History WesternAnimation / Jem

* CrossingTheBurntBridge: In the ''Starbright'' episodes, Jem and the Holograms have ultimately had too much of Eric's abuse while working on their movie, so they quit. Then they learn that Ba Nee, one of the foster girls at Starlight House needs an experimental laser surgery procedure costing $250,000 to avoid becoming blind, so they have no choice but to come back. Eric even got Jerrica to agree to becoming his assistant as a condition to let Jem and the Holograms back.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Jem and the Holograms quit the "Starbright" movie twice because of Eric Raymond and the Misfits. They came back after they quit the first time because they needed the money for Ba Nee's operation, and even after Jem almost lost her life performing a stunt on her own she wouldn't quit. It was after Kimber was nearly killed thanks to Roxy and Clash messing with the special effects did the Holograms quit for good. The second time, they were joined by Rio and most of the production staff, fed up with Raymond and the Misfits.

* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: The episode "Mardi Gras", where Jem and the Holograms are to perform at the titular festival. Of course, they have a song about it, "Let Me Take You To The Mardi Gras". It is also ADayInTheLimelight for Shana, who strongly resembles the paramour of a pirate said to haunt the mansion they stay at.

** "Video Wars"; Clash has a chance at a new life when she pretends to be a different person in order to make an embarrassing tour video of Jem, in hopes of getting made a full-on member of the Misfits. The plot fails and the Misfits reject her. Despite being pissed off at her, Jem offers to give Clash a second chance by pointing out how the Misfits don't care about her and only let her hang around them so she can do their dirty work. Clash rejects Jem's olive branch and denounces Jem/proclaims that the Misfits ARE her friends. Only to find the Misfits are in their van and driving away, with Pizzazz outright telling her to get lost when she begs her to stop so that she can leave with them. Add to the fact that this is the last (speaking) appearance of Clash in the series, and it creates a mega downer ending for the character (basically rejected by her idols and having purposely re-burnt her bridges with Jem after Jem stuck her neck out and forgave her).

* OutofFocus: Mrs. Bailey, an older woman who was established to help Jem run the Starlight orphanage in the earlier episodes, was largely absent from the spotlight as the series went on, to the degree that her final two appearances were brief cameos in the season three episodes "A Change of Heart" and "A Father Should Be...". It got to the point that a large number of episodes taking place at Starlight Mansion gave the impression that Mrs. Bailey didn't exist.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Zipper, Eric's muscle who has plenty of times come close to killing Jem, The Holograms or their associates, was rarely punished for this, managing to slip away every time or be bailed out by Eric. His luck ''finally'' ran out in "Hot Time in Hawaii" after kidnapping Kimber and leaving her to die in an active volcano. He is arrested for this and never appears on.the show again.

** The Misfits met a similar mislabel: They look like tough glam punkers, and have been classified as PunkRock in some instances, despite playing NewWave.

* {{Animesque}}: Many episodes were done by Creator/ToeiAnimation, though it's more related to the over-the-top nature of the 80s rock business (remember, this was the same studio that made ''Manga/AiShiteNight''). Not to mention the themes will ring a bell for anyone who's seen ''Manga/CutieHoney'' (another Toei work) or ''especially'' ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami''.

Compare ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami'', an anime with a similar premise that predated ''Jem'' by two years; ''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 looks ''eerily'' like Jem. Not to be confused with Welsh singer Jem.

* MagicIdolSinger: A rare western example.

* {{Animesque}}: Many episodes were done by Creator/ToeiAnimation, though it's more related to the over-the-top nature of the 80s rock business (remember, this was the same studio that made ''Anime/AiShiteKnight''). Not to mention the themes will ring a bell for anyone who's seen ''Manga/CutieHoney'' (another Toei work) or ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami''.

* {{Animesque}}: Many episodes were done by Creator/ToeiAnimation, though it's more related to the over-the-top nature of the 80s rock business (remember, this was the same studio that made ''Anime/AiShiteNight''). Not to mention the themes will ring a bell for anyone who's seen ''Manga/CutieHoney'' (another Toei work) or ''Anime/MagicalAngelCreamyMami''.

* {{Animesque}}: Done by Creator/ToeiAnimation, though it's more related to the over-the-top nature of the 80s rock business.

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 looks ''eerily'' like Jem. Not to be confused with Welsh singer Jem.

* StoryArc: The movie contract the FiveEpisodePilot mentions as one of the prizes in the Battle of the Bands competition is the basis for one. The three-parter "Starbright", the first post-pilot episodes, chronicles the film's making and release. The "Hollywood Jem" two-parter that closes "season two" (by Wiki/TheOtherWiki's listing) picks it up again when Jem is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. There's also a running subplot in the latter two stories about Kimber being romanced by two men. Another running storyline is Ba Nee's search for her father.

* HealthcareMotivation / IllGirl: In the three-part "Starbright" storyline, the Holograms keep on going with a movie shoot the Misfits have bought themselves into because they need money for an operation to save Starlight Girl Ba Nee's sight. Ultimately the production splits into rival films, and when the Holograms' is a hit, the money is raised and Ba Nee's sight is saved.

* BikerBabe: Pizzazz and the Misfits play up this image in the videos for "Outta My Way" and "Free And Easy".

* BlinkAndYouMissIt: A number of real life bands are nodded to throughout the series. In "In Search Of The Stolen Album" alone, Music/PinkFloyd can be seen on a poster in an alley the Holograms drive by, and when Jem holds up the album charts, bands like [[Music/IronMaiden Iron Fading]], [[Music/TheRollingStones The Moss-Covered Stones]], [[Music/TwistedSister Twisted Brother]] and [[Music/TheRamones The Roomoans]] are right below The Holograms' number one spot.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Many famous singers appear under different names, including Rowan Owens (Music/StevieWonder), Ron Cox ([[Music/TheRollingStones Mick Jagger]]), Johnny Deacon (Music/BruceSpringsteen) Lena Lerner (Music/TinaTurner, which doubles as NoCelebritiesWereHarmed; see below) and Luna Dark (Music/CyndiLauper). However, it's also averted as some like {{Music/Madonna}} are mentioned by name.

A LiveActionAdaptation [[Film/JemAndTheHolograms2015 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]].

* BiggerOnTheInside" Starlight Mansion is big on the outside, but significantly bigger inside. It has more than a dozen bedrooms, a huge recreation room, a recording studio, and a gym.

* FoodShoveGag: In "The Stingers Hit Town", Pizzazz, who had become smitten with lead singer Riot, abruptly shoves a donut into Roxy's mouth when she interrupts her when she tries to flirt with him.

[[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".