It's Not Personal ... It's Business

Stories come and stories go. The good and the not so good, the celebrations and the defeats we'd rather sweep under the rug.

Jeff noted one of our more well known 80s success stories. There are others.

Of the "not so good" in our repertoire, the one of dubious definition has to be the fleeting popularity of Tiny Tim.

Tiny Tim was somewhat of a failure for us, mostly because he was his own worst enemy. Combative ... self-deprecating ... moody. We tried just about everything to help the guy out but each and every time, just when he warmed up to an idea and got on board with it, he'd shoot it down and go his own direction. It was a vicious cycle: He'd ask for help and in the next breath spurn any response we'd give him. 

It drove us a little crazy.

Of course, he went on to be successful in his own right, such that it was. We can't help reminisce, however, how much more the guy could have accomplished during his popularity. C'est la vie. There have been a few similar frustrations.

But one of the biggest success stories of an era gone by (courtesy of The Unbelievables golden touch machinations) has progressed in leaps and bounds. They've re-emerged from their previous successful 3 season run as animated gold from the MTV days of the 1980s (which was integral in and of itself launching their iconic status) and right on into the present day where a live-action film is currently in the works with stars such as Juliette Lewis and Molly Ringwald. 

Of course, I'm talking about Jem And The Holograms.

 

Hello, Molly ... !!!

Christy Marx (developer and writer of Jem) was a frequent player during my beach volleyball days in Southern California, friend and business associate. (But boy, could she play volleyball!) We struck up quite the friendship at the time. She would often chagrin about her writing stints with both G.I. Joe and Transformers, popular animated features at the time. She was tired of the predominately male-centric cartoons she was working on and really wanted to branch out creatively.

With 80s tunes blasting in the background during our games, a thought came to me. I suggested she look into something in the music field, especially since it's a touchstone of any generation. << BOOM >> Jem And The Holograms formed.

Now ... I don't want to brag but all three of The Unbelievables had their hands in contributing to the show. Rerun any episode in the series and you can see our touch everywhere - especially in the style department. We may be uncredited for our involvement (we insisted Christy take full responsibility of the property, that's just the way we are) but The Unbelievable stamp is featured prominently. (Big Fat Hint: How many videos were featured in each and every Jem And The Holograms episode? Answer: 3 ... which just so happens to be the number of original Unbelievables. You do the math ...)



Fast forward about 30 years and the time is perfectly suited for a feature film presentation. (Note: It was my idea to include an 80s crush of mine in the mix - Ringwald.) Wait until you see the final result soon. It's going to be great. 

There are a few more stories of note. I'm certain Clark will mention one or two come Friday ... (Here's hoping he doesn't go off on The Northern Shades Of Terror. *yeesh* ... what assholes ...)