NBC Rejected Madonna For A Lead Role In A Hit ’80s Drama Series

Believe it or not, Madonna wasn’t always famous. In the early ’80s, she was just a young woman in her 20s trying to make it in the entertainment industry. Before she became one of the biggest pop stars in the world, her quest led her to NBC studios to audition for the 1982 TV adaptation of the hit film “Fame.” The successful franchise launched in 1980 with the movie about students at the New York High School of Performing Arts working hard to perfect their chosen craft as they navigate all the other challenges of life as a teenager, like heartbreak and homework.

According to former head of NBC Brandon Tartikoff in his 1992 memoir, “The Last Great Ride,” before anyone knew her name, the “Lucky Star” singer was one of many now-successful actors who auditioned for the show but didn’t make the cut. Tartikoff revealed that some other stars he regretted passing on at the time include Tom Cruise, Whitney Houston, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Meg Ryan, and Dennis Quaid.

But rejecting Madonna was one of his biggest regrets, although he didn’t initially remember her auditioning until a colleague showed him the tape. Tartikoff remembered thinking before the person hit play, “There’s no way Madonna could have slipped through our fingers.” But the tape proved she did. The former network exec wrote that the “Material Girl” singer put her “trademark attitude front and center” during her audition, although her hair wasn’t her signature blonde shade. She was auditioning for one of the lead female roles, and years later during a meeting with her, Tartikoff gave Madonna the audition tape.

Fame helped other women launch successful careers

Madonna released her debut self-titled album in 1983, a year after the “Fame” TV show premiered. The “Like a Prayer” singer went on to become a pop icon. She also had a successful movie career starting in the mid-’80s with her breakout role in “Desperately Seeking Susan” in 1985 and “A League of Their Own” in 1992. Aside from her appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” one of her only scripted TV show roles came in the early 2000s, when she played Karen’s (Megan Mullaly) roommate on “Will & Grace.”

The TV adaptation of “Fame” ran for six seasons on NBC, from 1982 to 1987. It helped launch the careers of people like Lori Singer, who went on to star opposite Kevin Bacon in “Footloose.” And although she had been known on Broadway, the “Fame” movie and later TV show helped Debbie Allen become a household name in the screen industry. Allen has played Dr. Catherine Fox on “Grey’s Anatomy” since 2011 and been a director on the show since 2010; she became a producer in 2015. 

One of Allen’s first TV producing and directing jobs came on the “Cosby Show” spin-off, “A Different World,” which aired from 1987 to 1993. She also played Dr. Langhorne in the casts of both the original “A Different World” and the 2026 Netflix reboot, which she also produces and directs. Allen was set to be a producer on a TV show reboot of “Fame” that was announced in 2012, though it appears to have been abandoned.