First off, the animation itself. Shows like 'Batman the Animated Series' get so much praise, but even though this series belongs to a completely different genre, it far surpasses the animation of the Bruce Timm shows that would go on to be glorified in a totally undue manner. Let's look at something fundamental - the characters' CLOTHES/ATTIRE. While everyone always wore more or less THE EXACT SAME CLOTHES in 'Batman: TAS', from episode to episode, the characters on JEM can boast an *INFINITE VARIETY* when it comes to their wardrobe and accessories, making them seem like *ULTRA REAL STARS IN THE POP/ROCK MUSIC WORLD*. Billionaire Bruce Wayne had only one suit, by contrast, in Bruce Timm's universe. Haha. This is an especially astounding feat on JEM, considering the huge number of characters in each episode - 4 or 5 Holograms, 3 or 4 Misfits, plus the supporting cast. Even the hairstyles change beautifully over the course of the series, which results in the viewer feeling like they are watching animated versions of REAL PEOPLE, versus 'stock animated characters' which is what we saw 95% in the over-hyped 'Batman: TAS'. The only reason I keep referring to 'Batman' is because that is upheld as the pinnacle of animation in the 20th century........not so!!!! We haven't even started to talk about the visual artistry of the music videos in JEM - and there were 3 music videos in each episode.
The fact that the script-writers and the song-writers were able to fit 3 music videos into each episode, while also delving into the emotionally poignant story arcs of their fully developed characters over the course of each episode, is something that goes way above and beyond the scope of a series that was ultimately meant to advertise dolls. Even by the end of the first season, 26 episodes in, you feel like you know all the characters intimately from your own life. Jem and the Holograms feel like your sisters and friends, while the Misfits feel like your clinically crazy cousins, the black sheep of the family.
The trick to watching this series is to be aware of the fact that Science Fiction, Soap Opera and Action all co-exist here. People are so used to watching each of the above genres in isolation that some grown-up viewers seem to lose it when they watch how the writers combine all those genres into a single show. The result is that both girls and boys can enjoy the series equally - and for that matter, grown-ups and children can enjoy the series equally as well. The very unique central love triangle between Rio, Jerrica and her alter-ego Jem may frustrate adult viewers because the characters come across as emotionally/psychologically immature at times - but that is part of what makes these characters so human at the end of the day (they are all deeply flawed), and of course, it provides a child-friendly soap opera experience for the young viewers (a.k.a the show's target audience at the time). Some Youtubers seem to be under the misapprehension that this was meant for 30-somethings living in the 21st century - NOT THE CASE.
The character Rio gets a lot of unnecessary flack, when in fact he only ever shows interest in 2 different 'versions' of the SAME PERSON - whereas Jem/Jerrica is actually the more morally ambiguous character, who occasionally indulges other flirtatious men, and ultimately falls for Riot/Rory herself. Children can enjoy all this on a more surface level, but grown-ups can appreciate the psychological complexity of the show's title character - as Jerrica, she is "dependable" as Rio once put it, but as Jem, she is able to explore her subconscious fantasies and desires - including her attraction towards other men besides Rio, such as Riot. Jem is literally her 'alter ego' (other self), and the transformation is as psychological (not to mention sexual) as it is physical. Much more complex and nuanced than Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman, Clark Kent's transformation into Superman, or Adora's transformation into She-Ra etc etc.
I love how certain characters like Aja (one of the Holograms) and Clash (the Misftis' groupie) are explored much more fully in Season 2, with Aja being given a love interest, and Clash's vulnerabilities being exposed in the most unabashed manner. Not to mention the supporting character Danse, who had no less than 3 episodes devoted to her over the course of Season 2 - reminding the viewers that there is a whole world out there besides the one occupied by the main characters. They did kind of drop the ball on Raya (the 5th Hologram) - who was introduced in the most compelling manner at the beginning of Season 2, but then they failed to really tap into all the facets of the character as the series proceeded. Overall, she was the kindest and most caring of the Holograms, however, so her presence was always very comforting, even if she was tragically under-used following her 2-parter introduction. The new Misfit, Jetta, by contrast had a lovely story arc in Season 2 - at a time when story arcs weren't even a thing - as we follow her being exposed as a liar (even by Misfit standards, which is saying a LOT) by the end of the 2nd season.
By the 3rd and final season, it was unfortunate perhaps that we no longer saw characters like Shana's boyfriend Anthony Julian - I realize the show was wrapping up, and they wanted to focus on The Stingers (the newest rock group), but it would have been fun to see Anthony go head to head with Riot at some point, having seen him stand up to Eric Raymond in Season 1. It is not an easy feat to introduce a whole new group into an enormously successfully, dearly beloved cartoon after 52 episodes of only the Holograms and the Misfits - but the Stingers were woven in quite deftly into the world of the show, so that they felt like a breath of fresh air, rather than a jarring imposition. The way Christy Marx handled the love quadrangle between Jerrica, Rio, Jem and Riot was very CLUNKY at the beginning of Season 3, I must admit - it's almost as if she suddenly forgot about Jerrica at one point, and made it Rio/Jem/Riot - although fortunately a different writer had a far better handle on the quadrangle situation in the Greece episode. This is actually one of the show's strengths. Certain fans used to worship Christy Marx as the be all and end all of Jem, since she developed the characters and the premise of the series, but she was just as fallible as Jem/Jerrica herself, and while some of the other writers left something to be desired, there were also plenty of writers who BUILT ON Marx's show bible and actually CLARIFIED things that "creator" Christy Marx herself neglected to.
JEM the series was a team effort if ever there was one - and the dictionary definition of the word 'syngery'. All the music and singing was done in New York, with little to no interaction with the writers and voice actors in Los Angeles, but the end product was absolutely seamless. In fact, you can't even tell that the speaking and singing voices of Jem, and of Pizzazz, respectively, are totally different women. If only Audrey Hepburn had such luck when Marni Nixon dubbed her in 'My Fair Lady' - Hahahahahaha - maybe she could have been at least nominated for Best Actress that year, but I digress. All this to say that the show's production team was really on the ball, and strove to create something truly outrageous and truly unforgettable.
As long as you don't watch this from a 21st century lens, and are able to put yourself into the mindframe of the 1980s - all the while realizing that is ESCAPISM, rather than a documentary - you will enjoy the show tremendously, and begin to appreciate even the flaws and faults as part of the cartoon's crazy, 'outrageous' charm.
The fact that the script-writers and the song-writers were able to fit 3 music videos into each episode, while also delving into the emotionally poignant story arcs of their fully developed characters over the course of each episode, is something that goes way above and beyond the scope of a series that was ultimately meant to advertise dolls. Even by the end of the first season, 26 episodes in, you feel like you know all the characters intimately from your own life. Jem and the Holograms feel like your sisters and friends, while the Misfits feel like your clinically crazy cousins, the black sheep of the family.
The trick to watching this series is to be aware of the fact that Science Fiction, Soap Opera and Action all co-exist here. People are so used to watching each of the above genres in isolation that some grown-up viewers seem to lose it when they watch how the writers combine all those genres into a single show. The result is that both girls and boys can enjoy the series equally - and for that matter, grown-ups and children can enjoy the series equally as well. The very unique central love triangle between Rio, Jerrica and her alter-ego Jem may frustrate adult viewers because the characters come across as emotionally/psychologically immature at times - but that is part of what makes these characters so human at the end of the day (they are all deeply flawed), and of course, it provides a child-friendly soap opera experience for the young viewers (a.k.a the show's target audience at the time). Some Youtubers seem to be under the misapprehension that this was meant for 30-somethings living in the 21st century - NOT THE CASE.
The character Rio gets a lot of unnecessary flack, when in fact he only ever shows interest in 2 different 'versions' of the SAME PERSON - whereas Jem/Jerrica is actually the more morally ambiguous character, who occasionally indulges other flirtatious men, and ultimately falls for Riot/Rory herself. Children can enjoy all this on a more surface level, but grown-ups can appreciate the psychological complexity of the show's title character - as Jerrica, she is "dependable" as Rio once put it, but as Jem, she is able to explore her subconscious fantasies and desires - including her attraction towards other men besides Rio, such as Riot. Jem is literally her 'alter ego' (other self), and the transformation is as psychological (not to mention sexual) as it is physical. Much more complex and nuanced than Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman, Clark Kent's transformation into Superman, or Adora's transformation into She-Ra etc etc.
I love how certain characters like Aja (one of the Holograms) and Clash (the Misftis' groupie) are explored much more fully in Season 2, with Aja being given a love interest, and Clash's vulnerabilities being exposed in the most unabashed manner. Not to mention the supporting character Danse, who had no less than 3 episodes devoted to her over the course of Season 2 - reminding the viewers that there is a whole world out there besides the one occupied by the main characters. They did kind of drop the ball on Raya (the 5th Hologram) - who was introduced in the most compelling manner at the beginning of Season 2, but then they failed to really tap into all the facets of the character as the series proceeded. Overall, she was the kindest and most caring of the Holograms, however, so her presence was always very comforting, even if she was tragically under-used following her 2-parter introduction. The new Misfit, Jetta, by contrast had a lovely story arc in Season 2 - at a time when story arcs weren't even a thing - as we follow her being exposed as a liar (even by Misfit standards, which is saying a LOT) by the end of the 2nd season.
By the 3rd and final season, it was unfortunate perhaps that we no longer saw characters like Shana's boyfriend Anthony Julian - I realize the show was wrapping up, and they wanted to focus on The Stingers (the newest rock group), but it would have been fun to see Anthony go head to head with Riot at some point, having seen him stand up to Eric Raymond in Season 1. It is not an easy feat to introduce a whole new group into an enormously successfully, dearly beloved cartoon after 52 episodes of only the Holograms and the Misfits - but the Stingers were woven in quite deftly into the world of the show, so that they felt like a breath of fresh air, rather than a jarring imposition. The way Christy Marx handled the love quadrangle between Jerrica, Rio, Jem and Riot was very CLUNKY at the beginning of Season 3, I must admit - it's almost as if she suddenly forgot about Jerrica at one point, and made it Rio/Jem/Riot - although fortunately a different writer had a far better handle on the quadrangle situation in the Greece episode. This is actually one of the show's strengths. Certain fans used to worship Christy Marx as the be all and end all of Jem, since she developed the characters and the premise of the series, but she was just as fallible as Jem/Jerrica herself, and while some of the other writers left something to be desired, there were also plenty of writers who BUILT ON Marx's show bible and actually CLARIFIED things that "creator" Christy Marx herself neglected to.
JEM the series was a team effort if ever there was one - and the dictionary definition of the word 'syngery'. All the music and singing was done in New York, with little to no interaction with the writers and voice actors in Los Angeles, but the end product was absolutely seamless. In fact, you can't even tell that the speaking and singing voices of Jem, and of Pizzazz, respectively, are totally different women. If only Audrey Hepburn had such luck when Marni Nixon dubbed her in 'My Fair Lady' - Hahahahahaha - maybe she could have been at least nominated for Best Actress that year, but I digress. All this to say that the show's production team was really on the ball, and strove to create something truly outrageous and truly unforgettable.
As long as you don't watch this from a 21st century lens, and are able to put yourself into the mindframe of the 1980s - all the while realizing that is ESCAPISM, rather than a documentary - you will enjoy the show tremendously, and begin to appreciate even the flaws and faults as part of the cartoon's crazy, 'outrageous' charm.