History WesternAnimation / Jem

** In "The Music Awards", the Starlight Girls who run away meet Danny, a boy whose father kicked him out of the house. An [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unused sequel episode]] would have showed his father was an AlcoholicParent.
* ActionGirl: Jem, the Holograms, and the Misfits.

* InterContinuityCrossover: Hector Ramirez, a Geraldo Rivera-parodying reporter who originated in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'', ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'', appeared in "One Jem Too Many".

* 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]]?

* SmugSnake: Eric Raymond, a man so smug that CharlieAdler must have been paid by the sneer.

'''''Jem''''' was a 1980s SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon (eventually) about the adventures of a rock star, Jem, and her band, the Holograms. Jem (not to be confused with the real pop star of the same name), the pink-haired, outrageous but kind-hearted rock star, is in reality Jerrica Benton, a young career woman. Jerrica is in charge of Starlight Music, a music label; the Starlight Foundation, a charitable organization; and Starlight House, a home for orphaned and foster girls that the foundation provides funding for, all founded by her deceased parents.

'''''Jem''''' was a 1980s SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon (eventually) about the adventures of a rock star, Jem, and her band, the Holograms. Jem (not to be confused with the real pop star of the same name), the pink-haired, outrageous but kind-hearted rock star, is in reality Jerrica Benton, a young career woman. Jerrica is in charge of Starlight Music, a music label; the Starlight Foundation, a charitable organization; and Starlight House, a home for orphaned and foster girhals that the foundation provides funding for, all founded by her deceased parents.

* ReformedButRejected: Minx in "A Change of Heart"; after nearly drowning, Minx decides to renounce her evil self-absorbed ways and be a good girl. Needless to say, despite her best efforts, Jem and the Holograms and Rio pretty much reject her and drive her back to her selfish ways.

'''''Jem''''' was a 1980s SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon (eventually) about the adventures of a rock star, Jem, and her band, the Holograms. Jem (not to be confused with the real pop star of the same name), the pink-haired, outrageous but kind-hearted rock star, is in reality Jerrica Benton, a young career woman. Jerrica is in charge of Starlight Music, a music label; the Starlight Foundation, a charitable organization; and Starlight House, a home for orphaned and foster girls that the foundation provides funding for, all founded by her deceased parents.

* [[SelfMadeMan Self Made Band]]: The Stingers went from playing and living off the streets to becoming famous by working hard and improving on their music. The song ''It's A Hard Hard Life'' showcases how they went from playing music in the Snow to small crowds to gradually getting bigger crowds and becoming known.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: A non-comedic example. Done by several characters in "The Day the Music Died", the only episode in the entire series to do this. At one point Jem [[{{Lampshaded}} asks Riot]] who was he talking to.

[[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).

** "'Take It Or Leave It'', when first used in ''The Stingers Hit Town'', is meant to demonstrate that the Stingers have no problem being callous and selfish. When used in ''Riot's Hope'', it's to show that Riot's father is unashamedly disappointed in him despite his success, and that he'll probably never accept him for who he is.

* BlondGuysAreEvil / BlondesAreEvil: The Stingers, Riot in particular. Rapture and Minx have their moments of humanity and are driven by ambition and fame, but Riot is clearly all about scheming and trying to make money. That is, until we learn his past...

* TheMerch: Shirts and other merchandise are available from [[http://www.welovefine.com/nby.php?c=2#/inst&id_lang=1&q=148&c=2,3,5,12,8,9,10,11&o=n&p=1 WeLoveFine]] and/or [[http://search.80stees.com/?category=80s+Cartoons&theme=Jem+and+the+Holograms 80sTees.com]]. There was also a lot of merchandise in the series heyday.

Compare ''WesternAnimationKiddVideo'', 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.

** Some of the music videos use various not-quite names for shots.

* LongLostUncleAesop: "Alone Again" introduced Laura Holloway as a new Starlight Girl that played the guitar and got into drugs. Notably, Laura was not based on any of the dolls in the toy line. So it should come as little surprise that she never appeared outside that single episode.
** While this is true, it's also Justified because when the social worker brings Laura to Starlight Mansion, she tells Jerrica that Laura's placement there would be temporary as she was waiting for an opening at a more appropriate facility.

** Rio dates Jerrica and waffles with affection for Jem because he doesn't know they're the same person.
*** Or as [[http://www.agonybooth.com/tv/Jem/One_Jem_Too_Many.aspx the Agony Booth]] puts it, Rio "says goodbye to his girlfriend, already planning to cheat on her with his second girlfriend, who by the way is his girlfriend. I'm sorry, I'll never get over that."
** Riot from the third season likes Jem and not Jerrica and has no idea why Jem keeps blowing him off.

* MissingMom: The only mothers we see on this show are Raya's, Jetta's, and Jerrica/Kimber's. Out of all of those only Jerrica and Kimber's mom is actually kind and supportive. We only see her in flashbacks, unfortunately.
** Riot's mom was also shown and unlike his dad, was also supportive of his pursuits and pretty much the only time we actually see a kinder side of Riot.
** Jetta's mom was supportive enough to help her try to perpetuate her CelebrityLie; Raya's mom loved her but simply felt she should be staying to help out the family business as opposed to pursuing her musical dreams.
** Pizzazz's mother abandoned her when she(Pizzazz) was a small kid.
** Ba Nee's mom's death was established pretty early in the series; she's shown in the final episode via her father's flashbacks and an old portrait of her.

* NotNowKiddo: Jerrica towards Starlight Girl Deirdre in ''The Music Awards''. When Deirdre gets the same treatment from Jem, this leads Deirdre to become:
** TheRunaway
** Another episode, ''Hot Time in Hawaii'' has Jem doing this to a fan who she thought was hounding her for an autograph. Jem only stops to listen when the little girl tells her that Kimber had been kidnapped.
* 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]].

* PlotHole: Two episodes, ''Father's Day'' and ''Out of the Past'', involve Jerrica and Kimber reminiscing about their parents thanks to certain belongings they find in the attic of Starlight House, such as old home movies and their dad's journal. Then you remember that the original Starlight House burned down in the FiveEpisodePilot.
** [[FridgeLogic What's to say they weren't saved just before the fire got too big?]]

* SoreLoser: In "Glitter and Gold", the Holograms and The Misfits compete in a record sales competition and The Holograms win by one record. Despite the fact that, as [[TokenGoodTeammate Stormer]] points out, The Misfits sold half a million records, Pizzazz still throws a major tantrum over losing to The Holograms.
** Then again, several of those records were bought by people paid by Eric to buy them, so Stormer's statement wasn't the good news it'd seem (especially since it just drives the point home to the egotistical Pizzazz that even when she cheats and buys extra records, Jem is so much more popular that she still wins.)

* StartMyOwn: After Eric Raymond lost his half of Starlight Music, the Misfits needed another music company to promote their albums so Pizzazz asked her father to start one.

* TerribleTrio: The Misfits, well until they recruit Jetta...
** Also the Stingers.

*** Averted again when Danse talks to Jerrica about funding for the runaway shelter she volunteers at, explaining that there are counselors there that the kids can talk to about their problems.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Inverted with Stormer, who is the TokenGoodTeammate of the Misfits, albeit a pushover. Also inverted with Minx for a while after her near death-experience.

* TokenMinorityCouple: No sooner does Shana see a black man at a party than the other girls immediately shove her into talking to him. Surely enough, they become a recurring couple. Happens to Raya in a Mexico-themed episode as well.

* VillainSong: Most of the songs the Misfits sing can be considered this, as they're usually inflating Pizzazz's ego, such as ''I Am A Giant'', ''Universal Appeal'', or ''Designing Woman'', or about her being...well, her, such as ''I Love A Scandal''. ''Makin' Mischief'' as well, since it seems to be the Misfits' purpose in life, and its instrumental chorus plays (along with "Outta My Way", and "Winning is Everything") whenever there's something bad about to happen.
** ''I Am A Giant'' can be taken as a female empowerment song (in spite of the video) and ''I'm Gonna Change'' and ''It Takes A Lot'' outright avoid the usual cliche of singing about how great they are.

* 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.

** Aja, Stormer, Stormer's brother, and Regine. This isn't even an anime!

** Averted with Jerrica, who is blonde. When she transforms into Jem, though, her hologrammed hair is pink.

[[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. '''TheHub''' has started to play episodes of this series as of May 28, 2011, and 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).

Compare ''KiddVideo'', another show centered on 80s music; ''{{ComicBook/Dazzler}}'', an X-Men mainstay, another IdolSinger with light-based powers; ''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 ChristinaAguilera, who would come along many years after the show and look ''eerily'' like Jem. Not to be confused with Welsh singer Jem.

* AbusiveParents: Riot's father. Also in "The Music Awards", the Starlight Girls who run away meet Danny, a boy whose father kicked him out of the house.

* AdaptationDyeJob: For some reason, the Jem doll always had blond hair – even when other similar looking characters had pink hair. The realistic-style promotional art (such as [[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lAbJd1nxp6c/0.jpg this]]) gave her pink hair with blonde bangs.
** That's because the Jem doll also doubled as the Jerrica doll. The blonde bangs were so that you could hide the pink part of the hair with Jerrica's blue and white striped hat so that only the blonde Jerrica part of her hair remained.

* AerithAndBob: The Benton sisters are named Jerrica and...Kimberly. Helped somewhat by Kimberly's much cooler sounding nickname, Kimber.

* BlandNameProduct: In "The Stingers Hit Town: Part 1", Jem and the Holograms are honored at the "Rock Hard Cafe".

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Pastels, even neon versions of them, are good, but primary colors are evil.
** This is even Lampshaded in the episode ''In Stitches'' when the Misfits are going through the Hologram's clothes:

* DarkReprise: ''Take It Or Leave It'', when first used in ''The Stingers Hit Town'', is meant to demonstrate that the Stingers have no problem being callous and selfish. When used in ''Riot's Hope'', it's to show that Riot's father is unashamedly disappointed in him despite his success, and that he'll probably never accept him for who he is.

* DownerEnding: "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, 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).

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Stormer is the one who composes most of the Misfits music, and is as the overall creative force of the group. Do her band mates actually give her the credit? Nope.
** Added to that, she was the one to suggest putting Jetta in the band. Jetta treats Stormer worse than Pizzazz does is most later episodes.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Eric Raymond usually comes up with nefarious schemes that puts Jem and the Holograms' lives in danger. But in ''The Princess and the Singer'', when he finds out the plot to assassinate Princess Adriana (with Jem and the Holograms being collateral damage) he and the Misfits ''rush to the scene'' to try and stop it.

* EvilGloating: The Misfits' song "Trapped" is definitely this trope.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The writers of a cartoon meant to promote a line of dolls snuck in a band called "The Limp Lizards". That took balls.

* TheHeart: [[PlayingWithTropes Played with]]. In regards to the Misfits, there is no clear-cut example of a Heart. Every time a band member has left ("The Bands Break Up", "Roxy Rumbles", "The Stingers Hit Town") the Misfits aren't able to perform properly.

** HolographicDisguise: how Jerrica transform into Jem.

* JustEatGilligan: 99% of Jerrica's problems would be over if she'd just do the ''sensible'' thing and press charges against the Misfits for theft, vandalism, and recklessly endangering the lives of the Holograms and the Starlight Girls. The show addressed this a grand total of once, in which Eric implied that lawyers can do ''anything'' if you're rich. Nonetheless, this would only work for so long and isn't really going to be much good at, say, [[http://www.agonybooth.com/tv/Jem/One_Jem_Too_Many.aspx getting you off for]] [[http://www.agonybooth.com/tv/Jem/One_Jem_Too_Many.aspx?Page=2 the attempted murder of your rivals.]] Pizzazz's father is also wealthy, but the show also established early on that he pretty much cut her off for being out of control.

* ByThePowerOfGrayskull: Jerrica's catchphrase, "Showtime, Synergy!" is the command to turn her into Jem. She reverts back to Jerrica by saying "Show's over, Synergy."

** Averted with Jerrica, who is blonde. When she transforms into Jem, theough, her hologrammed hair is pink.

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

IDW Comics has begun an ongoing ''Jem'' series in 2015, written by Kelly Thompson with art from Sophie Campbell.

!!The comics provides examples of:

* AdaptationalAttractiveness;
** Eric wasn't unattractive before but now he's clearly drawn to be eye candy.
** Techrat's situation is probably helped by the fact we no longer have to hear his unusual voice however he's also been ramped up.
* AdaptationalDyeJob: Everyone has their main hair colors however here they're explicitly dyed instead of natural.
* AdaptationalSexuality: Kimber had some AmbiguouslyBi subtext with Stormer in the cartoon but she is now head over heels for her.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** Stormer is less of a doormat and is more assertive of herself from the get go.
** Rio cranked down on his snappishness and is no longer a jealous sort of guy. He also ''dislikes'' Jem now (Because at this point he's socialized with the other Holograms and Jem's a fake person who only shows up for performances, so it looks to him like Jem's a primadonna who fobs off her share of the work on the rest of the band and thinks she's too good to spend time with people like them).
* AnachronismStew: In the IDW series the technology suggests it's the 21st century (laptops, internet, smart phones, Twitter), but everyone's still wearing the same gaudy day-glo fashions and have the same big neon hair they did at the height of the 1980's. Then again, it wouldn't be ''Jem'' without all that. It helps that [[ValuesResonance such fashion]] along with vinyl records are gaining popularity again.
* CanonForeigner: Blaze is a completely new character.
* RaceLift: Jetta went from being White to being Black. Marx had wanted a Black Misfit in the original cartoon anyway so it's more that they're finally reinserting the creator's original vision.

Compare ''KiddVideo'', another show centered on 80s music; ''{{ComicBook/Dazzler}}'', an X-Men mainstay, another IdolSinger with light-based powers; ''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 ChristinaAguilera, who would come along many years after the show and look ''eerily'' like Jem.

* PapaWolf: on realizing his long-lost daughter is nearby and in danger, Ba Nee's father rushes to save her.

* ParentsAsPeople: Harvey Gabor spoils Pizzazz with money but is under-involved in her life. Granted, she is difficult to deal with, but when Pizzazz reaches out to him, he is too busy to use the opportunity to get closer to her. He also entrusts her with working together with Eric Raymond on a business deal, then shows disappointment with her when the deal falls through even though 1) Pizzazz is a rock star, not a businesswoman and 2)the deal came close to being concluded but the owners decided not to part with their land due to environmental concerns, something Mr. Gabor didn't bother to find out and consider before passing judgment on his daughter.