Fame (2003 TV series)

Fame is an American reality television competition series that ran on NBC in the summer of 2003. The show was essentially NBC's attempt to duplicate the success of mega-hit American Idol, right down to their selection of judges. Former pop star Carnie Wilson was similar in her judgements to American Idol's Paula Abdul, Johnny Wright, the veteran music producer, was the show's analogue of Randy Jackson, and JoJo Wright was, like Simon Cowell, the judge who says things to stir people up. The show retained the original Fame theme music (with a new vocal), as well as producer Debbie Allen. *NSYNC alumnus Joey Fatone was the official host of the show, but Allen also made frequent appearances.

The show was based on the Italian show Amici, where young talented dancers, singers and actors attended a school to become triple threat performers. The series used the title and imagery of MGM's 1980 film Fame (also about a school of budding triple threat performers) to give the show familiarity utilizing that trademark to American audiences. While Amici has continued into the 2020s, the reality version of Fame in the United States, like most Idol competitors of the 2000s, lasted only a single season.