Thank God It's Friday

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Thank God It's Friday
Directed by	Robert Klane
Produced by	Neil Bogart (executive producer) Rob Cohen Phillip M. Goldfarb
Written by	Armyan Bernstein
Starring	Jeff Goldblum Debra Winger
Music by	Giorgio Moroder Paul Jabara (song "Last Dance")
Cinematography	James Crabe
Editing by	Richard Halsey
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	May 19, 1978
Running time	89 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$2,200,000 USD (estimated)
IMDb profile

For other meanings see TGIF.

For the 1978 disco song, see Thank God It's Friday (song).

Thank God It's Friday is a 1978 film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca Filmworks for Columbia Pictures. Produced at the height of the disco craze, the film features performances by The Commodores and Donna Summer performing Last Dance, which won the Academy Award for Best Song. The film features an early performance by Jeff Goldblum and the first major screen appearance by Debra Winger.

1 Summary
2 Soundtrack
3 DVD release
4 Trivia
5 External link

[edit] Summary

Thank God It's Friday tells several intertwining stories of the patrons and staff of the fictional Los Angeles club The Zoo. These include:

Tony Di Marco (Jeff Goldblum) - owner of The Zoo. Lecherous and promiscuous, he's inordinantly fond of his car.
Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) - the club's DJ, who's broadcasting his first live show from the club.
Frannie (Valerie Landsburg) and Jeannie (Terri Nunn) - two high school friends who want to win the Zoo's dance contest to buy KISS concert tickets.
Carl (Paul Jabara) and Ken (John Friedrich) - hopelessly near-sighted shlub and his friend.
Dave (Mark Lonow) and Sue (Andrea Howard) - a young married couple celebrating their anniversary.
Jackie (Mews Small) - dental hygienist by day, drugged-out disco freak by night.
Jennifer (Debra Winger) and Maddy (Robin Menken) - the new girl in town and her friend, who's not as sophisticated as she thinks she is.
Nicole Sims (Donna Summer) - an aspiring disco singer.
Marv Gomez (Chick Gomez) - a self-described "leatherman" who lives to dance.
Floyd (DeWayne Jessie) - the roadie for The Commodores, responsible for delivering their instruments to the club by midnight.
Gus (Chuck Sacci) and Shirley (Hilary Beane) - mismatched blind computer daters.

On a bet with Bobby, Tony tries to pick up Sue. Dave is drugged and re-named "Babbakazoo" by Jackie, and makes a fool of himself. Carl gets himself locked in a secured stairwell. Frannie and Jeannie sneak in and Frannie, after tricking Marv's dance partner into the locked stairwell, enters the big dance contest with Marv. Floyd gets stopped repeatedly by the police on suspicion of stealing The Commodores' instruments. Maddy ditches Jennifer. Nicole tries desperately to slip into the DJ booth to get Bobby to play her single.

By the end, Dave comes down and Sue ditches Tony. Floyd makes it to the club in time for the Commodores to play. But just before they go on, Nicole sneaks up on stage and scores a huge triumph singing Last Dance. Carl and Marv's former partner hook up in the stairwell. Jennifer and Ken share the last dance. Gus and Shirley decide to give it a try. Tony's car, having taken innumerable hits from pretty much every other character's car, falls apart in the parking lot. And Marv and Frannie win the big dance contest. Deciding that the KISS concert is "kid stuff," Frannie and Jeannie, now self-proclaimed "disco queens," go with Marv to hit another disco for the 1 AM dance contest.

[edit] Soundtrack

Love and Kisses - Thank God It's Friday
Donna Summer - With You Love
Pattie Brooks - After Dark
Donna Summer - Last Dance
Paul Jabara - Disco Queen
Cameo - Find My Way
The Commodores - Too Hot Ta Trot
Marathon - I Wanna Dance¹
Santa Esmerelda - Sevilla Nights
Love and Kisses - You're The Most Precious Thing In My Life¹
D. C. LaRue - Do You Want The Real Thing
Diana Ross - Lovin', Livin' and Givin'
Wright Bros. Flying Machine - Leatherman's Theme²
Sunshine - Take It To The Zoo²
Paul Jabara - Trapped In A Stairway²
Natural Juices - Floyd's Theme²
Thelma Houston - Love Masterpiece²
Donna Summer - Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)²

¹CD Bonus track
²Does not appear on CD soundtrack

[edit] DVD release

Thank God It's Friday was released on Region 1 DVD on April 4, 2006.

[edit] Trivia

The real nightclub used for the film was Osko's on La Cienega Blvd, just south of 3rd Street in Los Angeles. The club had 4 dance floors and 'the Cave', an ice cavern-themed room as seen in the film. The ice cavern-themed room also appears in the horror film Jennifer (1977). Club owner Osko Karaghassian had a role as a bouncer in the film. Osko's nightclub was completely demolished by the mid 1980s and was replaced by a large Loehmann's dress store.
Thank God It's Friday was the film playing in the drive-in theatre scene of the 1983 Stephen King thriller Christine.
Terri Nunn went on to stardom as lead singer of the 1980s rock band Berlin.
Andrea Howard (Sue) went on to co-star in the 1980 Get Smart feature film titled The Nude Bomb, as well as act in several televison movies and episodes of the television series: The Love Boat, B.J. and the Bear, and Knight Rider.
Valerie Landsburg (Frannie) later starred as Doris on the television series Fame (1982-1987).
Chick Vennera (Marv Gomez - the Leatherman) is now an acting coach at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school.
Ray Vitte (Bobby Speed) later played mailroom clerk Eddie Smith in Nine to Five (1980). The actor died at age 33 following a scuffle with the LAPD on the evening of February 20, 1983.
The bus used in the film read "65 Busby Avenue". Busby Avenue is in Alameda, California, which means that the bus used was a retired coach from AC Transit (whose route 65 is part of the transit system's route lineup) and not a SCRTD vehicle.
Columbia Pictures' "Lady with the torch" dances to disco music before the opening credits.