Clueless (TV series)
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Clueless was a television series based on the 1995 teen movie Clueless.
Rachel Blanchard played the role of Cher that was originated by Alicia Silverstone in the movie. Stacey Dash (Dionne), Donald Faison (Murray), Elisa Donovan (Amber), Wallace Shawn (Mr. Hall), and Twink Caplan (Ms. Geist) all reprised their movie roles for the television series, which ran on ABC from 1996 to 1997 and with a network change on UPN from 1997 to 1999. The theme song for the TV series, Ordinary Girl, was performed by China Forbes.
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[edit] Critical response
Clueless the TV series is often not regarded as highly as the movie. Some fans of the movie believed that Rachel Blanchard, although carrying a slight resemblance to Alicia Silverstone, was not as charismatic or charming as Silverstone. Reportedly, Silverstone was asked to reprise her role before she turned it down in order to focus on her blossoming film career. Silverstone though would eventually move into the world of series television with a starring role on the short-lived NBC series Miss Match.
The show was often chastised for its frequent usage of the tried and true very special episode formula (many came during its stint on UPN). Among the topics that were dealt with were:
- Teenage pregnancy
- Smoking
- Drunk driving
- Safe sex
- Students living in a neighborhood outside of the school district
Some viewers believe that the edginess of the movie was not translated well to the television screen. The television series was instead looked at as being more (if not too) politically correct (especially during its stint on ABC) for its own good.
[edit] Differences between the movie and TV series
There were also several inconsistencies between the movie and the TV series. While it was presumed or implied in the movie that Dionne and Murray had been sexually active, on the TV series Dionne suddenly became a virgin again. In the movie, Cher was considerably more selfish and less optimistic where as on the TV series, she's more naturally caring and positive.
When Doug Sheehan replaced Micheal Lerner as Cher's father Mel at the start of the second season, Mel had grown significantly more mellow and humane than the character that Dan Hedaya portrayed in the movie. Also, the idea of having Josh (played on the TV series by David Lascher) serve as a love interest for Cher (as it was played out in the movie) was pretty much non-existent on the TV series. Josh, along with Ms. Geist and Mr. Hall, were written out of the series by the time the show moved to UPN.
Julie Brown's character in the movie was named Coach Millie Stoeger, but her name on the TV series was Coach Millie Diemer. In addition, Sean Holland's character in the movie was named Lawrence while his name on the TV series was Sean Holliday. Ironically, Holland, who had a very small part in the movie, had more exposure on the TV series than the Tai character (played on the TV series by Heather Gottlieb). Tai only appeared three episodes during the duration of the series despite her pivotal role in the movie.
A couple of the first season episodes were broadcast out of order. The first episode to be broadcast was As If a Girl's Reach Should Exceed Her Grasp on September 20, 1996. The actual pilot episode Don't Stand So Close to Me aired much later, on November 1, 1996.
[edit] Other ties to the movie
Amy Heckerling, who wrote and directed the movie, wrote and directed several episodes from the first season. In addition, several stars from the movie guest starred on the TV series albeit in the form of different characters. The Clueless movie cast members who guest starred on the TV series include:
- Breckin Meyer played Travis in the movie and Harrison on the TV series (Do We with Bad Haircuts Not Feel?). Coincidentally, Breckin Meyer and Rachel Blanchard would go on to play boyfriend and girlfriend in the 2000 movie Road Trip.
- Paul Rudd played Josh in the movie and Sonny on the TV series (I Got You Babe).
- Brittany Murphy played Tai in the movie and Jasmine on the TV series (Driving Me Crazy).
- Luscious Jackson, who performed the catchy dance song Here for the Clueless movie soundtrack and guest starred on the Clueless TV series episode Sharing Cher to perform the song Naked Eye.
[edit] Network change
After the series was cancelled by ABC, the reruns of the episodes (on their Friday night TGIF line-up) proved to be ratings winners for ABC. However it was too late for ABC to get the series back, and they prevented UPN from broadcasting the series until their contract ran out in late September. Clueless finished #46 in the ratings with 13.3 million viewers. Only Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (a show for which Elisa Donovan and David Lascher would eventually become regulars on) had higher ratings for Friday. Reportedly, the star of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Melissa Joan Hart, was considered for the part of Cher on the Clueless TV series.
The writing and style of the first season on ABC has been considered to being more relaxed, confident, and slow paced, while the UPN version of the show had a quicker, sassy, off-the-cuff, and celebrity-reference filled style. UPN cancelled the show after the third season (1998–1999) reportedly because of increasingly dwindling viewership. By the last season, they had about 30% of the viewers left who were still watching the show when it began on ABC in 1996.
[edit] Moesha Crossover
In a Halloween-themed episode spoofing the popular Scream films, Cher, Dionne and Amber try to catch a stalker. Later, Amber hints at a Moesha crossover after calling out Moesha's name when the girls are looking for Murray and Sean. Ironically, Shar Jackson and Lamont Bentley appeared in a later episode reprising their Moesha characters.
[edit] External links
- Clueless (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
- Clueless (movie) at the Internet Movie Database
- Jump The Shark's entry for Clueless
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