Cynthia Gibb Movies

On her first day at an all-girls Catholic High School in Chicago, shy and reserved Janey Glenn (Sarah Jessica Parker) meets the wild and wacky Lynne Sands (Helen Hunt). Even though her oppressive dad, Col. Glenn (Ed Lauter), won't let her go, Lynne talks her into sneaking out to try out for a spot on the beloved show Dance TV. Janey wows the judges with her gymnastic ability and makes first cuts, conveniently assigned to a cute dance partner: blue-collar bad boy Jeff Malene (Lee H. Montgomery). They compete against the bratty rich girl Natalie Sands (Holly Gagnier), who sabotages them because she wants Jeff and the contest for herself. Janey and Lynne get revenge by inviting punks and street kids to crash her debutante ball. Natalie then resorts to making her wealthy industrialist dad, J.P. Sands (Morgan Woodward), threaten Jeff; If he doesn't let Natalie win, his dad (Biff Yeager) could lose his job at the factory. It all leads up to the live television broadcast of the Dance TV contest, right when Janey's dad races to the studio to stop her. Also starring Shannen Doherty as Jeff's little sister, Maggie. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Cancelled by NBC after two seasons in the spring of 1983, the musical drama series Fame was nonetheless extremely popular amongst American teenagers and with fans all over the rest of the world. Accordingly, its producers decided to keep the property alive with a third season 24 new episodes, filmed for off-network syndication. Virtually the entire cast of the NBC Fame was retained for the syndicated version, except for Lori Singer as cello student Julie Miller; it was explained that Julie had decided to leave school to get married. And while the popular Erica Gimpel was seen in the first handful of syndicated episodes as ambitious singer-dancer Coco Hernandez, she too had exited the show by the middle of its third season, her character having dropped out to pursue her professional career (oddly enough, Gimpel continues to receive billing throughout the season). Also, this is Lee Curreri's last year as Bruno Martelli. New to the cast are Cynthia Gibb as energetic drama major Holly Laird, and Billy Hufsey as cocksure dance student Christopher Donlon; also, chubby tuba player Dwight (David Greenlee), previously a recurring character, is now one of the regulars. And, since it was decided that the series needed a strong adult menace, Ken Swofford was hired to play Quentin Morloch, new vice principal at New York's High School of the Performing Arts. A self-important, anal-retentive "rules are rules" type, Morloch will spend much of his screen time cooking up methods to instill his own brand of discipline on the kids, often denying them the opportunity to show off their talents (which is rather like not allowing students in an industrial arts class to make cabinets!). Episodes like "Hail to the Chief" and "Rules" are prime examples of Morloch's blinkered approach to education; indeed, he would not come to fully understand that his students were uniquely gifted and not just a bunch of noisy kids until he was on the brink of leaving the series two years later. The first of the "syndie" episodes is the two-part "I'm Gonna Learn How to Fly", in which arrogant keyboard student Bruno faces the possibility of leaving school when his dad dies. Later episodes this season include "Consequences" wherein the students are put in charge of the school to teach them a lesson about responsibility; "Break Dance", a contemporary West Side Story in which Christopher mediates a turf battle between two street gangs; "Lisa's Song", a semi-fantasy in which Holly makes contact with the ghost of a disgruntled former student; and "Sheer Will", which finds ebullient would-be comic Danny (Carlo Imperato) coming to grips with the fact that he has been diagnosed with leukemia. Of the series' many guest stars this season, Chorus Line principal Donna McKechnie is cast as Holly's mother in "Stages", impressionist George Kirby is featured as a former nightclub headliner turned wino in "Catch a Falling Star", blind actor-composer Tom Sullivan plays a substitute teacher who falls for dance instructor Lydia (Debbie Allen) in "A Friend in Need"; Melissa Manchester shows up as a once-famous torch singer who is afraid to return to performing in "Home Again", and veteran gangster-movie heavy Lawrence Tierney shows up in "The Deal", which turns out to be nothing more nor less than an old Mickey Rooney "Let's raise money by putting on show!" musical. And as in the previous season, highlights from the real-life musical tours undertaken by the cast members are featured in a brace of special episodes: "The Kids from 'Fame' in Israel" and "'Fame' Looks at Music 83" (with Irene Cara). In addition to accumulating even more local stations and a bigger audience than it had ever enjoyed as a network series, Fame earned yet another Emmy award, this one going to film editor Howard Brock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide