And the Winner Is...

Synopsis

After Bruno writes a show which will be performed at the school, new teachers, David Reardon believes Bruno should be involved in the casting of the show. Things don't go too well as Bruno has no experience in this field and he starts to alienate people. This only becomes worse when he casts himself in the lead. However, his biggest problem is he can't act!

Meanwhile Sherwood is feeling fed up and depressed so takes sick leave, prompting Leroy to go and see her.

My Review

When the second season of Fame started in the U.K. in April 1983 the shows popularity was probably at its peak. However in the U.S. NBC was about to cancel the show but the European success kept MGM interested in continuing to make the show and moving it into syndication.

During the break between the seasons airing I had become totally addicted to the show. I think virtually every gift I had for Christmas 1982 was Fame related, the albums, annual, calendar, clothes and concert ticket. So I was eagerly anticipating season 2 and my expectations were high.

Going into the season I knew more in advance about the 2nd year than I knew about any other season due to the huge amount of press the show attracted and that it had it's own monthly magazine. Looking back I think that prior knowledge actually spoilt my enjoyment of watching the show as there was very little to surprise me. This and a number of other reasons, which I’ll cover as they crop up meant that season 2 is my least favourite along with season 6.

I have to say that the first episode for me didn't live up to those expectations. I enjoy it a little more now and there is some great humour but back then I was really disappointed and I didn't think the story flowed very well.

The opening titles have been updated slightly and its interesting that only Valerie gets and new picture. The show now has its fully working auditorium set and they use it a lot in this episode.

There are obvious changes since the first season but there is no explanation for these changes. Fame did this a lot, particularly not explaining where previous cast members had gone and I always found that very irritating. Here Montgomery is gone or maybe he’s still at the school but isn't friends with the rest of the gang any more. Who knows because they don’t explain it! It would have taken 30 second of dialogue to just mention him. He was never a favourite character of mine and I don’t really miss him but I find the writers lazy when they don’t explain things properly.

Then we have David Reardon’s appearance, which totally contradicts the end of season 1, where a teacher was going to be sacked because of budget cuts but now they can suddenly afford to employ a new teacher. It would have made more sense to move Crandall’s death to an earlier episode and then David comes in as his replacement but here both teachers are still supposed to be working at the school. I do like Morgan Stevens but I don’t like that he’s already part of the group and seems to get on very well with everyone. I always feel uneasy watching this episode as though I've missed out on some of the action which explains all the changes and now I've missed it everyone else is keeping it a secret!

This is also the first appearance of Dwight, although again they don’t mention if he’s new or was already an existing student. Although he does mention he already has a best friend at the school so I would assume he's been there before. Although Doris doesn't even know his name.

Anyway the story itself of Bruno being involved with the casting of his own musical is quite good but it could play out much better. Coco, Danny and Julie have very little to do. Coco and Danny are supposed to be upset by Bruno’s casting decisions but we never see it. A little conflict between the kids that all gets resolved at the end would give this episode a much needed boost and give some of the other cast something to do. Why couldn't we actually see Coco and Danny auditioning instead of supporting characters? Also Bruno’s not being able to act is way too over the top to be believable. Although I do like that he asks Doris to teach him to act.

I like the idea of a romance between Doris and Bruno but here I feel it just leaves us hanging. They start to pursue it with Doris having feelings and Bruno not realising but the writers just leave that unresolved and it never gets mentioned again. If Doris really had feelings for Bruno then the Doris we know and love would have definitely talked to him about it. If she was rejected so be it but she would have tried. Bruno has already said that he thinks they are more than friends so it wouldn't all have just been forgotten. The American TV guide refers to a romance between them and that really does seem misleading.

I think there’s too many things going on in this story and that none of them get covered properly and it all leaves me feeling unsatisfied. The first time I saw this episode the credits seemed to role just as things were getting interesting.

I call season 2 the season of death because there are quite a few episodes that have death as part of the story and it all gets a little depressing. Here it’s Sherwood’s turn as they kill off her ex husband. They have never previously even mentioned she’d been married or divorced so it’s a little hard to get involved with a character we've never heard about before. The scene between Sherwood and Leroy is however quite nicely played by Carol and Gene and I like it however I think Sherwood could have been feeling depressed without the need for it to be linked to the death of an off screen character.

Both of the songs I knew in advance as the Kids From Fame Songs album had already been released before the season started airing. Beautiful Dreamer is a pleasant song but not one of my favourites. However, I love Body Language and for the first time the cast gets to dance around the real streets of New York and the outside filming always enhances the quality of an episode as opposed to the fake street scenes we get so much of later in the series. I would have also liked to see Erica, Valerie, Carlo and Lori involved in the dance routine.

It’s interesting to see all the crowds that are hanging around watching the dancers perform and also Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan is on at the cinema. Normally I don’t really feel the show has dated but seeing things like that makes it look old.

Episode Pictures