Plot
Janey Glenn is an army brat whose father Robert has retired from the Army and relocated to Chicago, home of her favorite dance show Dance TV. At her Catholic girls' school, she quickly makes a new friend in Lynne Stone, a fellow fan of Dance TV. Although Robert nixes the idea of her going to downtown Chicago to try out for Dance TV, Janey accompanies Lynne to the auditions anyway.
At the auditions, spoiled rich Natalie Sands becomes the enemy when she narrowly misses Lynne while parking her car. Auditions are going well until Lynne's partner is cut (Natalie bribed Lynne's partner to sabotage her). Janey and local high schooler Jeff shine, and are partnered together once they make the finals. He loves to dance, though he feels pressured to attend trade school after graduation, as his father did before him.
Initially, Janey and Jeff butt heads due to their disparate upbringings. Despite his natural ability, he has never taken a class, while she has been taking both gymnastics and dance classes for ten years. Helping them to get off on the wrong foot is also Janey's inability to practice, due to her strict father's rules. Things are further complicated by Natalie's meddling. She discovers Janey skipped choir practice to meet Jeff and calls her father to tell, posing as a Sister.
An excellent opportunity for both girls to get back at Natalie presents itself when Jeff is invited to her coming-out party. They make 150 copies of her invitation (provided by Jeff's best friend Drew) and give them to odd characters all over town. Jeff and Drew attend the party, watching the chaos ensue when all of the oddballs with invites show up (as do Lynne, Janey, and Jeff's sister Maggie, watching from the window).
Janey and Jeff become close through their rehearsals. One night, he tells her to meet him at a club, not the rehearsal studio. While enjoying some unstructured dance time, Jeff is taken away by a girl who locks her keys in her car. Meanwhile, a large admirer moves in on Janey. On Jeff's return, a fight ensues, Jeff sucker-punches the much larger man, and they run out of the club together. Once at Janey's, she is aglow over her life now: she is in the running to become a Dance TV regular and has a great best friend as well as a boyfriend. They finally kiss before she excitedly runs inside.
Given the total wreck the party became, the rivalry with Natalie has intensified. She convinces her father to become more involved in ensuring her win. This is an easy feat, as her father owns the company that Jeff's father works for. One day, Natalie's father, J.P. Sands, corners Jeff and tells him that if Natalie does not win, his father will lose his job. This puts him in a bad mood and he argues with Janey when he arrives at rehearsal. Her mood quickly matches his when she arrives home and, sneaking into the house, she finds that her father has installed a security system. He then grounds her, making it virtually impossible for her to attend the dance contest final the next day.
Meanwhile, Jeff's surly attitude and decreased desire to be in the contest are noticed by his father. When he finally gets his son to talk, he simply asks if he can win the contest. When Jeff answers yes, he is told to do so and not worry about his father's job. However, Janey is still under heavy restrictions and does not know Jeff has changed his mind. However, her little brother brings her a message that Jeff will compete and she employs Lynne to sneak her out of the house.
Once Lynne arrives, Janey cuts the wires to the security system and escapes the guard dog. When they arrive at the station, Janey barely makes the beginning of the show, embracing and kissing Jeff as she arrives. The show begins and the competition is underway. At home, her family turns on the television and sees her dancing. Her father, furious, storms out, heading to the studio. Meanwhile, Jeff's father watches the show from his neighborhood pub, surrounded by friends cheering on Jeff and Janey.
After all of the dancers have performed on the live show, the decision comes back: there is a tie between Janey and Jeff and Natalie and her partner. A dance-off ensues. Natalie goes first and when done, strolls off the stage proudly, believing she has won. But Janey tells Jeff "Let's do it", they do a series of synchronized gymnastics she has taught him over their time together. When the judges deliberate again, the decision is unanimous: Jeff and Janey win.
Natalie is furious and begins to berate her partner over costing her the contest. When she goes to her father to complain, he finally puts his foot down and tells his spoiled daughter to shut up, to her amazement. When Janey spots her father in the studio, she thinks she is in for trouble, but he smiles and shows his enthusiasm for her talent. Miss Dance TV is called to the stage and when she enters, it is none other than Lynne, who has taken the reins when the former Miss Dance TV quit during the show.
Production
In July 1984 New World announced they would make a film inspired by Cyndi Lauper's hit song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". The company bought the rights to the original 1979 song and title from songwriter Robert Hazard's publishing company, but Lauper said she did not want to appear in the film and refused to allow her version to be used. [1] The filmmakers were not allowed to use the changes that Lauper made to the song, including the addition of several lyrics. [7]
In October the studio announced Sarah Jessica Parker was starring; she was known at the time for the TV series Square Pegs . [8] Parker said she agreed to do the film because the (uncredited) screenwriter, Janis Hirsch, was one of the writers on Square Pegs. [9]
"Janis wasn't into depicting people my age being stupid," said Parker. "I was impressed with her fondness for two best friends who aren't competitive." [9]
Helen Hunt said "They were looking for Goldie (Hawn) types when I was called in. But the director (Alan Metter) pulled me aside and said, 'Sarah would kill to work with you.' It was really cool. Because I knew she wanted me to do the role, I felt I had the support to overcome my Sarah Lawrence looks." [9]
Hunt said she was allowed to "get real creative with who Lynne was... [I] went out and bought all these European magazines—then I did everything that wasn't in them.... I felt a responsibility to bring a sense of fun into the picture. And I knew that to do that, I had to have it for myself and then spread it around. So I brought Tofuti (the healthy ice cream) to the set and got a lot of tapes from Tower Records. It helped. When you're making a comedy and it's 2 in the morning and you're tired and nothing's going right, there's no way you can cut ahead and think, 'Boy, this is going to be exciting when it comes out'." [9]
