Clueless is a television series based on the 1995 teen movie of the same name (which in its own right, was based on the Jane Austen book Emma). The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season. The show then spent its last two seasons on UPN ending on May 25, 1999.
Reruns of the show once aired on Nickelodeon and now currently air on The N.
Synopsis
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. Sean Holland, who appeared as Lawrence in the movie, portrayed the new character Sean Holiday in the TV series. The program aired 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 written by Charlotte Caffey (of the Go-Go's) and Anna Waronker, and was performed by China Forbes.
Cast and characters
Main
Reportedly, Alicia 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.
Recurring
Episodes
Differences between the movie and the TV series
There are several notable inconsistencies in both characters and storylines between the Clueless film and the subsequent television series.
While it was presumed (or implied) in the film that Dionne and Murray had been somewhat sexually active, in the television series, Dionne was suddenly a virgin again. In the pilot, Cher also mentions that she did not know Mr. Hall's wife, Ms. Geist, while in the original film version, Cher was the one who paired the two of them up. Cher was also considerably more selfish and less optimistic in the film than she was in the series, where she was portrayed as more naturally caring and positive. Cher, Dionne and Amber were all considerably less fashionable in the series when compared to the outfits they were seen wearing in the film as well, though this could be a result of the show's significantly reduced budget when compared to a major motion picture's budget.
With the exception of Rachel Blanchard taking over the role of Cher from Alicia Silverstone, two other major roles were recast for the television series. For example, when the Clueless series began, the role of Cher's father Mel, the part Dan Hedaya originated in the film, was portrayed by Michael Lerner and was again recast with Doug Sheehan by the beginning of the show's second season on the air. At this time, Mel had grown significantly more mellow and humane than the character Hedaya had originated.
David Lascher took over the role of Josh from Paul Rudd in the television series, and the idea of having the character serve as a romantic interest for Cher was almost non-existent in the TV version of the plot, while it was a major plot in the original film. By the time the show moved to UPN, Josh was written out of the series entirely. Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist suffered this same fate and were also gone from the show by the time it switched networks.
Julie Brown's character in the original film was Coach Millie Stoeger, but by the time the television series hit the airwaves, her character's name was changed to Coach Millie Diemer. In addition, Sean Holland, who only had a very minor role in the movie as Murray's friend Lawrence, was playing a new character named Sean Holiday in the series, though one could assume it was the same character and Lawrence is his middle name. Regardless, Holland's character had significantly more exposure on the television series (and was considered one of its stars) than the character of Tai Frasier (who was also recast with Heather Gottlieb when Brittany Murphy opted not to reprise the role), who only appeared in three episodes of the show, despite being considered one of the main characters in the original movie. The gay character of Christian, played by Justin Walker, was not included in the television series at all. Amy Heckerling, who wrote and directed the film, also wrote and directed several episodes of the show's first season, but did not remain on board with the series full-time.
Although they did not reprise their original roles of Josh, Travis and Tai, actors Breckin Meyer, Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy all made guest appearances in one episode each on the series as new characters: Meyer portrayed Harrison in the episode "Do We with Bad Haircuts Not Feel?" Rudd portrayed the character of Sonny in the episode "I Got You Babe." And Murphy played the character Jasmine in the episode "Driving Me Crazy."
The band Luscious Jackson, who performed the catchy dance song "Here" for the Clueless movie soundtrack also guest starred on the series in the episode "Sharing Cher" in order to perform their song "Naked Eye."
A few of the show's 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 later on November 1, 1996.
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, also owned by CBS Television Distribution which owns Clueless) 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 (Some fans even feel that the UPN episodes were more in touch with the style of the movie). 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.
No DVDs have been released as of yet.
Crossovers
Moesha crossover
In a Halloween-themed episode[1] 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. Shar Jackson and Lamont Bentley also appeared in a later episode reprising their Moesha characters. The crossover was designed to promote Brandy's upcoming film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch crossover
During the Season 1 episode "Mr. Wright,"[2] Melissa Joan Hart makes a brief cameo appearance playing Sabrina Spellman, her character on the high rating Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (although she is not mentioned by name). At the end of the episode, Cher and Sabrina walk out of a building together and Cher seems confused that Sabrina has allegedly attended Bronson Alcott High School since September of that year. Cher had never seen Sabrina before even though she (Cher) knows everyone. Sabrina then says, "What Cher, you think I just snapped my fingers and magically appeared? As if!" With Cher's back turned, Sabrina snaps her fingers and disappears, completely baffling Cher.
References
External links
