In General
- Spiritual Successor: So, so many.
- Camp (2003) = Fame AT SUMMER CAMP!
- Glee = Fame IN A REGULAR SCHOOL!
- Victorious = Fame AS A SCREWBALL COMEDY!
- Dream High = Fame IN KOREA!
- Make It Pop = Fame EXCEPT IT'S A GIRL GROUP!
The movies:
- Awesome Music: A given.
- "Dogs in the Yard", "Fame", "Out Here On My Own", and "I Sing The Body Electric" from the original, "Hold Your Dream" from the remake.
- "Is It OK If I Call You Mine" is also very heartfelt.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: Paul McCrane would again play his heartfelt song, "Is It OK If I Call You Mine", 30 years later during a guest appearance on the TV show Harry's Law, and the performance contributed to him winning a Primetime Emmy Award.
- Memetic Mutation: The title song was used for the 2001 Flash animation "The MAME Song
". - So Okay, It's Average: How most critics have felt about the remake, especially compared to the original with its stronger social commentary.
The musical:
- Awesome Music: "Fame", clearly. The full version of "Bring on Tomorrow" is another.
- Fridge Logic: Wait, a performing arts high school, and not ONE gay kid?!
- Hollywood Pudgy: Mabel, depending on the actress. She can be any size, but the point is, she's fat for a dancer.
- Ho Yay: "Can't Keep it Down" is full of it. In some productions, Nick and Joe Vegas Ho Yay it up during the Romeo and Juliet scene with Serena.
- Not to mention that Serena is half-convinced Nick is gay.
"You'll probably go off to New Haven and meet some guy and forget all about me!" - Stock Foreign Name: Tyrone Jackson, Schlomo, and Carmen Diaz are all very stereotypical names
- Tear Jerker:
- "In L.A" for Carmen.
- "These Are My Children" for Ms. Sherman.
- The full version of "Bring on Tomorrow" when Schlomo dedicates the performance to Carmen, who's just died of a drug overdose.
The series:
- Awesome Music: "Life Is A Celebration" is a good place to start.
- Bizarro Episode: The Wizard of Oz episode. Ironically, the show's renditions of the classic songs seem to be how people discover the show on Youtube.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The series proved far more popular in Europe and especially the United Kingdom (including multiple chart hits) than it did in its native USA; to the point that it played a role in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and LBS Communications partnering to continue production in first-run syndication after the series was canceled by NBC in 1983.
- Harsher in Hindsight: The Season 3 episode "Bottle of Blues" revolves around an ex-boyfriend of Doris' attempting to return to the School of the Arts after being kicked out due to alcoholism could count considering that Doris' actress, Valerie Landsburg, was herself struggling with a drinking problem of her own during her time on the show.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The Season 5 episode "Self Defense" (focusing on several of the girls wanting to learn karate after the School of the Arts is repeatedly vandalized) becomes this to a degree considering Nia Peeples' next major role saw her get plenty of opportunity to use her karate skills on Walker, Texas Ranger.
- Narm : On occasion. Some episodes are available on YouTube. Some of the actors veer into Large Ham territory, and on occasion the vocal performances are cringe-worthy. Granted, it was The '80s.
- Recast as a Regular: Nia Peeples appeared in Season 2's "Sunshine Again" in a minor role before joining the cast for Season 4 as Nicole Chapman.
- Retroactive Recognition:
- The Season 5 episode "W.S.O.A." has Kathleen Wilhoite (later better known for her recurring roles on L.A. Law; ER and as the voice of the title character on Pepper Ann) as Roberta, the caller to the school radio station who repeatedly requests the song "You Don't Know Me" while Jesse and the others attempt to convince her not to commit suicide.
- Behind the scenes, Glenn Gordon Caron wrote the series 4th episode ("Alone in the Crowd"). Caring would later go on to create the series Moonlighting and Medium.
- Tear Jerker: Many entire episodes, examples include "Help from My Friends" and "Who Am I Really".
- "Go Softly Into The Morning" might be the biggest as it deals with a heavy subject matter (drunk driving) and a prominent character is killed off as a result. The song "See Your Face Again" from that same episode also falls into this territory after the passing of its vocalist, Carrie Hamilton.
- The song "Come What May" (not that one, an original song composed for the show) in particular is also heartbreakingly gorgeous.
- The death of Bruno's father in Season 3.
For the rest of your life, he'll be the first one to hear every song you write.- "Tough Act to Follow", even more so when you consider that the actor playing Mr. Crandall had just died.
