.In the late 1950s, songwriter and talent manager Vinny Vacari (Ray Sharkey) takes on Tomaso DeLorusso (Paul Land), a talented and charismatic saxophonist whom he persuades to become a singer instead. Vinny transforms him into the hugely popular Teen Idol Tommy Dee. When Tommy's ego starts to get out of control, Vinny recruits Guido (Peter Gallagher), a sixteen-year-old busboy, and works to manufacture him into the singer Caesare despite his lack of talent. Meanwhile, Vinny begins a relationship with Brenda Roberts (Tovah Feldshuh), the editor of the magazine Teen Scene.
The Idolmaker contains examples of:
- Attempted Rape: Tommy invites a fourteen-year-old girl into his car, allegedly so he can give her a free record. Once they're in there, he starts aggressively kissing her, unbuttoning her sweater, and groping her thigh while she pushes him away and says, "Don't!" Vinny pulls them apart, buys the girl's silence with a stack of free records, and bawls Tommy out for endangering his image.
- Contractual Purity: In-universe example. Tommy and Guido aren't allowed to be seen smoking or drinking, and when Guido has an image-threatening affair with reporter Ellen (Maureen McCormick), Vinny gets her fired. Tommy grumbles that he's lucky he's allowed to jerk off.
- Flowers of Romance: Guido brings wine and roses to Ellen's apartment.
- Groupie Brigade: Caesare's first proper show suffers from inadequate security, allowing girls to climb onstage and swarm him a few lines into the first song. Once Caesare is taken backstage, the girls are cleared off, and the security is beefed up, Vinny sends him back onstage wearing the same ripped shirt, which he rips even more while he sings.
- High-School Dance: Tommy Dee's first show is at a junior high dance, where he follows a routine Vinny taught him in order to come across as nonthreatening. The girls love it. Their boyfriends are less pleased.
- Hollywood Hype Machine: Vinny hangs up hundreds of posters of Guido's face with the caption "Caesare is here!" before he's even had a proper concert. This drums up enough publicity to draw a large crowd for his show.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: In addition to Vinny being based on Bob Marcucci, Tommy Dee is based on Frankie Avalon, while Caesare is based on Fabian.
- Performance Anxiety: Guido gets so nervous before his first show that he sings terribly, causing the audience to laugh at him. About a minute into the song, he runs offstage and into the parking lot for a Stress Vomit.
- Saw It in a Movie Once: Vinny introduces himself to Brenda by giving her yellow roses in order to get into her good graces. He explains, "I can't take all the credit. I stole it from Clark Gable. It was in an old movie with Claudette Colbert. She was a magazine editor. And old Clark Gable needed a favor."
- Waving Signs Around: A girl holds a sign that says "I love Tommy Dee!"
