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7->''"Fame!\
8I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly (High!)\
9I feel it coming together, people will see me and cry (Fame!)\
10I'm gonna make it to heaven, light up the sky like a flame (Fame!)\
11I'm gonna live forever, baby, remember my name!"''
12-->--'''The title theme song''' by Creator/IreneCara
13A 1980 musical drama film directed by Creator/AlanParker, ''Fame'' is the story of some students of the High School of Performing Arts, a very exclusive RealLife school in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (which has since been merged with the High School of Music & Art to become the Fiorello H. [=LaGuardia=] High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts). The students find themselves cooperating among themselves and with the faculty, even as they compete for chances in the real world to make their dreams of stardom come true, and deal with the personal and professional obstacles that stand in their way.
14
15The original film earned two UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, for its music score and title song. A [[TheRemake remake]] film directed by Kevin Tancharoen (yes, the ''WebVideo/MortalKombatLegacy'' guy) was released in 2009. There is also a musical stage adaptation which has had many productions over the years.
16
17Along with the silver screen and the stage, ''Fame'' has been [[RecycledTheSeries adapted into several musical television series]]. The first series aired from 1982–87 (with much of the film's cast reprising their roles), followed by ''Fame L.A.'' in 1997–98. The last attempt, in 2003, took the form of a RealityShow similar to ''Series/AmericanIdol''.
18
19----
20!!The movies provide examples of:
21
22* AmbiguouslyGay: Kevin in the remake. The actors and the director [[https://www.logotv.com/news/ba553h/is-fames-gay-character-gay-or-not disagree whether he is gay or not]].
23* ArtisticLicense: "P.A." as shown in the film closed in 1984, but modern productions such as ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'' are mentioned by the characters in the remake.
24* AwardBaitSong: "Out Here On My Own." Nominated for Oscar, but lost to the title song (so they technically both won and lost that Oscar).
25* BaitAndSwitch: [[spoiler:Lisa's seeming suicide]] is framed as this. The scene places a lot of emphasis on [[spoiler:an incoming subway train]], flashing between it and [[spoiler:Lisa walking towards the yellow line]], but when it passes by and the kids shout, we're to assume the worst. Turns out [[spoiler:Lisa only threw her dancing clothes to the tracks and symbolically killed her dancing career, declaring she's going to the Drama department instead]].
26* BigApplesauce: The film is set in New York.
27* BigFinaleCrowdSong: The film ends with the high school music students singing "I Sing the Body Electric" during their graduation in senior year.
28* BookEnds: "Audition" features a scene where Doris' mother starts tearing up and taking pictures of her because she's so proud of her. By the end of "Senior Year", and thus the movie, we see Doris' mother doing the same thing again as she's cheering her on in her class' graduation performance.
29* ComingOutStory: Montgomery gets his in the first movie. He does his best to hide it early on, and Ralph mocking him about it doesn't help either, but he is able to come out to his closest friends. The story doesn't dwell on this for very long, however.
30* DarkAndTroubledPast: Not a lot of these kids walk into school with a good background:
31** Ralph has a neglectful mother who ReallyGetsAround and no real father figure in his life. [[spoiler:His youngest sister was put through a wall by their biological father.]]
32** Leroy comes from a poorer background and NeverLearnedToRead.
33** Malik's sister Ayanna died very young, and [[ParentalAbandonment his father left his family]] even before that.
34* DoNotCallMePaul: A few characters fall into this. Ralph refuses to go by "Raul Garcia" in school, instead taking the name "Ralph Garci". Similarly, once Doris starts finding her voice, she requests renaming herself "Dominique [=DuPont=]".
35* DrivenToSuicide: Nearly happens to Lisa in the original and Kevin in the remake after they're informed that their ballet skills aren't enough to recommend them to a professional dance studio.
36* EnsembleCast: The movie isn't solely about one or two groups of people, nor does it focus on any one discipline in P.A. At the most we follow about eight students, their various circles, and a handful of teachers to support them.
37* FantasyForbiddingFather: Averted with Angelo Martelli, Bruno's father. Mr. Martelli actually likes Bruno's compositions and is very saddened by the fact that Bruno refuses to play them for public audiences.
38* FourLinesAllWaiting: The movie focuses on a few different stories together:
39** The friendship between Doris, Ralph, and Montgomery, and how they begin to grow from their presence in each other's lives.
40** Coco chasing fame, and Bruno breaking out into composing.
41** Leroy's tumultuous relationship with Mrs. Berg, and his slow development into a less self-centered young man.
42* {{Gayngst}}: Montgomery. It makes sense considering when this takes place, and only made worse by Ralph's bullying of the kid during the first few years of school.
43* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Discussed in one scene, and averted in the end. [[spoiler:Doris]] ends up getting impregnated by [[spoiler:Ralph]] after a night of comfort sex, while her mother admonishes her and chastises her for the act (not to mention not wanting to keep the baby). [[spoiler:Hilary]], meanwhile, goes through with one, but she retains sympathy throughout her clinic scene and the movie makes clear that she would have to suffer some consequences if she wanted to continue as a dancer.
44* GraduationForEveryone: "Senior Year", and thus the film, ends on all of the main cast at their graduation ceremony.
45* HappyBirthdayToYou: Doris is forced to sing this at a children's birthday party by her StageMom, and not only is she clearly reluctant and sad performing the song, but the children are crying and distracted.
46* HardTruthAesop: You won't get anywhere without hard work, but hard work alone won't get you anywhere.
47* HighSchool: Albeit an "alternative" one.
48* HighSchoolRejects: Michael graduates and he is sent out for auditions for television pilots. Two years later, Doris meets him again. He works as a waiter.
49* HighSchoolRocks: Literally.
50* HopelessAuditionees: While a good number of the hopefuls in "Audition" are genuinely talented or have some spark, there's focus on the ones who don't make the cut too. Leroy's story even starts with him outshining his friend, who could barely dance at all.
51* HufflepuffHouse: While we get to know a lot of people from the Acting and Dance departments, the only person we follow that comes from Music is Bruno.
52* IAmBecomingSong: "In L.A.", though it's more I Was Becoming.
53* IAmWhatIAm / IAmSong: "Out Here on My Own".
54* IWantSong: "Fame", natch.
55* InspiredBy: The real students of the real school.
56* IrritationIsTheSincerestFormOfFlattery: Ralph's character arc has him wanting to get into show business because of Freddie Prinze, and he generally starts to go down a similar career path at first. [[spoiler:It takes a turn for the worse in the end, when the tragedies in his life and the stress of being a comedian start eating away at his relationships with Doris and Montgomery]]. Eventually learns not to be so focused on Prinze, and takes a healthier approach to his life.
57* ItsAllAboutMe: Leroy is a very self centered boy during his stay at P.A. His outbursts in class are for his own sake, he damages school property without a care, and when he learned Miss Berg went to the hospital (to be there for her dying husband) he took the time to come after her and chew her out for her treatment of him in school. This led to her only really nasty outburst towards him-- "''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion Do you ever think of anybody else besides yourself?!]]''"
58* LoveTriangle: You see bits and pieces of one surrounding Leroy, Coco, and Hilary. While Leroy and Coco get along very well in the first year, once Hilary enters the school she does everything she can to get Leroy's attention, to the point where she and Coco trade [[PassiveAggressiveCombat verbal blows]] with each other over him every class where it's brought up. Hilary eventually wins out, but there doesn't appear to be bad blood between them all.
59* KickTheDog: "Who in the world told you you were special?"
60* LazyBum: While Lisa loves to dance and truly wants to pursue it as a career, her footwork is less than stellar and she refuses to correct it. She does mention that her family's not all that great with discipline, but it's no justifiable excuse for her teachers. [[spoiler:Her poor performance in Dance does cost her, and she is eventually kicked out of the course.]]
61* ModelScam: Coco is approached in a diner by a sleazy guy claiming to be a director. She goes to his apartment for a "screen test" and he orders her to undress in front of a camera. She does so, and starts crying from embarrassment and shame.
62* NearMisses: Chris learns that the prince he's [[PrinceAndPauper traded places]] with is the target of an assassination plot when a bullet almost hits him while he's just minding his business.
63* NeverLearnedToRead: While they don't always touch upon it, Leroy's biggest hurdle in school turns out to be English. He never learned to read before coming to P.A, and flips out when Miss Berg presses him on the subject during Freshman Year. Over time he does learn, but outside of one extracurricular scene we don't see him training himself.
64* OnscreenChapterTitles: The film is divided into five chapters: "Auditions", "Freshman Year", "Sophomore Year", "Junior Year", and "Senior Year".
65* ThePeepingTom: Some boys peep into the girls' locker room through a hole in the wall. Their peeping days come to an end when they start making too much noise and collapse the bathroom stalls they used to stand on.
66* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Ralph is a right jackass to Montgomery after learning he's gay, and makes plenty of homophobic comments to him before they really start becoming friends. However it's clear that Ralph isn't a bad person and maintains sympathy once the audience gets to see more sides to him.
67* ProductPlacement: To ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''. While we see Ralph dress up as Dr. Frank-N-Furter to mock Montgomery in one scene, he and Doris do go to a screening in the latter half of the film. They even participate in the crowd riffs, and Doris starts dancing to "Timewarp".
68* ProsceniumReveal: One of the main characters is monologuing about his mother. It looks like an interview, until he flubs a line and we realize it's an audition.
69* SchoolPlay / GraduateFromTheStory: The final "Senior year" sequence, "I Sing the Body Electric"/"Hold Your Dream".
70* SeniorYearStruggles: The final act focuses on the pressures of getting into prestigious (performing arts) higher education or entering the (again performing arts) workforce after graduating. This pressure brings the issues that Ralph, Hilary, Coco, and Leroy have had the previous three years to a head: Ralph, would-be stand up comic, gets a significant gig; Hilary has a shot at a ballet scholarship; Coco is auditioned by an "independent producer;" and Leroy is being recruited by Alvin Ailey. In each case, how well they've internalized their teachers' mentoring affects the outcome.
71* ShrinkingViolet: Doris in the original, Jenny in the remake. [[CharacterDevelopment They get better.]]
72* {{Shoutout}}:
73** During the auditions, a black girl recreates a scene from ''Film/TheToweringInferno''.
74** During the auditions, a guy reads a scene from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. He mistakenly reads Juliet's part.
75** Coco is mentioned to have done a part in ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' some time in Junior Year.
76* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Stuck firmly on the cynical end. This is not a film which shies from showing how hard it is to get into showbiz. If you're talented, focused and willing to work to achieve your dream... it might not be enough. If you are unlucky, you will fail. If you are worse than anyone else, you will fail. If you fall in with the wrong people, you will fail. "All we can guarantee is seven harsh lessons and a hot lunch a day", indeed.
77* SoreLoser: Leroy only intended to assist with Cindy's audition. When he not only outshines her, but gets the acceptance ticket ahead of her, Cindy furiously rips not only into him but P.A. as an institution, saying she saved time and money being kicked out of what she now considered a phony school.
78* SpontaneousChoreography: Downplayed in both the "Hot Lunch" and "Fame" sequences. The students do indeed start breaking into dance once the music hits, but very few groups are coordinated and the resulting dances are chaotic.
79* TitleThemeTune: Won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward and became a hit single for Irene Cara (who also played Coco in the film).
80* ThirdWheel: Eventually, Montgomery comes to feel this way in his relationship with Doris and Ralph. The instant the latter couple starts really flirting with each other, they're off in their world while Monty's left trying to stay on track or awkwardly waiting out their couple moments. A heartbreaking version of this trope applies when Ralph finally admits [[spoiler:his abysmal family life]] in a teary breakdown, and while Doris comforts him Monty realizes the wall between them and leaves.
81* VisualPun: A horn player is seen in the bathroom for both peeping scenes.
82
83!! The TV series provides examples of:
84
85* AllJustADream: "Not In Kansas Anymore", a WholePlotReference episode based on ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
86* {{Bowdlerize}}: TV!Montgomery is not that obviously gay, compared to the movie version of him.
87* CatapultNightmare: Season 2 episode 12, "Tough Act to Follow", opens with Danny having a dream where he is in the elevator of the apartment building that Mr. Crandall lives in. The elevator malfunctions with Danny still inside, and he is left screaming, "Crandall!" Danny then wakes up right at the stroke of 2:36 AM. At school that day, he finds out that Mr. Crandall died of a heart attack early in the morning, and asks Mrs. Berg what time Crandall died. She says she doesn't know, and [[TearJerker after a replay of the scene where Danny wakes up, he says "I know".]]
88** Also a case of TheCharacterDiedWithHim, as the actor, who played Crandall, Michael Thoma, had died.
89* ChristmasEpisode: "All I Want For Christmas" and "Ebenezer Morloch".
90* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: While many cast members got fond farewells, others vanished without warning (i.e. Doris). Subverted in that many of them come BackForTheFinale.
91* CitizenshipMarriage: In Season 4's "Dreams"; the revelation that Jesse was in the country illegally, Doris considers marrying him to allow him to stay in the country, while Mr. Shorofsky considers trying to adopt Jesse.
92* DancePartyEnding: The finale - and yes, it was to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BUiqrSXZo title song]].
93* DrillSergeantNasty: Miss Grant comes the closest.
94-->"You've got big dreams. You want [[TitleDrop fame]]. Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying... in sweat."
95* DrivingStick: The Episode "Street Kid" has Ms Sherwood giving Mister Shorofsky driving lessons, but she only knows how to drive an automatic and the classic car he bought turns out to have a four speed manual transmission meaning that all her lessons were useless because neither of can drive it at all.
96* EmergencyImpersonation: The 1985 episode "His Majesty Donlon" sees Chris having to [[PrinceAndPauper trade places]] with Prince Frederic of Vatonia to allow the prince to experience normal life for a period prior to giving a speech at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations (though unknown to Chris until a [[NearMisses near-miss]]; the Prince is also the target of an assassination plot).
97* FakeGuestStar: Dick Miller (who played Lou Mackie during the 2nd half of the series' run when Lou's Lanes becomes the LocalHangout) first appeared early in Season 4 but got this treatment during the first half of Season 6, when he appears in 8 of the first 12 episodes of that season before being PromotedToOpeningTitles.
98* FirstRunSyndication: After NBC canned the show after 2 seasons, the rest of the show ran in syndication.
99* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: See DancePartyEnding for the video.
100* LocalHangout: Lou's Lanes becomes this during the latter part of the series' run.
101* PromotedToOpeningTitles: Occurs with Dick Miller (as Lou Mackie) and Ann Nelson (as Mrs. Berg)
102* TheQueenWillBeWatching: Season 3's "Hail to the Chief" has the school debating what to do with an upcoming play following an announcement of a last-minute visit by the President and whether to change things in the play; particularly a fairly risque song titled "Drive Me Wild".
103* RashomonStyle: The Season 5 finale "The Incident" (focusing on an accident that left Jesse Velazquez unconscious). In fact it came a little too close to plagiarism[[note]]MGM accused writer Michael [=McGreevey=] of ripping off the 1964 film ''Film/TheOutrage'' (itself a Westernized remake of the original ''Film/{{Rashomon}}''. This prompted a Writer's Guild investigation revealing the plagiarism was actually that of executive producer Donald Reiker rewriting the script shot for shot from Rashomon. Eventually, the Outrage writers received compensation and [=McGreevey=] received a "teleplay by" credit instead of "Written by".[[/note]]
104* RearrangeTheSong: For the first few seasons, the theme was arranged [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV9ajjn46dY in a similar manner as the film version]]. By the last season, however, the song received a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPG1Y5xaQHA more synthpop sounding arrangement]].
105* RecycledSoundtrack: The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-9egNSYdVA "That Dream"]], featured in the season 3 episode "A Way of Winning", later appeared in the ''Series/KidsIncorporated'' episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTVnedm5J88 "You've Got The Wrong Date"]]. A given, since both shows were made by MGM and featured original songs by Michael Cruz.
106** The song "That's Dancin'" was also shared by both shows, appearing in the ''Fame'' episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH-NMOS3HhA "The Rivalry"]] and the ''Kids Incorporated'' episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNfB_4yTIs "The Wallflower"]].
107* SayMyName: See CatapultNightmare.
108* VerySpecialEpisode: Many, including "Help From My Friends" and "Go Softly Into the Morning".
109* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: Naturally, "Ebenezer Morloch".
110
111----
112
113!!The musical version provides examples of:
114
115* AbsentMindedProfessor: Mr. Myers.
116* AlphaBitch: Iris Kelly, though it's more how the other kids see her.
117* BigManOnCampus: Nick
118* CasanovaWannabe: Joe Vegas
119* CastingCouch: Implied to happen to Carmen Diaz.
120* DeadpanSnarker: Lambchop.
121-->'''Lambchop:''' Sorry I'm late! My bus had a flat and I missed the ferry. See, I come from the end of the world - Staten Island.\
122'''Ms. Sherman:''' Miss Lamb, that's no excuse.\
123'''Lambchop:''' I know, it's a curse!
124* DoomedProtagonist: [[spoiler: Carmen]]
125* GoodBadGirl: Carmen
126* HippieTeacher: Ms. Bell and Mr. Sheinkopf.
127* IWantSong: several
128** "Hard Work" for the students ("when I hit the heights, put my name in lights, show the world that I can make it...")
129** "I Want to Make Magic" for Nick
130** "There She Goes/Fame" for Carmen
131* InnerCitySchool
132* JewishAndNerdy: Schlomo
133* LargeHam: Mabel.
134* LovableNerd: Schlomo. Just ask Carmen.
135* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: "Pray I Make P.A./Hard Work".
136* NeverLearnedToRead: Tyrone
137* NiceGuy: Schlomo.
138* PetTheDog: After spending most of the production being overly strict and a bit harsh on her students, Miss Sherman's offer to help Tyrone [[spoiler:learn how to read]] and her subsequent song, "These Are My Children", definitely comes across as this.
139* ShrinkingViolet: Serena, until she comes out of her shell.
140* SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy: Serena and Nick.
141* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Carmen and Schlomo.
142* SternTeacher: Ms. Sherman. Tough as hell, but she's got a soft spot for Tyrone.
143* {{Tomboy}}: Lambchop
144

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