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Jem (TV series)

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This article is about Jem, the animated series and toy. For the musical artist, see Jem Griffiths. "Jem" may also be a nickname for James or Jeremiah.

Jem was an United States animated television series that ran from 1985 to 1988 in U.S. first-run syndication. The show was about a singer, Jem, her band the Holograms, and their adventures. Catch phrases from the show included "Showtime, Synergy!" and "Outrageous!" (the latter usually associated with supporting character Kimber).

Despite the fact that the show was originally designed by Hasbro for the purpose of marketing a line of dolls, it was acclaimed for its interweaving storylines and complex backstory, which were almost unheard of in an animated television series at the time. The show also features two-minute music videos, tying it in with the concept of MTV and its burgeoning popularity. The animated series still retains a very loyal fan-following and to this day is still widely regarded as one of the 80's finest cartoons.

Contents

Theme

The show was originally designed to appeal to both girls and boys, with a mix of action/adventure and fashion. It was first slotted as a 15 minute cartoon before or after Big Foot and another traditionally "boy" styled cartoon in a combination show billed as Super Saturday or Super Sunday, depending on the market, also a toy line by Hasbro. Originally the main character was called "M," but that idea was dropped due to the inability to trademark a letter. As the show progressed, it became more and more targeted towards young girls, especially as the theme song lyrics were changed, with Jem enticing the viewer to "come on and be a Jem girl" as opposed to saying only that "Jem is excitement...Jem is adventure."

Plot

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The central "secret" of the series is that Jem is in fact the alter ego of Jerrica Benton, owner/manager of Starlight Music, who adopts this persona with the help of Synergy, an extremely sophisticated holographic computer designed by her father and left to her after his death.

The other Holograms are Kimber Benton, Jerrica's younger sister, keyboardist and main songwriter for the band; Aja Leith, guitarist; and Shana Elmsford, who plays the synth drums. Aja and Shana are also childhood friends and adopted foster sisters of Jerrica and Kimber. Shana briefly leaves the group in a two-part episode, and a new character, Carmen "Raya" Alonso, is introduced as her replacement. When Shana returns, Raya remains the Holograms' drummer, while Shana takes up the guitar.

Only the Holograms are aware of Jem's secret identity (although Jem revealed it to the President of the United States in the episode "The Presidential Affair"), and a small Chinese girl named Lin who discovered the secret in "Adventures in China." Episodes of the series frequently revolve around Jerrica's efforts to keep the two identities separate. This often causes conflict with her boyfriend, Rio, who is attracted to both Jerrica and Jem while not realizing that they are actually the same person.

Jerrica's other main concern is Starlight House, a home for foster girls run by the Holograms. The original location was Jerrica's childhood home until it was burned by a henchman of Eric Raymond. Later Jem and the Holograms won possession of the New Starlight Mansion during a battle of the bands. The Holograms' main purpose is in fact to fund the Starlight Foundation and support the Starlight Girls. The mansion, as well as a lucrative recording contract was offered by movie producer Howard Sands, who becomes one of the group's biggest supporters. Other friends of the Holograms included Countess Danielle DuVoisin, a renowned fashion designer, Anthony Julian, a music producer who is romantically involved with Shana, charity worker and choreographer Danse(Giselle Dvorak), and Craig Phillips, who entered the contest for the Holograms new drummer and is the older brother of the Misfit Stormer. He has an ongoing relationship with Aja.

The Holograms' rival band are the Misfits: spoiled rich girl Pizzazz (Phyllis Gabor) and her cohorts: no-nonsense and streetwise Roxy (Roxanne Pelligrini) and kind-hearted and sensitive Stormer (Mary Phillips), who are later joined by British saxophone player and scam artist, Jetta (Sheila Burns). (This group should not to be confused with the real-life band The Misfits, led by Glenn Danzig.) Most episodes of the series involve a plot by the Misfits to sabotage and/or upstage Jem and the Holograms' latest glamorous escapade. This rivalry is encouraged and manipulated by their manager, the ruthless Eric Raymond, who was the business partner of Jerrica's father. Eric ran Starlight Music after Jerrica's father's death until Eric had a falling out with Jerrica. Eric stakes his claim on the record company against Jerrica's claim, thus starting the rivalry between the Holograms and the Misfits. Although in the final episode of the series, both groups seemed to have declared a truce between them.

The final season of the show introduced a new set of antagonists, a new band called the Stingers, consisting of: Riot (Rory Llewelen), Rapture (Phoebe Ashe), and Minx (Ingrid Krueger). Riot also added romantic drama to the show, as he was obsessed with Jem. Pizzazz, in turn, was obsessed with Riot, and Rio was pursued by Minx. Dolls of the Stingers were planned, but not manufactured.

Other characters important enough to have related dolls were filmmaker Video (Vivian Montgomery), her cousin and obsessive Misfits fan Clash (Constance Montgomery), choreographer and Danse (Giselle Dvorak), and three of the most prominent Starlight Girls: Ashley, Ba Nee, and Krissy.

Discography

The Jem and the Holograms music catalogue was sold exclusively with the dolls. Each doll was sold with an audio cassette containing the following tracks, as well as an identical instrumental B-side:

Singles

Can't get my love together
  1. "Jem Theme"
  2. "Can't Get My Love Together"
  3. "Love is Here" (TV Edit)
People who care
  1. "Jem Theme"
  2. "Show Me the Way" (TV edit)
  3. "People Who Care"
We can change it
  1. "Jem Theme"
  2. "It's Workin' Out" (Featuring The Misfits)
  3. "We Can Change It"
Glitter N Gold
  1. "Glitter N Gold Jem theme"
  2. "Glitter N Gold" (extended version)
  3. "Back N Shape" (extended version)

Soundtracks

Truly Outrageous was the soundtrack to the promo movie and consisted of three cassette tapes: Who Is He Kissing was the soundtrack to "Starbright Part 1".
  1. "Jem theme" (extended version)
  2. "Who is He Kissing?" - Jem and the Holograms
  3. "Jealousy" - Jem and the Holograms
  4. "Universal Appeal" - The Misfits
  5. "Jem theme"
Dream Tour
  1. "How you Play the Game" - Jem and the Holograms
  2. "Doctor, Doctor" - Thompson Twins
  3. "One Thing Leads to Another" - The Fixx
  4. "Rock N Roll Forever" - Jem and the Holograms
  5. "Crush on You" - The Jets
  6. "The Kid is Hot Tonight" - Loverboy
  7. "Walkin on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves
  8. "Electric Avenue" - Eddy Grant
  9. "Rosanna" - Toto
  10. "Cool it Now" - New Edition
  11. "Glitter N Gold" - Jem and the Holograms

Revival and current status of franchise

Almost 20 years after the Jem toy line was introduced to the U.S. market and 17 years after its demise, Hasbro has shown some legal activity in maintaining their trademarks and intellectual property, leading some fans to believe they may be considering reviving the line via the trademark renewal "for the purpose of selling dolls and doll clothes". However, this may just be standard practice, as if they had not renewed the trademarks they would have lost any future rights to their creation.

Two volumes (comprising of one set containing the first and second seasons, and a second set containing the first half of season three) were released on DVD by Rhino. However, before they could release the third and final volume (Season Three, Part Two) the company lost the rights to the series. The rights are now believed to be reverted back to Sony (who absorbed the original producers (Sunbow Productions) and their library), who holds the decisions on any future release. Copies of the two previously released DVD volumes regularly sell for several times their original retail price as they are now considered "out of print", especially those that are still sealed in their packaging. It is highly likely that if and when Sony decides to re-release the series on DVD (or licenses it out again) that the entire series would be reissued and not simply the missing volume. Because of the cancellation of the final set, many bootleg copies of the remaining episodes have shown up on auction sites and on popular file sharing protocols.

In September 2004, Cartoon Network Australia bought the TV rights to Jem and aired the show for ten months on their classics network Boomerang. Jem is now back on Boomerang starting from March airing Weekends at 7:30 p.m. before The Smurfs. Australia is also slowly releasing the first and second season of Jem on DVD.

Jem and the Holograms were also recently mentioned on the hit Fox television shows The O.C. and Family Guy

The indie synthpop band, Freezepop's 2004 album, "Fancy Ultra-Fresh," includes a bonus multimedia track which is a remake of the Jem themesong.

DVD Releases

Jem was first released on DVD in the US in 2004 remastered and in 5.1 Audio. Since then Australia and France have also released JEM on DVD/Boxsets. The US boxsets are now out of print.

USA

Australia (Vol 5 - 7 have not been given a release date but it seems they're releasing 2 volumes every six months like the previous 4 volumes. MRA has also announced that they only have the rights to Season One and Two.)

France The French DVDs are French dialogue only. However the Music Videos remain in English.

External links

 

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