The History of Jem: The Transformers Formula Applied to a Show For Girls

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On this episode we cover the history of Jem and the Holograms.
After having much success with Transformers and GI Joe Hasbro decided to take that same formula of a cartoon developed around a toyline and apply to a line aimed mostly at girls.
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[@RFSKannon]

Say what you want about the show overall, but Jem had one of the best opening sequences of any cartoon at the time.

[@JanetStarChild]

Of all time.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

The show is still good.

[@johnthomas3568]

Jem and the Holograms is still awesome!

[@johnthomas3568]

I loved both Jem and the Holograms theme songs

[@ladynikkie]

Damn straight I have that as my ringtone one time I went straight to Walmart I was looking at the DVD section it had the entire animated series one full collection and on the other side that crappy 2015 movie doesn't take a rocket scientist to pick which one you want lol

[@fiveoctaves]

Jem was basically the first kids' soap opera. Rio dated both Jerrica and Jem at the same time. Every first-run six-minute episode ended with a ridiculous cliffhanger. It kept me coming back for more.

[@bumblediosa2206]

And that's the element that might be erased in the show reboot

[@andrejg4136]

@@bumblediosa2206 Like, that is really hard to write competently. Unless you want to make it super generic having a soap opera style story for something aimed at 8 to 12s is... dicy.

[@bumblediosa2206]

@@andrejg4136 It worked in the 80s, didn't it? I was 6-8 back then. And it certainly worked for me. I just don't want it to be like She Ra, since they are two different things. Its ok to have a girly show, is all I'm saying.

[@andrejg4136]

@@bumblediosa2206 Well it worked in the 80s but I would argue that it would be better then to slightly shift the target demo up given current environment. If you are gonna write a melodrama like that aim it at 'tweens' (so 10-14) so they can appreciate the [attempt at] earnest melodrama.

[@mulder4268]

@@haydennault5342 Who is making this reboot? First I've heard of this Jem news. They'll probably mess it up.

[@nobodyimportant2470]

You missed that Jem had a song technically go multi platinum without ever releasing an album. Each doll came with a cassette tape with some songs from the show on it. Every single one had the theme song.

[@ladynikkie]

I had one of the early Jem dolls (they didn't look that pretty until later on) but it didn't come with a tape cassette.

[@rubyweymouth6843]

Jem's voice in the cartoon was higher pitched and in the movie her voice was lower pitched 😒

[@rubyweymouth6843]

@@ladynikkie I didn't have any of the dolls 😒

[@truck6859]

No other toyline did that, did they?

[@stepheneaton4978]

@@truck6859 Teddy Ruxpin did, but he was technically an overengineered tape player so....

[@OscillatorCollective]

I’m a 40+ straight black guy... AND I LOVE JEM. That movie was an ABOMINATION. And I only saw parts of it while it played in my house. I think it was a deliberate attempt to destroy the franchise and kill the soul of its fan base. I STILL watch JEM to this day, and I love those songs...

[@jmarshall9127]

Where do you watch it?

[@OscillatorCollective]

@@jmarshall9127 there are shorts on KZbin, lot of the songs. There may be a dvd set of it, I haven’t checked recently, will buy it when I find it.

[@jmarshall9127]

@@OscillatorCollective thanks. I'll take a look. I saw episodes listed on daily motion but the quality was crappy

[@twindelaine]

Still love Jem, and rock my T-shirts in support of it. It’s a cartoon that you can still watch as an adult and be entertained. Boycotted the movie, it was disrespectful to the fans.

[@OscillatorCollective]

@@twindelaine I totally agree, and I would totally rock a JEM t-shirt.

[@creativeguy1138]

As a little boy in the 80's I loved Jem. She was cool, talented and a babe.

[@Rich_P_Anya]

She's truly outrageous!

[@truck6859]

I hear you!

[@largol33t1]

Even today, I still find her hotter than any anime girl. She blows away Motoko Kusanagi and Video Girl Ai.

[@syra1541]

facts

[@jrmj]

"With any luck, we're closer to the next thing than the last thing." That's *such* a good line.

[@jazzsax357]

Being a musician, I am not ashamed to say I loved Jem and the Holograms.

[@CHASEMARC]

i'm not a musician and as a kid i had a crush on Danse and Raya

[@okcomputer0101]

I always wanted No Doubt to cover Jem songs.

[@jazzsax357]

okcomputer0101 it would have to be twilight in Paris

[@INFERNO95]

RPJ Kingdom What to be ashamed of? You have guys who like girl theme series like sailor moon or supergirl. And girls who like boy theme series like transformers or dbz. Nothing wrong likening something unique.

[@jazzsax357]

INFERNO95 there were female transformers. But I could understand a guy liking She-ra or Madoka or even Smurfs. However, Any man that likes Sailor Moon . . . . (shaking head) Just Say No!

[@sirencalloftoys9162]

Thanks for covering Jem! One key fact that lead to her demise is that Mattel did some industrial espionage, found out Hasbro was making a rock star doll, and then rushed the development of Barbie and the Rockers to get them into stores first. It looked like Jem was copying Barbie, but it was the other way around. There is a great interview comment about that on the Barbie episode of The Toys That Made Us on Netflix. I highly recommend the show - they also cover GI Joe, He-Man, and Star Wars with a lot of interviews with the industry pros who made the toys.

[@AnthonyPinkett]

Hearing this rundown... I just don't know why the live action movie folks didn't just lean into all of this insanity.

[@okcomputer0101]

OMG Word! it would have been Boss!

[@WriterPlaysMTG]

Right? Like if they embraced the well "outrageous" nature of the show then it would have done better probably

[@Raziel312]

The acid trip ascetic of 80s music videos helped inform the style of the show. However, such an ascetic was very much a thing of its time. That said, one of the reasons Marvel movies have consistently outperformed DC movies is that Marvel movies always embraced the craziness and morality of the superhero world. Early DC movies acted like they were almost ashamed of it and tried to present a more "realistic" take on superheroes.

[@DavyRuiz]

The movie was and is a massive insult to fans and people in general. Not only does the movie mock the original a bit, but they lied to fans in order to get 'footage' for the movie. People were asked to audition to be in the movie and say why they loved the original Jem. They then took those auditions and spliced them together in a bizarre montage using their own words and real adoration to appear as if they were talking about the movie Jem. It was deceptive and manipulative. Not to mention the stunts they pulled with the extras and live journal. It is a trainwreck of a production and all copies including digital should be erased from existence.

[@Snake4985]

@@DavyRuiz The best thing about that montage? If you pay attention, you can see some of the logos and merch related to the original series

[@IMRJT3]

I rarely leave comments on KZbin, but I needed to state this: THANK YOU...Your channel has allowed me to not only relive memorable elements of my childhood, but has also helped me to better understand them as an adult. 1LUV!

[@wstine79]

This review is truly outrageous. Truly truly truly outrageous.

[@jonathanprince707]

What's truly outrageous is he didn't do it in Jem cosplay. Not even a fucking 80's hair metal wig. Truly truly outrageous. What does a guy have to do to see Dan Larson in a miniskirt and 80's hot pink glam metal hair!?

[@christimacc3835]

Don't be a misfit. 😜

[@joeman1224]

Haha someone had to do it

[@sadjupiter9462]

@@jonathanprince707 , join his patreon and get into his private snapchat.

[@Fenrir72]

Oooooooooooooh Jem................

[@BryanB1138]

I was lucky enough to meet Christy Marx once, She was such a wonderful lady. Her work is incredible!

[@BrianRosenbergMusican]

I had never really seen this before. Some of my female friends that went to see the jem movie were enraged!! I asked one of the girls "what's the huge issue, dude its just a bad movie" She said no Jem was a huge part of my childhood and they shit on it. I had nothing to say.

[@hgc7000]

That theme song! I feel fairly lucky to have been an mid to late 80’s kid, and my babysitter had stacks of vhs tapes with these cartoons. We’d get GI JOe, My Little Ponies, Transformers, She Ra, And Jem on a tape, next tape would be Surfs, Get Along Gang, Gummi Bears, He Man, And Inhumanoids. All of these viewings netted the show theme songs to my memory. And it helped me impress my now wife when she said “there is no way you know the ‘Jem’ theme song,” Back when we were dating. Bam.... it was truly, truly outrageous how I belted it out.

[@Nick_Nightingale]

I loved watching Jem and TMNT on Sunday mornings. As a boy I enjoyed a female centric show because of the good stories and great music (Glitter &Gold).

[@boscopit]

Don't lie.

[@Nick_Nightingale]

@@boscopit Uh... lie about what?

[@Nick_Nightingale]

@@DarthPoyner I hope they do a real remake set in the 80s. It could be animated or live action. Just have the RIGHT people behind it.

[@strifenineteen]

@@MissPrissWorld "Beat This" ( I believe that's the name) has lived in my head to this day

[@OldManTheseDays]

Great video! I worked with Christy Marx- such a wonderful person and very humble. She is the writer of an astounding number of the shows anyone over the age of 35 watched as kids. If anyone would like a little extra first-hand information, I set up an interview between her and Michael Mercy on his toy review channel. Worth a watch.

[@JonathanMCook]

One interesting fact about Christy was Jem was really one of her only "girly-girl" shows she ever wrote for. One of her credits (shocked me) later on was Conan the Adventurer. I play the theme song to that cartoon in my head for motivation when I'm doing bench press at the local gym.

[@rubyweymouth6843]

You must be proud 😒

[@OldManTheseDays]

ruby weymouth nice to make your acquaintance. I’m afraid I’m unsure of the tone and intention of your comment. Are you being sardonic? Ironic? Sarcasm? I’m not sure what you’re trying to offer here and more curious why you bothered.

[@everetth-top4760]

One dislike for this video? Must be from one of the folks who made that dang live action movie.

[@Statsy10]

I think it was from one of the Misfits!

[@JazGalaxy]

I'm sure it was from one of the thousands of boys who watched and like Gem but were conflicted because they felt like they weren't supposed to.

[@EngineerOfChaos]

It's from the guys who made GI Joe Retaliation

[@everetth-top4760]

@@Statsy10 Damn those Misfits!

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Lol

[@megagene]

SPORTS! Stormer the Misfit was actually my first childhood crush. I liked how she was in the bad girls band, but was actually really gentle and had a heart of gold. The other misfits just bossed her around and made her do bad things. I guess you could say I had a thing for sweet girls with self-esteem issues. Fast forward 35 years, and basically nothing has changed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@syxepop]

megagene, OK... I watched Planet Dolan (the YT page) a lot and they recently introduced a character named Paprika, who's a very sweet sounding cat (skin tone and spice-derived name seem to come from Teen Titan's Starfire) that will "stab you behind your back if not careful". The character I though she would be her master would be precisely Mary (Stormer) Phillips, as both seem to have the same traits (very cute, very sweet, very creative, but very mischievous at the same time). I don't blame you for liking Mary the way you do, it's characters like that that makes life interesting...

[@edwinbiggs8819]

She was my crush too, for the same reasons.

[@DragoonMS]

Let's be real: Stormer was the best of the Misfits. Even in the IDW Comics reimagining from a few years back.

[@largol33t1]

megagene, I do remember watching on episode where she was temporarily kicked out of the band because she was nowhere as vicious or cruel as the other two.

[@pdzombie1906]

OMG! I thought I was the only one...

[@CSSherman]

Gave me a hologram generator and I make myself look like Idris Elba for the rest of my life. All of the good looks without having to deal with things like genetics and working out.

[@lordzaboem]

Underrated comment

[@MikeTXBC]

Christy Marx was also known for two computer games published by Sierra Online in the early 1990s called "Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail" and "Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood." Both games had a lot of replayability for adventure games (as in REAL adventure games, not games where you run, jump, and kill everything that moves), especially Longbow. That game was insane in how everything you did had an effect on the story and ending.

[@henryferkey4505]

8:52 "...G.I. Joe: Retaliation; widely considered to be a film about Hasbro's line of G.I. Joe action figures." made me laugh.

[@lordzaboem]

Isn't every G.I. Joe movie and series created to advertise the toy line?

[@wunderchivo4083]

​@@lordzaboem - Not according to Paramount. Regardless of your opinion on the live-action films, Hasbro put all their Joe eggs in the movie basket for Retaliation, primed for a big push in 2012. I recall the first waves hit shelves for the supposed release in 2012, and then Paramount delayed the film a whole year ("for 3-D"). Who was going to buy action figures based on a movie nobody's seen? Those toys were eventually pulled after the announcement. At the actual movie release in 2013, the same year-old toys were put back on shelves. How was that going to fare? They soon became shelf-warmers and went to clearance. Maybe that told retail the brand was dying because we never saw anything new. Then we learned an entire second half of unseen movie toys went straight to discount outlets. And soon afterwards, TRU became the sole lifeboat for GIJoe, with no media representation anywhere (EDIT: well, maybe the comics). We all know how that went.

[@wunderchivo4083]

​@@lordzaboem - Also... not to judge Paramount's decisions, but... The older Joe and TF cartoons promoted a perpetual line-up of heroes and villains meant to endure for years. There's very little "perpetual" in a movie that kills 70% or more of the toy characters you're selling at retail. There's no "Revenge of Firefly" if Dwayne Johnson blows him to charcoal bits. Certainly Duke wasn't coming back. No "Continuing Adventures of Autobot Jazz" after movie Megatron ripped him in half, in front of children's faces worldwide. (Did they ever sell Jazz with a break-apart torso..?)

[@darrenrenna]

Same here--I am guessing Jem failed for similar reasons. The new GI Joe movies held no nostalgia value for me while failing to adequately draw in younger viewers with no connection to the source material

[@spectre111]

@@wunderchivo4083 I heard that they tried to turn Transformers into a cinematic universe like with Marvel, except if that was what they were aiming for then they completely failed because they did exactly the opposite. Rather than expanding the films, they shrank them.

[@brianpanizzi6500]

Awesome summary of this line. Thank you for not treating this with the disdain of "eww girl toys" or condescending to the line/collectors.

[@blackphoenix77]

Jem: *TRULY OUTRAGEOUS* Jem movie: outrageously bad

[@catsithx]

And i was dragged tosee that movie. I can never unsee it. It was so bad. Sad thing it could have decent but they screwed it up.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Him working on it for a decade sounds like a steaming load. As well as him supposedly being a fan.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

@@catsithx You poor thing.

[@benthebartender]

The misfits had to be behind it!!

[@LikaLaruku]

The IDW comic series was flaming garbage & found it's own ways to disrespect & ignore the source material.

[@butchmcqueen5625]

As a gay little boy growing up in this area of cartoons… Jem brought you drama, costume changes, more drama, rivalry, everything! The electronica drug dealer was just a bonus, but see what you will about this cartoon… It was definitely one that defined a generation and one that continues to be just as strong today.

[@gamescape7758]

As a straight white male, i can confirm this was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I still sing the theme song now and again.

[@Rich_P_Anya]

It has badass songs. Can't get enough of the theme

[@bieberninja1]

scape, game....anyone who starts off their comment with "straight white male" really means the opposite, you are a black transgender muslim haha

[@gamescape7758]

@@bieberninja1 lol. You got me

[@bieberninja1]

@@gamescape7758 zaga zaga

[@andrejg4136]

Why was there not an album, why was there not two albums. One of the best things that Japan does with their anime is all the ancillary product like Official Soundtracks and the like. JEM had enough songs for two cassettes, at least.

[@lacyinmon1004]

I grew up watching Jem and the Holograms as child. The live action movie was a slap in the face to the fans of the animated series.

[@chengliu872]

If you want Jem and the Holograms but better than the movie, check out the comic books.

[@Delilah.Elizabeth]

I woke up early on Sundays so I wouldn’t miss a single episode. Loved this series as a kid!

[@sixtiviris]

Man, my sister used to love those cartoon and all i could think everytime i had to watch cause she was watching is " the misfits are such a better band!!! they're like joan jet awesome"so she used to kick me out the house... but come on seriously! riding fucking guitar motorcicles?! METAL!!!!!!!!! dark tones! METAL!! MISFITS FOR EVER!!!

[@andrejg4136]

The Misfits were a great case of talented performers but rotten people. Like, they were certainly talented enough to surpass the Holograms, but given how 2 of them were total assholes you never wanted to see it come to that.

[@JP-ve7or]

LOL we all knew the Misfits were the best!

[@seszw6159]

I think I would use that hologram generator the same way everybody else would: make me look like I'm working but I'm actually napping.

[@allinone-qz2gi]

5:02 OMG! OMG! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! I got that Jem Rock Backstager for Christmas when I was 7 years old and it was the best flipping Christmas ever! No Christmas since has compared to the feeling of wide-eyed wonder and excitement of unwrapping that bad boy! Let me tell you!

[@PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

Jem was *always* a part of the Transformers universe. You can see Jem and the Holograms dashing down an alley in one episode of the cartoon and in the episode "Making Tracks" the marquette of a theater he drives past advertises that Jem and the Holograms are performing there.

[@JP-ve7or]

Aw man I thought this was going to be a satirical comment about Jem and the Holograms parachuting into a war zone and bombing the Misfits' camp 😂

[@JohnJTMack]

I didn't watch a lot of "girl" stuff as a kid, but Jem was one of my favorites.

[@rubyweymouth6843]

I bet she was 🙋 Didn't you watch She-Ra?

[@JohnJTMack]

@@rubyweymouth6843 Of course

[@Nick_Nightingale]

Jem and Punky Brewster were the only girl centric cartoons I remember regularly watching. She-ra was rare (but a million times better than the Netflix garbage).

[@JohnJTMack]

@@Nick_Nightingale I did watch Punky Brewster too. I wasn't thinking of her but it was the sitcom not the cartoon that I watched. She-Ra had Hordak and the Horde so it was just more cool toys to buy.

[@Nick_Nightingale]

@@JohnJTMack I couldn't get into the live action Punky. I like Glomer. lol A live action girl show I liked was Small Wonder.

[@MissMTurner]

I LOVED Jem when I was a girl. I had a cassette tape (hot pink of course) with Jem songs I sang ad nauseam (much to my mom's infinite tolerance.) It was so different from other cartoons at the time and the blend of fashion, music, and scifi made it feel both real and wonderous.

[@gusbaker4u]

The only good thing about the Jem live action movie is most people didn't even notice its existence

[@Madbandit77]

@@jediknightjairinaiki560 Well, unlike G.I. Joe and Transformers, Hasbro never really bothered to maintain Jem in the consciousness of the general public. Were they any Jem dolls in the 1990s or 2000s? I think I saw one TV promo of the film and that was it.

[@PrinceTrunks26]

The live action movie would have been good if they used the original story. But no, they went with sad teenagers.

[@miacarlany]

@Andoc they are pretty much both hot garbage .. the movie and the comic

[@StarryStarryNocturne]

@@jediknightjairinaiki560 Especially not enough when you alienate and turn off half or more of said fanbase with a movie that has the Jem title on it, but really is more as Dan said, a Hannah Montana (who was a Jem rip-off/inspired show itself) meets Justin Bieber story than a Jem story.

[@mariannecontrino6297]

When I was in college during the late '90's, there were like three, or four rooms full of girls in my dorm, who would play that insufferable, "I'm a Barbie Girl" song, over and over. Well, one day, after having reached our limit, my roommate, and I made the hour plus drive back to her house to retrieve her "Jem and the Holograms" cassette tape, and I promise you, from that day forward, EVERY TIME those jackasses played their song, we played ours. We even made multiple copies, so our other friends could blast it from their rooms at the same time, completely drowning out their bullshit. Thankfully, it only took a few days for them to get the hint, and stop!!!! Long story short, Jem is a god damn hero, who saved our lives, and restored our sanity. Thanks for a great video. Subbed.

[@xoxocafenoir]

Thank you Toy Galaxy for the mention about our short film TRULY OUTRAGEOUS!! 💯🎶❤️🙌

[@gregglesmigregglesmi3633]

46 yo man here. I STILL listen to the Jem and the Holograms songs (but honestly, I enjoy the Misfits songs more, despite there being fewer of them). I watched the show FIRST RUN, starting the year I turned 10. I remember being frustrated at the lack of scheduling consistency. Nice recap. Thanks.

[@hondorockz]

The 80s had different hairdos and colors, I just love watching this stuff, thank you Dan!

[@richardranke3158]

I am a man,born in 1954 and I admit that I loved Jem. I saw all the shows and met a very good friend who also loved Jem. She and I became close friends. I recorded many of the Jem songs.

[@celeste1324]

Im a 42 year old man.....and i LOVE Jem to death....she's outrageous...truly truly truly outrageous... One of the best television theme songs ever...this show is CLASSIC...the music,the artwork,the mature soap opera-like storytelling..it was just a breath of fresh air compared to the million super hero shows that were on at the time...💖JEM FOR LIFE!!💖

[@neobluemax]

Jem vs Cold Slither. It writes itself.

[@valecrassus7835]

You'll be joining us soon, a band of vipers OH MY GOD I STILL REMEMBER IT CURSE YOOOOUUUU

[@dinomonzon8853]

Better Jem than Cold Slither! 😁

[@XMattingly]

_Nope._ This is art, not exploitation. 😜

[@talkanders6058]

Actually, it is art and exist (its an exclusive cover for a GIJoe #212).

[@ArtoPekkanen]

@@talkanders6058 I just googled that it and YES it does exist and it's funny and cool :D

[@adamshields7545]

I am ever impressed by your opening statements. This one does NOT disappoint.

[@okcomputer0101]

Thank you for this most AWESOME and TRULY OUTRAGEOUS History Lesson. I secretly envied my Sister. She was able to rave about Jem when we were kids. As a junior high schooler, I rarely ever revealed my love this show to my fellow dudes. My sis had all the characters and even Rio. I didn't care for the dolls, but I adored the cassettes that came with them! Eventually, they went "missing." TIll this day I will rock out to any these tracks. "I Got My Eye on You" is my very fave of them. Can't for the love of Zeus figure out how they got that dam movie so very wrong. Please god of Hollywood, bring this show back! A theatrical release that does the original material some justice is all we ask.

[@peterdanior4538]

I would love to see Duke ride up in Bumblebee inviting Jem to join the Unit-E Initiative

[@nitetimejohnson]

My cousin and I would compromise over the television. I would watch Jem with her and she would watch Transformers with me. Lol.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Good compromise and you both introduced each other to good shows.

[@strifenineteen]

Me and my sister had the same deal

[@gandalflotr2898]

Ironically there in the same universes

[@Hektols]

In my country we got first the toys and the series in TV some years later, when the toys were already discontinued. It happened with He-Man, Transformers, Jem... And there were series that never got the toys released like Silver Hawks.

[@arturkarpinski164]

I had a crush on Jem when I was a kid back in the 80's. The crazy thing is that I completely forgot about that part of my life until I saw this video a few minutes ago. Thank you for the memories!!!!

[@hagios_1taylor918]

I feel you Artur Karpinski Stormer from the misfits was my girl 😍❤

[@arturkarpinski164]

@@hagios_1taylor918 Blue is a beautiful color!!!

[@hagios_1taylor918]

It is 👊🏾❤

[@elizabethpemberton8445]

Excellent research. I started JemCon in 2005, and have heard the history there in person from Christy, Samantha, Britta, and so many others from the cartoon, Hasbro, comics, and Integrity Toys. I’ve also read and seen dozens of pieces about the show and dolls, and yours is by far the most accurate and objective. I am such an old lady - I was a teenager in 1985 and far from the target demographic, and only got into Jem as a doll collector in 2003. Going to eBay for Barbie and the Rockers led me to Jem, in fact. Anyway, thanks again for a great video!

[@somarriba333]

I bet Synergy was really Cybertronian technology.

[@ramonantoniodejuanbennett6239]

Fun fact: Jem, G.I.Joe and Transformers all took place in the same world!

[@somarriba333]

I know.

[@Pharaoh025]

Hasbro shared universe? If Matt Tracker comes out speeding with Bumblebee, blasting some Jem and the Holograms on the cassette deck while Destro shouts COBRAAA, all the while piloting a tricked-out Battleship in Misfits livery that turns into a Megazord when you slam on a console button that looks like the Omnitrix... I quit.

[@marsupius]

That sounds kind of awesome

[@Pharaoh025]

@@marsupius I KNOW!!! 😂😂

[@cjdunham7979]

Dude. Write that down. Contact publisher. Submit materials.

[@cjdunham7979]

Does anyone remember the Joes edition of the Marvel Universe handbooks? Rocky was in it. (Yeah, the Stallone character.) A later volume offered a retraction by way of, "Rocky was never a member of GI Joe". What about the Fridge and Sgt. Slaughter, is that still a canon thing?

[@cjdunham7979]

@@RokuroCarisu , that's a MASK guy? Those we're cool. I was disappointed they were too little to have much cross-play potential aside from the occasional gonzo sci fi.

[@makatron]

Yeah I used to watch as my two sisters loved the characters while I loved the tech built around the story. Also to this day the song Misfits In Hawaii still burnt in my head.

[@itmustbelove08]

Isaac Alonzo LoL Gimme Gimmie Gimme was my favorite Misfits was my favorite song. Still know the lyrics to this day.

[@makatron]

@@itmustbelove08 that's a close second. For a show based around music they sure produced great songs.

[@ClarenceDass]

The Jem film failed because the Holograms looked like the Misfits. They should have gone full on 80s revival and banked more on the nostalgia, with the Holograms playing modern synth pop or something. Something like that band Gunship. . I liked the show as a kid, as in I didn't mind sitting through it till the show after.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

It failed because it ripped apart and threw away everything that made Jem, Jem.

[@Jshaw71]

We spend the rest of existence explaining why the Jem film failed...

[@Belgand]

It wanted to be Jem for modern tweens, not a live action film aimed at existing fans. Which is a huge mistake. Never ignore or alienate your existing fanbase while trying to court a new one. Especially if it's a nostalgia-driven property. While it occasionally succeeds (e.g. the Transformers films) it's far more likely that it won't work. It also fundamentally falls prey to the classic blunder of buying something successful, then thinking you have to change it. It was already successful. It might not be perfect, but your improvements are far more likely to make things worse. If you don't have the confidence in it as it is, make something new.

[@Jshaw71]

@@Belgand true I don't know what they were thinking when they were writing the script (if they were at all) the whole movie was a mess from begining to end

[@marvelboy74]

@@Belgand the Transformers franchise continued through comics and TV before Michael Bay ever got his hands on them. Jem was very much a product of the time but as shown with GLOW on Netflix, there is a right way to bring that 80s revival to the screen.

[@robertdanker6193]

Damn! Learned alot from this episode! Way to drop the knowledge Toy Galaxy!! A+

[@CEOdawg]

I actually saw the voice actor for Jem at Awesome Con this year. Didn't take a picture with her, but I did enjoy the cartoon back in the day.

[@Summer21.]

Omar Arnold If you type in Samantha Newark who voiced Jem (and Jerrica as Sam says hehe) there are interviews and music videos aplenty of Samantha on here. 😊😃

[@eladiocofresi5202]

Loving the reference to the actual band Misfits upon mentioning the band in the cartoon.

[@stickiedmin6508]

"Give in to what you cannot fight, Walk among us!"

[@Captain_MonsterFart]

When I got older and heard about the real Misfits band, I was very confused.

[@j.p.5553]

They didn't make a joke about. Apparently they couldn't do better research than finding that photo.

[@spymagicianzero5070]

That Misfits photo caught me by surprise - almost choked on my tea. Cheers for using a Michale Graves & Dr. Chud era pic!

[@mkss323]

Jem was my childhood. Every friday night my mom would take my brother & I to blockbuster and I rented Jem every time. She was, is and will always be truly outrageous!💖🎀

[@dohc1067]

Jem and the holograms was a solid show with great music and story lines. Hey I am a guy I thought it was great and watched it all the time.

[@derektorres6260]

Even as a young boy I enjoyed Jem and the holograms. Great video. Here's where they should cross over, Jem should hire Falcon from GI Joe to guard her body (points if you get the reference), and synergy could contact MASK and the Autobots when falcon gets into a jam

[@gandalflotr2898]

Blaster and his cassette

[@danielherrin]

Jem, Inhumaniods, Robitix, all we need is Bigfoot.

[@Neitenth]

You mean Stompers?

[@juliusmaloney]

Barbie: “Solo in the Spotlight”...I see what you did there. I tip my hat Sir. #barbiedeepcut 👍🏼

[@kevinthomas4239]

Looking back at all of these Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow productions, I'm really surprised they never attempted a Transformers / G.I. Joe animated crossover.

[@luiszuniga2859]

Cobra Commander ("Old Snake") in "Only Human" episode of Transformers

[@dinomonzon8853]

DDP did better Joe/TF crossovers than Marvel.

[@kevinthomas4239]

@@dinomonzon8853 I remember that series. Pretty good story, I also enjoyed the WWII one from Dreamwave.

[@arnoldmayii3563]

Yeah, the other one I've been waiting for. Great video as always.

[@drewchase6577]

THANKS Toy Galaxy💖... once again you come through!!!👍 Jem is truly outrageous🎶💙💥💚🎤💛🎸💜📽🎬☄

[@donmonteiro6830]

Jem is such a huge part of my childhood

[@juliusmaloney]

One of the best 80s cartoons. EVER! Could not click on this fast enough! And yeah I might be among a minority of channel fans that may have a a Jem doll or two in the collection (or 5...or whatever...)👩🏼‍🎤👩🏻‍🎤👩🏽‍🎤👩🏾‍🎤

[@roadblock7801]

That's cool. 😎

[@HighHeelKnight]

Stormer was my first cartoon crush. (Our family had that speaker playset too.) I didn't like the way IDW Publishing altered the character though.

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Me either

[@Nerdcoresteve1]

Great History Of video as always. Thanks for telling us about the Gem fan movie. I loved it!

[@XxXxXBuffyXxXxX]

I loved Jem. And i even found four Jem dolls as a child when i was out playing. They were in perfect condition and i was over the moon. Soon after they ended up with 'haircuts'.

[@luvaboy772]

'Jem' was a WHOLE vibe! Me, my brother, my sister and our friends. A bunch of black kids in rural Florida watched that show and sung the theme song outside afterwards.

[@maxordman4100]

As a big fan of a lot of Hasbro stuff I enjoyed this episode even if Jem isn’t really my thing. However I like the theme song and some of the outfits are cool! Very neat to see and learn how Jem is connected to other shows and characters I grew up with!

[@MrHootiedean]

I always appreciate when a vide offers new information like this. A lot of times a channel will declare bts secrets you never knew when it's the most widely known details about the ip.

[@bradyvelvet9432]

Wait a minute - Samantha Newark! I think she sang a few songs in the Project Ako anime! I love Project Ako!

[@sXeblues]

I wasn’t anything approaching an uber-fan, but I did dig what I remember seeing of Jem, back in the day... Never knew about those newer dolls in the 20-tens. I might’ve actually picked one or two of them up, if I had.

[@28jvb]

Jem will always be my fave, thanks for this!!

[@itmustbelove08]

Thanks Dan I have been waiting for this. Dan = Truly Outrageous Rockstar 🤟🏽

[@TJCampbell78]

I'm a toy nerd who likes sports..... but that SPORTS! exclamation had me rolling on the floor lol

[@kook1201]

Sophie Campbell is one if the best comic artist today. If you ask me Check out her older stuff.

[@chengliu872]

I did, after reading the Jem comic books I checked out Wet Moon and loved it.

[@xcar0982]

When I was a little kid, I watched the Jem cartoon, and I enjoyed, but also, I don't remember another cartoon that back them that showed women can live the same level if adventures than men, I never thought about that back then, but I enjoyed to watch Jem as much as Transformers Prime

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Did you ever watch She-Ra? I think that was the only other cartoon that had a similar premise with a strong female lead.

[@kikayrunner]

Aww I loved this! Bought the dvd box set a few years ago.

[@nameless7838]

My Gma wouldn't get me any Jem toys because she said they were for girls so I told my sister to ask for Jem stuff & I'd give her a dollar for any Jem stuff she got. Oddly enough my Gma had no problem getting me She-Ra & Rainbow Brite toys around the same time.

[@andrejg4136]

The dumb gendering of toys is something that frustrates me to no end. Product is Product and so long as they aren't doing anything stupid with the product to ruin the brand's reputation, why does any company need a specific set of people to buy it?

[@comicbookgallery4431]

Love your break down of shows and products. Take care.

[@toygrind]

Jem is just G1 Metalocalypse

[@xXPsyanideXx]

Jem is G1, Hanna Montana is G2, Metalocalypse is G3.

[@JamieJoseph88]

Wouldn't Josie and the Pussycats be G1 because it came out first?

[@mikeching6374]

Dammit, Thew. Now I can't get the idea of (Decepticon) Overlord being voiced by Mick Jagger and singing in the next life-Action TF movie

[@AlexandriteRush]

I did not grow up with Jim but watching it as an adult I fell in love. Shit is wacky and insane and I loved it. If anything watch the episode where they travel through time and hang out with Mozart and Jimmy Hendricks its a good time.

[@xanderdumas1682]

I OWN THE 80'S DOLLS AND I HAVE THE INTEGRITY DOLLS. I LOVE YOU JEM

[@aaliyahfan1love]

Same

[@therealscarred2112]

What I don’t understand about the backstory is the idea that a record executive/major label owner in the mid-to-late ‘80s COULDN’T have funded a girl’s orphanage without a hyper-futuristic AI, hologram generator, and alternate persona & band creating music that triggers a conflict with an at-best 5% edgier version of their “band”, ironically named “The Misfits” (how there was no lawsuit for that, I have no idea). ...but I imagine “Jerrica Benton promotes bands and runs a record label” isn’t the pitch that gets you a three-season run and major toy line. But at the very least, were you able to purchased the cocaine accessory pack for the figures?

[@syxepop]

Ian Perge, about the "lawsuit"... I did understand back then (I was a young adult and had access to a lot of entertainment news sources) lawyers representing the IRL band The Misfits did approach Hasbro about the name issue and Hasbro made so kind of arrangement to not get sued and also did for the "movie" a few years back. It'd would've been simpler to change the name of the band to "The Femme Misfits", but, well... Also, you got to give credit to "The Creative Barn" for making a so-much elaborated backstory for Jerrica. Problem was it was TOO COMPLICATED for its' intended audience (6-12 y/o girls), but as an ANIMATED SOAP OPERA it'd worked quite fine (they didn't knew what they had on their hands).

[@therealscarred2112]

syxepop Thanks for the info on the Misfits/“Misfits” issues - I would have been extremely surprised if there was not some type of “back room deal” in order to keep a legitimate lawsuit at bay. A band suing a large animation studio & toy manufacturer for not doing their due diligence in clearing the name of their “evil band” when a real life band with an “evil persona / image” had existed for *8* years prior would have a pretty open-and-shut case, says my Criminal Justice degree. ;-) As for the overall background of the show, I was mostly just being snarky. I grew up in the era, and imagine that such tech-heavy components were to bring in “Transformers” and G.I. Joe”-viewing boys to a show geared mainly for girls with its (as you said) more soap opera-styles storylines. But as a semi-professional musician for 25 years, the idea of all those shenanigans for a record executive/label owner to play her own music (why again couldn’t see just... _also_ be an artist?!? wikipedia simple says “to avoid danger”) as well as an “Evil, competitive sabotaging Band and their evil, competitive sabotaging Manager/label owner” ala Cobra to Jem’s G.I. Joe simply makes me laugh.... just _quality_ writing, recording, and performing while attempting to break out of the pack that is the Music Industry is far more effort than dastardly deeds. It’s as if Pearl Jam & Stone Temple Pilots spent their time unplugging each other’s amps and mics as opposed to... you know, _writing & recording_, gigging, touring and shooting videos, etc... but again, a cartoon about “a band trying to making it in the music business” would have gone less than nowhere in the mid-‘80s. :-D

[@syxepop]

Ian Perge, somehow someone had to "incentivize" children to watch the show by giving what it ultimately amounted to "clichés... And funny that the most reasonable explanation of the reason for the "double identity" and protecting Synergy was not given in the cartoon itself, but was on a GI Joe ARAH episode in which Zartan (sp?), the "Australian Zombie" of COBRA intervened... (weird)

[@charlesdavis4887]

Loved this as a kid. Liked the Misfits and how they would try to outdo Jem but would constantly fail. Really a shame that the film didn't follow the cartoon but casting Keisha as Pazazz was a good choice.

[@LoneWolf-gz9mr]

Yeah, I am a guy and I watched that series.. It always amazed me at the time that adults thought it was SO HARD to make series that appealed to both girls and boys. Jem was good (I watched it) and She-Ra was good.. I collected it.. LOL so.. I don't understand breaking down everything now, to shoe-horn girls in, it's not needed.

[@orionparish9858]

Well with the recent Transformers G1 and MLP crossover comic, the shared universe is a bit closer to existence than it was when this video came out.

[@bensaret]

When I worked at IDW I tried pitching a Jem/Equestria Girls crossover one-shot, alas no takers in management at the time

[@alexanderweston5205]

Love this series keep up the good work. And since you brought them up I love the history of biker mice from mars

[@Filmation77]

But ironically nobody remembers "Barbie And The Rockers"

[@crabbieappleton]

No cartoon. It's all part of the plan.

[@jermainecornelius7193]

@@crabbieappleton yeah there was a cartoon for Barbie and The Rockers but it was boring. There was no interesting conflict on it like the well written stories on the Jem series.

[@ericssidechick3732]

"Barbie's singing at cape Canaveral"

[@caseysmith3329]

I used to get up Sunday mornings to watch this. So damn good! Some sweet songs.

[@katenunyabizness9221]

Thank you for this!

[@lancetomimoto3478]

I am truly excited about this video

[@AaronLitz]

I remember my sister having a Kimber doll, but I mostly remember that I myself watched the show far more than she ever did (Go TechRat!) Kimber came with a tape of music that I listened to all the time. I used to play it at night to help me get to sleep (I've had very bad problems with sleep as long as I can remember) and it really helped. The minor key of "Twilight in Paris" made it especially stand out to me, and I still really like that song. Over the years I've dug up every Jem song I could find in .mp3 format and saved them on my computer, and still listen to them from time to time (I even used "Twilight in Paris" as a ringtone on my phone for a few years, just to see who would recognize it.)

[@Grail640]

This channel has changed so much over the last few months

[@darrylnevels6141]

That was living my childhood over again thanks.

[@ageis]

Great episode. Thanks so much!

[@julymiller2308]

Just found you. Thank you for the history of one of my favorite cartoons. Josie and the Pussycats was my favorite band because they could have changed with the times as shown in the montage from Boomerang.