Thank God It's Friday (1978)

A Friday in the life of the disco club the Zoo, where the staff and clients meet and dance their their lives away.

Director:

Robert Klane

Writer:

Armyan Bernstein (as Barry Armyan Bernstein)

Stars:

Donna Summer, Valerie Landsburg, Terri Nunn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Valerie Landsburg	...	Frannie
Terri Nunn	...	Jeannie
Chick Vennera	...	Marv Gomez
Donna Summer	...	Nicole Sims
Ray Vitte	...	Bobby Speed
Mark Lonow	...	Dave
Andrea Howard	...	Sue
Jeff Goldblum	...	Tony
Robin Menken	...	Maddy
Debra Winger	...	Jennifer
John Friedrich	...	Ken
Paul Jabara	...	Carl
Mews Small	...	Jackie (as Marya Small)
Chuck Sacci	...	Gus
Hilary Beane	...	Shirley

Storyline

It's Friday and everyone is going to the hot new disco. The Commodores are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.

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Plot Keywords:

disco | dance contest | hot dog stand | racial slur | reference to kiss the band | 

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Taglines:

After 5000 years of civilization, we all need a break.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 July 1978 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

T.G.I.F.

Filming Locations:

La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Casablanca Filmworks, Major Studio Partners, Motown Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the young stars in the film, Terri Nunn, would go on to front the band Berlin, whose song called 'Take My Breath Away' they sung in the later movie Top Gun (1986), would win the Best Music - Original Song Academy Award (Oscar) in 1987, the statuette though going to Giorgio Moroder (for music) and Tom Whitlock (for lyrics).

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Goofs

When Tony and Sue enter Bobby's booth, the money he taped to the glass earlier is missing. In the next shot it reappears in a different position.

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Quotes

Maddy: Alright, see that guy? He is a creep. How do I know?
Jennifer: How do you know?
Maddy: Heavy polyester. I mean, polyester on a dance floor? That is a creep, Jennifer.
Jennifer: What about, what about like double-knits?
Maddy: Oh, yeah.
Jennifer: That's a really light, kinda summery seersucker.
Maddy: Well, okay, if it's tasteful.
Jennifer: Okay, tasty seersucker in, polyester out.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, the name of the song "Down to Love Town," is mis-spelled, as "Down to Lovetown".

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Connections

Referenced in All Good Things (2010)

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Soundtracks

I'm Here Again
Performed by Thelma Houston
Written by Art Posey (uncredited), Josef Powell (uncredited), Hal Davis (uncredited)
Produced by Hal Davis(uncredited)
Motown Records

User Reviews

Not as bad as Can't Stop the Music (which is its worst trait)

I picked up a copy of this from Wal-Mart for like 4 bucks, thinking it would be yet another wonderfully horrible disco musical for me to cringe at and enjoy at the same time. Sadly, Thank God It's Friday is not nearly as loathsome as Can't Stop the Music, which set a bench mark for bad musicals that could only be reached by From Justin to Kelly. The story (such as it is here) follows about 500 characters as they dance the night away at a disco club called The Zoo (oh brother). The big event of the night is the dance contest, which doesn't occur until the movie's last few minutes and is not at all epic or exciting. I say the flick has about 500 characters because it literally does. There are so many people here that trying to invest any interest in them is pretty much impossible. Just when you're starting to figure out who certain characters are, the movie zips to the other side of the club and we meet a dozen or more new guys and gals. There's the two girls who want to win the contest so they can buy KISS tickets, the DJ who has to prove himself on his first night at the club, a budding singer who just needs a big break, an angry short fellah whose blind date is an insanely tall, shy woman, a dorky guy and a nice guy who are looking for love, a party gal and a nice gal who are looking for love, a woman who needs some fun in her life but is married to a complete stiff, a stud (played by JEFF GOLDBLUM, mind you) who makes bets with the DJ on who he can get back to his apartment, etc. etc. etc. Needless to say, the story is pretty much nonexistent, with a cameo by The Commodores barely registering on the Interesting Scale. The best part of the entire movie is when the girl who wants to be a singer, played by Donna Summers, sings the groovy hit The Last Dance. What surprised me is how the movie is rated PG but has a lot of cursing as well as drug use. I guess that back in the 70's this kind of material was seen as pretty tame. Also, the comedy struck me as being awfully cornball, and the running jokes were either stupid to begin with or made no sense at all (what is up with the Tarzan waiter, anyway?!). But, as I said before, this is a masterpiece when compared to garbage like Can't Stop the Music. Watchable, but still kind of stinky. 1.5/4 stars