 – February 12, 2007) was an animator on many Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng cartoons. He also worked as animation director on the '' Dungeons and Dragons'' cartoon show., He also did the animation for the ...

and

Tom Ray Thomas Archer Ray (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was an American animator. Career Ray was born in Williams, Arizona. He began work at Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1937, working under Tex Avery for six months. He applied for a job at MGM and w ...

Casting

Samantha Newark provided the speaking voices of Jem and Jerrica. Despite having toured as a child singer in Africa, she did not do the singing for Jem. The voiceover cast never auditioned for the music side of the series and vice versa. The music for Jem was all cast and recorded in New York and Atlanta and the voiceover actors were cast and recorded in Burbank, California. They matched the speaking voices of the cast to the singing voices.

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

, who had never before worked professionally as a singer, was cast as the singing voice of Jem after obtaining an audition through her father who worked on

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s in New York. The initial take from the audition was used as the first opening theme song, "Truly Outrageous". The remaining Holograms speaking voices were provided by Cathianne Blore (Kimber Benton/Aja Leith), Cindy McGee (Shana Elmsford), and

Linda Dangcil Linda Dangcil (June 19, 1941 – May 7, 2009) was an American actress and dancer best known for her roles as Sister Ana in the ABC television series ''The Flying Nun'' and Carmen 'Raya' Alonso in the animated series '' Jem''. Dangcil was a n ...

(Carmen 'Raya' Alonso). The Misfits' speaking voices were provided by

Patricia Alice Albrecht Patricia Alice Albrecht (January 30, 1953 – December 25, 2019) was an American actress, writer and poet. She was best known for her role of Phyllis "Pizzazz" Gabor, the antagonistic lead singer of the fictional band The Misfits in the animated t ...

(Phyllis "Pizzazz" Gabor),

Samantha Paris Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain. Specul ...

/Bobbie Block (Roxanne "Roxy" Pellegrini), Susan Blu (Mary "Stormer" Phillips), and

Louise Dorsey Arnold George Dorsey (born 2 May 1936), known professionally as Engelbert Humperdinck, is an English Pop music, pop singer who has been described as "one of the finest Middle of the road (music), middle-of-the-road sentimental ballad, balladeers ...

(Sheila "Jetta" Burns), the daughter of Engelbert Humperdinck. Ellen Bernfeld provided the singing voice of Pizzazz. The Stingers' speaking voices were provided by

Townsend Coleman Townsend Coleman is an American voice actor who has performed in many animated series and TV commercials beginning in the early 1980s. Among his most notable roles are Michaelangelo from ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Wayne Gretzky on '' ProSta ...

(Rory "Riot" Llewelyn),

Ellen Gerstell Ellen Gerstell (born October 16, 1954) is an American voice actress. She is most known for providing the voice of Rapture in '' Jem'' and Mihoshi Kuramitsu in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. She is the wife of the late Emmy Award-winning writer ...

(Phoebe "Rapture" Ashe), and

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...

(Ingrid "Minx" Kruger). Gordon Grody, a vocal coach who later worked with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, provided the singing voice for Riot. Other notable cast members included Charlie Adler, who had already had a lengthy voice-over career, as the central villain Eric Raymond. He also provided the voices of both of Eric's major henchmen Zipper and Techrat.

Vicki Sue Robinson Vicki Sue Robinson (May 31, 1954 – April 27, 2000) was an American theatre and film actress, and singer, closely associated with the disco era of late 1970s pop music; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, " Turn the Beat Around". Early life Bo ...

, famous for the 1970s discothèque-oriented hit "

Turn the Beat Around "Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976 (see 1976 in music), originally appearing on her debut album, '' Never Gonna Let You Go' ...

", provided the singing voices of both Rapture and Minx. Ari Gold, pop singer and songwriter, gave the singing voice of Ba Nee.

Music

The inclusion of music videos in ''Jem'' was a result of the success and popularity of

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

(Music Television) at the time, which began airing four years prior. The placement of the songs throughout each episode was done to complement the story and the use of music videos in the show was considered "radical" for the time. The show contains a total of 187 music videos with 151 unique songs. The series' format called for three fully produced songs for the featured music videos in each episode. Anne Bryant composed the music. Lyrics for the show's featured songs were written by Barry Harman. The theme song "JEMTruly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" was the opening and closing theme for the show until late 1987, when Bryant's second theme, "JEM GIRLS" became the series' opening theme for the majority of episodes and "JEMTruly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" was kept as the show's permanent closing theme.Joe Bacal. Commentary. ''Jem and the Holograms: The Truly Outrageous Complete Series''. 2011. DVD. Shout! Factory, 2011. Music videos featured an "in-your-face" style that was directed at the viewer or the more traditional style. The music videos paralleled the style of rock videos found on MTV at the time featuring fast editing, a quick pace, and special effects.Tom Griffen. Commentary. ''Jem and the Holograms: The Truly Outrageous Complete Series''. 2011. DVD. Shout! Factory, 2011. Ellen Bernfeld, performing as Pizzazz,

, performing as Jem, and Gordon Grody, performing as Riot, the lead singer of the Stingers, along with Diva Gray, Florence Warner and Angela Capelli were the voices of the pop, funk and punk electronica productions, supported by Britta Phillips's father, pianist Peter Phillips, and by guitarist Steve Bill, bassist Tom Barney and set drummer and electronic drum programmer Tom Oldakowski. Anne Bryant, who chose the singers and musicians, created a pure young pop sound for Jem and the Holograms supported by acoustic instruments. The sound for the Misfits was crafted as strictly electronic other than the addition of guitars and an occasional sax solo when the character of Jetta was introduced into the Misfits. This was done to create an identifiable punk electronica style in stark contrast to their rival singing groups. In season three, Bryant introduced the slower, smooth, sexy/funky groove for the third group that entered the show, the Stingers. No official ''Jem'' soundtrack was ever released; however, many of the songs from the first season were released on cassette with dolls or play-sets.

Reception

''Jem'' was the #1 Nielsen rated syndicated cartoon series in November 1986, and in 1987, it was the third most watched children's program in syndication with 2.5 million viewers weekly. ''Jem'' has aired in multiple countries including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The show was nominated for the

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

twice, once in 1986 for "Exceptional Young Actresses in Animation: Series, Specials, or Film Features" for Samantha Newark's performance, then in 1988 for "Best Animation Series". The long-standing popularity of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

franchise led to a competition between

's ''Jem'' product line and Barbie and the Rockers, a similar product line by Mattel. This resulted in reduced sales for both products. Hasbro discontinued the ''Jem'' toyline at the end of 1987 after it failed to meet sales expectations but, despite this, the series continued production and aired until 1988. ''Jem'' was partially released on DVD in multiple countries, with a complete set available for the first time in 2011. The same year, ''Jem'' began airing on The Hub in the United States, causing a significant increase in the ratings for the channel. It also aired on

Teletoon Retro Teletoon Retro was a Canadian specialty channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment that was based on the Teletoon programming block. The service was dedicated to broadcasting classic animated television programs as well as some live-action s ...

in Canada.

Home media

Current status of the franchise

Christy Marx has long expressed a desire to make a modern-day revival of the animated series, but stated in a 2004 interview that there are a great deal of complications concerning the rights to the ''Jem'' properties.

Reruns

After almost 20 years, since last airing in the United States in 1993 on the USA Network (in re-runs), ''Jem'' returned to syndication. The series aired reruns on The Hub Network/Discovery Family from May 31, 2011, to November 15, 2015. On July 25, 2011,

, a Canadian channel dedicated to cartoons, announced that ''Jem'' would be part of its fall 2011 lineup. On April 5, 2012,

announced that ''Jem'', along with several other Hasbro franchises, will be available on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Dolls

On September 8, 2011,

issued a press release announcing its attendance at the 2011

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...

convention, which ran from October 13 to October 16. The press release stated that Hasbro would be showing new and upcoming products from its toy lines at its booth, including ''Jem and the Holograms''. On June 27, 2012, Integrity Toys, Inc. announced their plans to release a brand-new series of collectible fashion dolls based on the TV series. The special edition Hollywood Jem doll became available at the Hasbro Toy Shop booth during Comic-Con International in San Diego at an approximate retail price of $135. The Jem doll sold out on day two of the convention. On October 5, 2012, the four (then-upcoming) dolls in the new Integrity Toys limited edition collectible line were presented with pictures: Classic Jem, Jerrica Benton, Synergy and Rio Pacheco. The suggested retail price is US$119 and they began shipping in late November 2012; pre-orders were accepted via Integrity Toys' network of authorized dealers. As of October 2016, Integrity Toys has produced over forty different dolls based on the classic show.

Comics

In 2011, Hasbro released a one-off comic book titled ''Unit:E'' as an exclusive at the New York Comic-Con; this was created by "HasLab" as a potential multi-brand crossover platform. The plot depicted Synergy, now an alien artificial intelligence, assisting the descendant of Acroyear and a Biotron from ''

Micronauts Micronauts is a North American science fiction toyline manufactured and marketed by Mego Corporation, Mego from 1976 to 1980. The ''Micronauts'' toyline was based on and licensed from the ''Microman'' toyline created by Japanese-based toy compan ...

'' in searching for heroes to help him combat Baron Karza. She shows them characters from ''G.I. Joe'', ''Transformers'', ''Battleship Galaxies'', '' Stretch Armstrong'', '' Action Man'', ''

M.A.S.K. M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) is a media franchise created by Kenner. The main premise revolved around the fight between the titular protagonist underground task force and the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network o ...

'' and ''

Candy Land ''Candy Land'' (also ''Candyland'') is a simple racing board game published by Hasbro. The game requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children. No strategy is involved as players are never required to ma ...

'' among others. Jerrica herself is shown as not having taken up the Jem identity yet, but will eventually compose the "Music of the Spheres" (presumably with Synergy's aid). The comic was never followed up. The ''Jem'' comic book was released by IDW in March 2015: written by

Kelly Thompson Kelly Thompson is an American writer of novels and comic books. She is best known for the '' Jem and the Holograms'' comic with co-creator and artist Sophie Campbell, a modern re-imagining of the 1980s cartoon of the same name, the Eisner-nomin ...

, art by

Sophie Campbell Sophie Campbell (formerly Ross Campbell) is a comic writer and artist known for her indie comics such as ''Wet Moon'' and ''Shadoweyes'', and for her art on the ''Jem and the Holograms'' comics. She primarily writes and draws characters who are a ...

and colors by M. Victoria Robado. The comic book offers a modern re-imagining of the series with new character designs and different situations, such as the Holograms and the Misfits being unsigned bands at the start with Eric Raymond being hired as the Misfits' manager during the second story arc. In addition, Kimber and Stormer begin a romantic relationship. As of Issue #16, which is Campbell's final issue as regular artist, The Stingers have been introduced to the series with Raya featured as a fourth member of the band. The title's current status within the new

Hasbro Comic Book Universe The Hasbro Comic Book Universe (HCBU) is an American comic book franchise and shared universe created and published by IDW Publishing, based on various properties of the toy company Hasbro. Publication history Following the bankruptcy of Dreamwa ...

(consisting of several new or relaunched titles, using the IDW ''Transformers'' comics as the backbone for a cohesive universe) has been somewhat erratic; IDW writers have generally indicated that, while characters from ''Jem'' will not show up in crossovers (including the ''Revolution'' mini-series that launched the universe), they do exist and will receive occasional references. The series ended on June 14, 2017, with issue #26, but a six-issue miniseries--''Jem & the Holograms: Infinite #1 and Jem & the Holograms: Misfits Infinite #1'' was released later in the month. A one-shot ''Jem and the Holograms: IDW 20/20'' was published in January 2019 as part of ''IDW 20/20'' which celebrated the 20th anniversary of IDW Publishing. The comic takes place 20 years after the final issue of the ongoing comic.

Film

After the success of ''

'' and ''

'' films,

began considering a live-action film adaptation or a new incarnation of the animated series with

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, with which Hasbro had signed a six-film contract in 2010. On March 20, 2014, a live-action motion picture adaptation of ''Jem and the Holograms'' was announced, to be directed by Jon M. Chu. Filming on the production began in April 2014. On April 24, it was announced that

Aubrey Peeples Aubrey Shea Peeples (born November 26, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Layla Grant in the ABC drama series ''Nashville.'' She can be seen in the upcoming series ''Unconventional'' by show-runner Kit Williams ...

had been cast as Jem, with

Stefanie Scott Stephanie Noelle Scott (born December 6, 1996) is an American actress and singer. Scott began acting with the comedy film '' Beethoven's Big Break'' (2008), and thereafter released her debut extended play ''New Girl in Town'' (2009). This was fol ...

as Kimber,

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer, dancer and actress. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films including ''Scooby-Doo!'' film series (2009–2010), '' Lemonade Mouth'' (2011), '' Blue Lagoon ...

as Aja and

Aurora Perrineau Aurora Perrineau is an American actress and model. She is best known for starring as List of Jem characters#Jem and the Holograms, Shana Elmsford in ''Jem and the Holograms (film), Jem and the Holograms'' (2015), the live-action film adaptation o ...

as Shana. On April 30, 2014, actor

Ryan Guzman Ryan Anthony Guzman (born September 21, 1987) is an American actor and former model, known for his lead roles as Sean Asa in ''Step Up Revolution'' and '' Step Up: All In'', part of the ''Step Up'' film series, as Noah Sandborn in the erotic p ...

was cast as Rio. On May 20,

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

and

Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an or ...

joined the film. The film was theatrically released on October 23, 2015; it received generally negative reviews from critics and fans, with criticism targeted at the angsty teen drama, strayed too far from the source material as well as original series fan content being manipulated into reaction to the in-film characters. It was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing less than half its $5 million budget, and was removed from theaters by Universal after two weeks. ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

'' criticized the fan backlash as entitlement.

Music

Hasbro Studios Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

with

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...

released its first non-soundtrack album, ''Truly Outrageous: A Tribute to Starlight Records'' on August 7, 2015. The record was part of the promotion of the ''Jem'' film. The album consisted of original songs that only had the titles and sometimes a few lyrics in common with the Jem TV series songs. This release was digital only.

References

External links

* *
Jem and the Holograms
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on October 8, 2016. {{Hasbro 1985 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1980s American romance television series 1980s American science fiction television series 1980s toys First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by Marvel Productions American children's animated musical television series American children's animated science fiction television series American children's animated supernatural television series Animated musical groups Fictional musical groups English-language television shows Television series by Hasbro Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles Super Sunday (TV series) Fashion dolls Holography in television Animated television series about robots Television series about fictional musicians Television shows based on Hasbro toys Television series by Sunbow Entertainment Television series created by Christy Marx Animated romance television series Television series by Claster Television Toei Animation television