History WesternAnimation / Jem

** In the UK-exclusive comics by London Editions Magazines, the 1985 annual portrays Zipper with long, red hair. The 1987 annual has an Eric with white in his hair, a redheaded Mrs. Bailey, a brunette Rio, and Eric's secretary with [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair purple hair]].

* FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras: All the major characters have brightly coloured EightiesHair but background characters usually don't. This normally wouldn't be unusual considering the setting, but it's been shown that [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair the characters are born with their hair colours]]. This trope's usage extends to family, such as Raya being the only one in her family with pink hair.

* RelativeError: In "Britrock", Craig starts acting more quiet than usual and tells Aja he has to tell her a secret he's been keeping. When Craig tells Aja Stormer is his secret Aja gets mad and it only gets worse when he introduces himself as "Craig Phillips" and Stormer as "Mary Phillips". Even Craig's bandmates lampshade how badly Craig went about the situation and decide to [[GoingToTheStore leave the room]]. Aja slaps Craig and runs away crying. It isn't until a moment later that Kimber informs her Stormer is Craig's ''little sister'', not his wife. Apparently the fact Craig and Stormer are [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair the only characters with deep blue hair]] went unnoticed by Aja.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair:
** Aja, Stormer, Stormer's brother Craig, and Regine. This isn't even an anime!
** Raya's hair is pink, and flashbacks seem to indicate that it's been that way since childhood. So either she's been dying her hair since she was 7, or pink is a natural hair color in the Jemverse.
** Rio has ''purple'' hair, and Jerrica has a lovely purple hat that compliments it perfectly. It's apparently natural, since when he has stubble in ''Island of Deception'' it is also purple.
** Shana also has lavender hair and Pizzazz has green hair, both that show up in childhood flashbacks.
** Astral has blue and purple hair.
** A flashback to when she was a newborn clearly shows that Clash was born with purple hair.
** Danse has multicolored hair. Or possibly she grows ribbons out of her head. It's not clear.
** Averted with Jerrica, who is blonde. When she transforms into Jem, though, her hologrammed hair is pink. When she was gaslighted in one episode the characters assumed she had natural pink hair and showed her "family videos" of Jem with pink hair.

* HairColors: Again, it was the Eighties. Though rather strangely, the pastel hair colors of Aja and Shana seem to be natural since they already had blue and purple hair (respectively) when the Bentons adopted them as children. Stormer's might be natural too: her brother has the same hair color as she does. Even Pizzazz's olive green hair is shown to have already been that way when she was a little girl during a brief flashback in "Father's Day". It's likely just a case of AnimeHair / YouGottaHaveBlueHair.

* AlohaHawaii: The episode "Hot Time in Hawaii", where for some reason Jem and the Holograms and The Misfits are in some sort of rock band decathlon.

* RealityEnsues:
** The main plot of the "Hollywood Jem" two-parter has Jem being nominated for an Oscar. She's the protagonist so she has to win, right? Nope. The award goes to an older, more experienced actress instead. Jem has no formal training in acting; she's a singer and businesswoman before anything else.
** The episode "The Fan" has an [[LoonyFan obsessive fan desperate to find out Jem's real identity]] teaming up with the Misfits and leads to Jem going through a harrowing experience where she nearly loses her mind, getting mildly injured and the fan himself being double-crossed by the band due to never learning the truth. Upon being rescued by her and the Holograms, in spite of Jem's kind and generous nature, the guy's regret at his indirect role of her troubles and giving her a sincere apology, she admits that she doesn't forgive him and even his ignorance of what the rival band was planning to do doesn't diminish his responsibility (although he is still invited to their concert).
** Clash is a good example of this trope. In spite of all of the trickery and sabotage that she does for the Misfits and occasionally hanging out with them, doesn't mean that they want her in the band of are even friends with her (which is kind of justified because unlike her rival/cousin Video, who's a successful director who works on many Jem and the Holograms projects, she can't sing or play an instrument[[note]]as those "cymbals" on her wrists are just for show[[/note]] and is little more than a desperate groupie).
** In "Father's Day", Pizzazz is upset that her father will be away on business instead of spending father's day with her. On the day itself, Kimber, still grieving for her own deceased father, ends up bonding with Mr. Gabor and he flies her and the rest of the Holograms on his own private jet to their concert. The sight on this infuriates Pizzazz and causes her to lash out at the both of them. During the performance of the Holograms' song dedicated to fathers, while Mr. Gabor is hopeful for a happy reunion with his daughter, she just storms off in seething anger.
** At the end of "Battle of the Bands", [[SoreLoser Eric]] slaps Jerrica in the face after losing control of Starlight Music and Rio punches him in the face so hard, it knocks him on his behind and is then seen rubbing his now-sore hand. Even with the adrenaline he had by punching him with that much force, the human jaw is one of the strongest bones in the body and hitting it is bound to hurt (if not actually ''break'') one's hand.
** "Roxy Rumbles" has Roxy, through sheer luck, finding a winning lottery ticket after quitting The Misfits that earns her a million dollars, which she spends on a makeover, jewelry and a huge carnival. Unfortunately, due to her lack of a budget, poor upbringing ''and'' being illiterate, she blows the money in a matter of days since she forgot to pay taxes on the winnings or any of the promoters/workers for the carnival to the point that Jem and The Holograms had to bail her out.
** "Change of Heart" has Minx, after a near-death experience, [[HeelFaceTurn turn over a new leaf]] with a friendlier attitude. Unfortunately, this becomes disastrous for her since it alienates her narcissistic {{Jerkass}} bandmates who kick her out. Once befriending The Holograms, everyone is impressed by her new outlook, except for a skeptical Aja even after she buys the Starlight Girls toy water guns and treats. This eventually backfires as they make a mess from all the water gun fights and get sick and spoil their dinners with the copious amount of candy and ice cream. Finally, after getting angry at how ungrateful the band was at her for her well-intentioned but poorly executed acts, [[ThenLetMeBeEvil she reverts back to her old ways]] and rejoins The Stingers.
** In "The Rock Fashion Book", The Misfits initially had a photographer for their book, but Pizzazz fires him when he keeps questioning them how they wish to do the shoot (due to their usual diva attitudes). The girls opt to do the photos themselves but naturally their pictures turn out horrible and no magazine is willingly to publish them after seeing them. After all, they're singers, not professional photographers.

* DramaticIrony: Regarding Video and Clash. Video has mentioned that maintaining her career as a filmmaker is difficult work, and that she has to make each film top the other. Clash refuses to believe the Misfits don't care about her and performed a HeelFaceDoorSlam of her own doing in ''Video Wars''. The one person Video has to outdo is herself, and Clash is her own worst enemy. Despite their bickering, they're NotSoDifferent.

A LiveActionAdaptation [[Film/JemAndTheHolograms movie]] was released in October of 2015, updating the show's concept to fit into a modern day setting and reimagining it as a ComingOfAgeStory. [[BoxOfficeBomb It flopped. Badly]].

IDW Comics has begun an [[ComicBook/JemAndTheHolograms ongoing]] ''Jem'' series in 2015, written by Kelly Thompson with art from Sophie Campbell and other artists.

* ComicBookAdaptation: Long before [[ComicBook/JemAndTheHolograms the IDW comic]] came to be, the cartoon had UK-exclusive comics published by London Editions Magazines, consisting of a series that lasted 12 issues and two annuals.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The initial few episodes featured Mrs. Bailey, an older woman who seemed to help maintain Starlight House for Jerrica, but almost immediately she vanishes completely without mention, or warning, and the Holograms are shown to be running the place completely alone.

* FunnyBackGroundEvent:During the second version of out of my way shown near the end of the series a woman in the background is chasing after Eric Raymond trying to beat him up thinking he tried to cop a feel (It was actually a crab someone had thrown in the air).

* MustacheVandalism: A mustache is drawn on Pizzazz's digital face in "Gimme A Gimmick", Minx paints mustaches on Raya and Chrissy in "Take It Or Leave It", and Pizzazz burns a mustache on Jem's billboard with a laser gun.

Most of the trouble the group faces comes in the form of Eric Raymond, a power-hungry CorruptCorporateExecutive who was Mr. Benton's former partner in the record company. His "discovery", a band called the Misfits (not to be confused with the real band) consisting of Pizzazz (guitar/vocals), Roxy (bass) and Stormer (keytar), is a group of self-described "bad girls from the wrong side of the tracks," who are constantly causing trouble to get attention and/or trying to ruin Jem. Reacting to the publicity that the Holograms get from adding Raya, they also pick up a new member, Jetta (saxophone). (Ironically, the Misfits were better received by RealLife critics than the Holograms.)

** ''Mind Games'' for the Stingers, as it's essentually "ManipulativeBastard: The Song".
* VitriolicBestBuds: The Misfits can be seen this way. They may act like jerks to one another (or in Stormer's case, act likes jerks to her), but whenever a member leaves, the band isn't able to function properly. Their skills complement one another, as evidenced when Stormer and Roxy left the group at certain points. Although how they came back differed greatly:

* WouldHurtAChild: When Eric decides to hold Ashley hostage, he gets a call and has to leave for an appointment so he leaves her in the care of the Misfits much to their chagrin. She tries to run, but the Misfits chase her down, tie her up and stuff her in a trunk before locking it. She begs Stormer for help , but the other misfits call Stormer soft so she leaves Ashley in the trunk and the three of them exit the room to tune their instruments for the concert. Made worse by the fact that the trunk was apparently trash scheduled to be destroyed. Rio saves her seconds before she gets crushed. (Whether the Misfits knew that the trunk would be crushed is debateable though.)

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Turner Lena Lerner?]] [[Creator/SigourneyWeaver Sigourney Reaver]] (who has an Oscar nomination for [[Film/{{Poltergeist}} Poltergeist]] [[Film/{{Aliens}} Aliens]] [[SequelEscalation part IV]])? [[Creator/MerylStreep Meryl Saint]]? Geraldine Pathos (Geraldine Page)? [[Creator/ClintEastwood Flint Westwood]]? [[Creator/MichaelJFox Michael J. Badger]]? [[Music/JimiHendrix Johnny Beldrix]]? (Also, see InterContinuityCrossover for another example.)

* FrickinLaserBeams:

* FlowerInHerHair: The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL-wGsS_DWw Flowers in My Hair]]. Also, this serves as a minor plot point - Jetta hires thugs to trash Raya's family's greenhouse, so that Raya would accept Eric's bribe for finding out Jem's secret identity. Jetta wears the flower one of the goons took back as proof, and when Raya recognizes it she backs out of the deal just in time.

* TheUnfairSex: The show takes a very lopsided approach to cheating. In one episode, "Midsummer Night Madness", Jem, in addition to having a relationship with Rio in both her Jem and Jerrica persona, creates a new identity to test him. He fails when he shows interest in "Jamie", causing her to doubt his faithfulness - though she's later convinced to be okay with it because he only keeps falling for ''her'' personalities. However, in later episodes – "Riot's Hope", for example – Jem flirts with and nearly kisses Riot.

* NotableOriginalMusic: The [[http://www.coucoucircus.org/da/generique.php?id=609 Opening theme]] (and all the shows other songs, for that matter).

* TheCelebrityLie: Jetta, who is British and from a poor family, is constantly lying about being aristocratic and knowing the Queen.

Compare ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo'', another show centered on 80s music; ''ComicBook/{{Dazzler}}'', an X-Men mainstay, another IdolSinger with light-based powers; ''Series/HannahMontana'', another show based on a pop star with a secret identity[[note]]Although this show only uses it as a source of comedy.[[/note]]; and Music/ChristinaAguilera, who would come along many years after the show and look ''eerily'' like Jem. Not to be confused with Welsh singer Jem.

Compare ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo'', another show centered on 80s music; ''ComicBook/{{Dazzler}}'', an X-Men mainstay, another IdolSinger with light-based powers; ''Series/HannahMontana'', another show based on a pop star with a secret identity;[[note]]Although this show only uses it as a source of comedy.[[/note]] and Music/ChristinaAguilera, who would come along many years after the show and look ''eerily'' like Jem. Not to be confused with Welsh singer Jem.

* OffModel:
** Warped faces and abnormal limb measurements are a problem in the first five episodes [[labelnote:List]] "The Beginning", "Disaster", "Kimber's Rebellion", "Frame Up", "Battle of the Bands"[[/labelnote]].
** In the episodes animated by ''Creator/{{AKOM}}''[[labelnote:List]] "Music Is Magic", "The Presidential Dilemma", "The Middle of Nowhere", "Journey to Shangri-La", "Video Wars", "Homeland, Heartland" [[/labelnote]], Hispanic drummer Raya gets whitewashed.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jemandtheholograms.jpg]]

[[MerchandiseDriven Originally, the series was created for a line of dolls made by]] Creator/{{Hasbro}}. The series combined music, adventure, fashion, and SoapOpera-esque drama which gave the show its own appeal. The show originally premiered as a serial of minisodes roughly ten minutes in length that told the origin of the show and ran during a block of other short shows with a male-oriented audience. The ratings were high enough that the show was picked up as a full half-hour series in its own right and the original serial was reworked into a four-part pilot. Though the doll line was pretty much shut out by the competing Barbie toyline, the series was popular enough that it was allowed to finish its 65 episode run even after the toyline was cancelled. The cartoon frequently reran in syndication, most notably on the USA Cartoon Express throughout the early 90s. '''Creator/TheHub''' had started to play episodes of this series as of May 28, 2011, though ''Discovery Family'' removed it from their schedule in late 2015 (after the LiveActionAdaptation bombed). The show has been released twice on DVD in the US (once by Rhino, who didn't finish, and later a complete series by Shout Factory). 2011 also had Hasbro integrate Jem into a comic called ''Unit:E'', which had Synergy, now an alien AI, assisting characters from ''ComicBook/{{Micronauts}}'' into helping [[MegaCrossover gather heroes from around the multiverse]]; according to Synergy, Jerrica/Jem would help compose the "music of the spheres".