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Main cast

Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant, dance teacher and choreographer, reprising her role from the original film

Lee Curreri as Bruno Martelli (seasons 1–3; guest season 6), music major and keyboard virtuoso, reprising his role from the original film

Erica Gimpel as Coco Hernandez (seasons 1–3; guest seasons 4, 6), music major and talented bi-racial singer/dancer, replacing Irene Cara from the original film

Albert Hague as Professor Benjamin Shorofsky, classically trained music teacher, reprising his role from the original film

Carlo Imperato as Danny Amatullo, aspiring comedian and drama major

Carol Mayo Jenkins as Mrs Elizabeth Sherwood (seasons 1–5; guest season 6), liberal English teacher, replacing Anne Meara from the original film

Valerie Landsburg as Doris Schwartz (seasons 1–4; guest season 6), Jewish drama major, replacing Maureen Teefy from the original film

P. R. Paul (Paul Ray Rosenbaum) as Montgomery MacNeill (season 1; guest season 6), drama major and son of a famous actress, replacing Paul McCrane from the original film

Gene Anthony Ray as Leroy Johnson, dance major, later assistant dance instructor, reprising his role from the original film

Lori Singer as Julie Miller (seasons 1–2), music major and talented cellist

Morgan Stevens as David Reardon (season 2; recurring season 3, guest season 4), drama teacher and struggling actor

Cynthia Gibb as Holly Laird (seasons 3–5; guest season 6), drama major

Billy Hufsey as Christopher Donlon (seasons 3–6), dance major

Ken Swofford as Principal Quentin Morloch (seasons 3–5), conservative school principal who often clashes with the students

Jesse Borrego as Jesse Velasquez (seasons 4–6), multitalented Hispanic student, Leroy's protégé

Janet Jackson as Cleo Hewitt (season 4), music major

Nia Peeples as Nicole Chapman (seasons 4–6), music major and talented singer/dancer, killed in a car accident

Ann Nelson as Mrs. Gertrude Berg (seasons 4–6; recurring seasons 1–2), school secretary

Loretta Chandler as Dusty Tyler (seasons 5–6), singer and preacher's daughter

Carrie Hamilton as Reggie Higgins (seasons 5–6), aspiring comedienne and drama major

Page Hannah as Kate Riley (season 5), drama major

Graham Jarvis as Principal Bob Dyrenforth (seasons 5–6), school principal who replaces Morloch

Michael Cerveris as Ian Ware (season 6), music major and punk rocker from London's East End

Elisa Heinsohn as Jillian Beckett (season 6), drama major and daughter of a police officer

Eric Pierpoint as Paul Seeger (season 6), drama teacher and actor, Lydia's friend

Olivia Barash as Maxie Sharp (season 6), professional child actress and drama major

Dick Miller as Lou Mackie (season 6; recurring seasons 4–5), owner of the local hangout Lou's Lanes

Production

Fame was produced by MGM Television and aired Thursday nights at 8:00–9:00 on NBC beginning on January 7, 1982. NBC promoted its Thursday line-up (Fame, Cheers, Taxi [later Night Court], and Hill Street Blues) as "The Best Night of Television on Television!" Despite glowing reviews from critics, ratings were less than impressive, and NBC cancelled Fame after only two seasons. However, by special arrangement with LBS Communications, MGM revived the series for first-run syndication in the fall of 1983, where it continued for four more seasons, with the last first-run episode airing in the US on May 18, 1987. Production on the series ultimately allowed MGM to retain the intellectual property on the Fame franchise for future use despite rights to the original film going to Turner Entertainment and now being held by Warner Bros., as Turner would sell the studio to United Artists shortly after acquiring it in 1986.

Four cast members from the original movie appeared in the television series. Lee Curreri portrayed the character Bruno Martelli, an introverted musical genius. Gene Anthony Ray portrayed Leroy Johnson, a tough hood from the projects with a natural talent for dance, who muscles his way into an audition and wins. In the film, Leroy is also semiliterate, but this was dropped in favor of him having "fourth-grade reading level" in the television series. Albert Hague played teacher Benjamin Shorofsky, a German music teacher who constantly battled with Bruno Martelli over musical styles. The final cast member from the film was Debbie Allen, who portrayed Lydia Grant. Allen only appeared briefly in the movie, but her character was expanded in the series. She also became the show's original choreographer, in addition to directing several episodes and co-producing one season.

Several characters were carried over from the movie, played by different actors. Irene Cara portrayed Coco Hernandez in the film, but the part on TV was played by Erica Gimpel. Paul McCrane played gay student Montgomery McNeil in the film, but P.R. Paul portrayed Montgomery for TV and the character was no longer gay. English teacher Elizabeth Sherwood was played in the film by actress Anne Meara, but in the series was played by actress Carol Mayo Jenkins. The character Doris had her name changed from Doris Finsecker (portrayed by Maureen Teefy) to Doris Schwartz (Valerie Landsburg). The character of Ralph Garci (Tommy Aguilar inheriting the role played by Barry Miller in the film) appeared only in the pilot.

Additionally, two new characters were introduced in the TV series: cello player Julie Miller (Lori Singer), and actor-comedian Danny Amatullo (whose last name is derived from the associate producer, Tony Amatullo) played by Carlo Imperato. All subsequent characters were created for the series.

Ira Steven Behr wrote 12 episodes of the series. He recalled: "I did three years on Fame, which was a lot of fun and was also in syndication. We had no one looking over our shoulder. We got to do some wonderfully bizarre things on the show..."

Following its cancellation, two versions of the series were syndicated in reruns: the original hour-long episodes, which usually contained a primary plot, a subplot, and two or more musical numbers; and a second version, stripped of the musical numbers and the subplot and reduced to 30 minutes in length.

The show's theme song was a pop hit for singer Irene Cara, having been featured in the motion picture. A re-recorded version of the theme, using similar instrumentation to the 1980 track, was used in the TV series and sung by co-star Erica Gimpel, who played Coco Hernandez.

Although Gimpel left the series midway through the third season (after the show moved from NBC to first-run syndication in 1983), her opening vocals were still heard on the show for two more seasons. An updated version of the song, featuring a modern, synthesized hard-rock flavor, was introduced in the fall of 1985 and performed by new cast member Loretta Chandler (Dusty). This version ran for the final two seasons of Fame.

"I Still Believe in Me", from an episode of the series titled "Passing Grade", was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Original Song. It was performed by Erica Gimpel and Debbie Allen, and co-written by Gary Portnoy, who went on to co-write and sing the theme from Cheers. In the United Kingdom, two singles credited to The Kids from "Fame", "Hi-Fidelity" and "Starmaker", peaked within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart.

The arts-focused cable network Ovation began airing reruns of Fame in 2011 for a period.

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