When ''Dallas''
captured the fancy of audiences in Britain two years ago the explanation was
obvious: the machinations of J.R. Ewing and his family had become a phenomenon
here and it was only a matter of time before they captured an audience overseas
as well.
This season, another
American show has created a sensation in England, but the reasons for that
success are more elusive. Unlike ''Dallas,'' the show is one of the
lowest-ranked in our national Nielsen ratings.
The show is
''Fame,'' NBC-TV's series based on New York's School of Performing Arts. After
its introduction by the British Broadcasting Corporation last summer, ''Fame''
quickly found a place among the BBC's top-10 programs and became the channel's
most popular American series. By contrast, the show currently ranks 60th out of
77 regularly scheduled programs for the television season to date in this
country.
None of the
executives in charge of ''Fame'' could explain conclusively why the show had
caught on with the British and not the American mass audience. Mel Swope, the
program's producer, believes that ''Fame'' would be just as well received here
if it were not scheduled opposite CBS-TV's popular ''Magnum, P.I.'' series.
''When I talk to
regular viewers of 'Fame,' they believe it is a hit in this country,'' said Mr.
Swope. Explaining the universal appeal of ''Fame,'' Mr. Swope added, ''Young
people really identify with the struggle of our young people striving for
excellence.''
Mr. Stringer of the
BBC had a less lofty view. ''I think the popularity of 'Fame' took everyone by
surprise,'' he said. ''It is a good lively show, and I suppose it just hit the
nerve, especially with the young audience. I don't think anybody is learning
any great lessons from it.''
The first run of 12
episodes on the BBC has ended, and additional episodes are scheduled to appear
early next year. But despite its temporary absence from the home screen,
''Fame'' has remained popular with the British in another medium. For the last
14 weeks, two record albums featuring the show's music, ''Kids From Fame'' and
''Fame Again,'' have been the top-selling albums in Britain, with more than two
million copies sold.
''The record sales
are really quite exceptional,'' said John Stringer, director of operations for
the BBC in the United States. That response in turn prompted the producers of
''Fame'' to schedule 10 concerts featuring the show's cast members, including
Debbie Allen, Gene Anthony Ray and Carlo Imperato, at the end of this month in
London, Birmingham, and Brighton. ''When we announced that we were going to run
these concerts, within three days 60,000 seats were sold,'' said Charles
Koppelman, whose Entertainment Company produces the music for ''Fame.''