Paul Frees – Berry Gordy, various
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| From top: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. |
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| The Jackson Five emerge victorious. |
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| Diana Ross and the Jacksons in the recording studio. |
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| Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Michael in animated form. |
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| Diana Ross model sheet. |
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| Animation cel featuring Berry Gordy's cartoon counterpart. |
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| Rosy, Ray and Charles. |
The Jackson 5ive debuted on ABC on September 7, 1971, and followed the wacky misadventures
of the Jacksons. As the group’s lead singer, the action tended to focus mostly
on Michael (Donald Fullilove). Joining the brothers were three pets of
Michael’s: a pink snake with different colored eyes named Rosy and two mice
named Ray and Charles, after musician Ray
Charles. Despite their fame, the Jacksons
traveled around in Jermaine’s beat-up old roadster. The series was written
by Hal
Hackady, William J. Keenan, Susan Milburn, Romeo Muller and Lou Silverstone, with additional music by Maury Laws.
The series’ theme was a special mix of four of
their #1 hits: “I Want You Back,” “The Love You Save,” “ABC,” and “Mamma’s Pearl,” all written by The Corporation and, according to the
Jacksons’ website, specially recorded by the
brothers. While utilizing story title cards like most other cartoons of the
time, in an unusual fashion the title card was made part of the intro; altered
each episode with the new title. The show was renewed for an abbreviated second
season and was renamed The New Jackson 5ive Show. Little else was
different from the first season besides a slightly altered intro and theme song
to accommodate the new title. That season took the majority of its songs from
Michael’s solo album Got
to Be There with others being taken from the Jacksons’ album Lookin’
Through the Windows. The rest of the second
season was composed of reruns of earlier episodes.
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| Jack Davis concept art of the Jacksons and their jalopy. |
To avoid paying large fees to Charley Douglass, who edited laugh tracks onto the majority of network
programming at the time, Rankin/Bass followed Hanna-Barbera’s example and composed their own laugh track for the
series. However, their track contained a wide selection of laughs and wasn’t
properly balanced, resulting in mild chuckles becoming booming laughter.
Because of that, many jokes received a larger laugh than intended, and
sometimes occurred off-cue. They improved the process for the second season
with more modulated laughs from Douglass’ library and better timing by their
sound engineers. However, Rankin/Bass stopped using their laugh track once the
series and The
Osmonds, a similar series centered around the titular group, ended.
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| Ad for The Jackson 5ive. |
In the meantime, 1972 saw the Jacksons’ sales
begin to decline; particularly when The Corporation broke up and the Jacksons
no longer had their songs to perform. Growing disillusioned with Motown’s
handling of their careers and in an effort for more creative control and
royalties, the Jacksons, excluding Jermaine, opted out
of recording anything more for Motown and signed with Epic Records in
1975. Randy replaced Jermaine, and Motown, after initially suing
them for breach of contract, allowed the group to record for Epic as
long as they changed their name, which Motown owned. The group became
simply “The Jacksons”.
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| Jet magazine cover story about The Jacksons variety show. |
In 1976, the entire Jackson family, except
Jermaine, starred in a weekly
variety series and released their first self-titled album for Epic. Although it went gold, it failed to
generate the same sales as their Motown efforts. They continued to produce
records for Epic, while Michael continued the solo career started by Motown in
1971 to help generate more sales for the Jackson brand. In 1983, Jermaine
rejoined his brothers for Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today, Forever and recorded their sixth Epic album, Victory, with them. After the friction-filled
and disastrous Victory Tour in 1984, Michael left the group to focus on his solo
career; with Marlon pursuing his own the following year (ultimately leading to
his leaving show business for real estate). As Michael’s popularity began to
rise, Worldvision
Enterprises rebroadcast The Jackson
5ive in syndication during the 1984-85 season on Saturday Morning.
After the failed release of 2300 Jackson
Street and a brief promotional tour, the remaining Jacksons called
it quits in 1989. 17 years later, the Jacksons reunited for two performances at
Madison Square
Garden as part of the 30th anniversary
celebration for Michael’s solo career. In
2009, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito joined together to film a reality
series, The
Jacksons: A Family Dynasty, as an effort to
reunite the band for their 40th anniversary. Initially planned
as an hour-long special, it was expanded to a series following Michael’s death that June. In tribute, the Jacksons provided
background vocals for the unreleased demo “This is It”. The Jacksons reunited again in 2012 for a the Unity
Tour, and continued to perform occasionally afterward.
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| Jackson 5ive Action Game. |
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“It All Started With…” (9/11/71) – The
origin of the Jackson 5ive.
Songs: ABC, Goin’ Back to Indiana
“Pinestock U.S.A.” (9/18/71) – The
Jacksons participate in a concert sponsored by a logging camp that will level
the forest they’re in right after the show.
Songs: I’ll Be There, The Young Folks
“Drafted” (9/25/71) – Marlon and
Michael are mistaken for new recruits at Fort Paratrooper where they’ve come to
perform.
Songs: I Want You Back, 2-4-6-8
“Mistaken Identity” (10/2/71) – The
Jacksons detour to an Old West town on their way to Vegas and get mistaken for
a gang of bandit brothers.
Songs: I’ll Bet You, 16 Candles
“Bongo, Baby, Bongo” (10/9/71) – A
clown kidnaps a baby gorilla for his circus act, causing the mother to use
Michael as its replacement.
Songs: My Little Baby, It’s Great to Be Here
“The Winner’s Circle” (10/16/71) –
Michael is tricked into buying a seemingly lazy racehorse until the Jacksons
discover he runs like lightning when hearing their music.
Songs: The Love You Save, How Funky Is Your Chicken?
“Cinder Jackson” (10/23/71) – Michael
meets his Hairy Godfather who helps him go to a ball to meet a major star
despite his being sick.
Songs: Reach In, Can I See You In The
Morning?
“The Wizard of Soul” (10/30/71) –
Michael wanders into the Land of Soul where Wizard of Oz characters resemble
his brothers and journey with him to meet the Wizard of Soul.
Songs: The Love I Saw in You Was
Just a Mirage, Oh
How Happy
“The Tiny Five” (11/6/71) – The
Jacksons end up shrunken.
Songs: The Wall, I Will Find a Way
“The Groovatron” (11/13/71) – Marlon
invents a musical robot to allow the Jacksons to rest for a while, but it ends
up stolen and used to replace and outsell the Jacksons.
Songs: Maybe Tomorrow, Nobody
“Ray & Charles: Superstars”
(11/20/71) – Ray and Charles get discovered and become superstars.
Songs: (Come Round Here) I’m the
One You Need, (We’ve
Got) Blue Skies
“Farmer Jacksons” (11/27/71) – Jackie
decides they need a break and enters a bet to run a farm.
Songs: My Cherie Amour, Honey Chile
“Jackson Island” (12/4/71) – The
Jacksons end up stranded on an island where Michael hits his head and
encounters evil fictional pirates.
Songs: Ready or Not (Here I Come), La La Means I Love You
“The Michael Look” (12/11/71) – Two
Pearly Kings find their chance to discredit Michael when he loses his stage
clothing and convince him to wear shabby replacements.
Songs: Darling Dear, I Don’t Know Why I Love You
“Jackson Street, USA” (12/18/71) – The
Jacksons plan to attend a street dedication ceremony in a hot air balloon, but
end up soaring right out of the city.
Songs: Petals, She’s Good
“Rasho-Jackson” (1/8/72) – A car
mishap leads to an argument that causes the Jacksons to split up and go solo.
Songs: One More Chance, I Found That Girl
“A Rare Pearl” (1/15/72) – The
Jacksons all fall for a flight attendant who wants nothing to do with them.
Songs: Never Can Say Goodbye,
Mama’s Pearl
Season 2:
“Who’s Hoozis?” (9/9/72) – Michael
works to save the nest of a talking “blues bird” from an eccentric developer.
Songs: Rockin’ Robin, Wings of My Love
“Michael White” (9/16/72) – Michael
hits his head in a biking accident and dreams that he’s the male version of
Snow White.
Songs: Sugar Daddy, I Wanna Be Where You Are
“Groove to the Chief” (9/23/72) – The
Hairy Godfather returns to grant Michael’s wish to be the Mayor of Los Angeles.
Songs: I’m So Happy, In Our Small Way
“Michael in Wonderland” (9/30/72) –
Michael goes unconscious while testing a new roller coaster and dreams he’s in
a soul and funk version of Wonderland.
Songs: Got to Be There, Maria (You Were the Only
One)
“Jackson and the Beanstalk” (10/7/72)
– Michael discovers magic beans outside their Indiana apartment and climbs up
the beanstalk they produce.
Songs: Love is Here (And Now You’re
Gone), Girl
Don’t Take Your LoveFrom Me
“The Opening Act” (10/14/72) – The
Jacksons are on a heavy radio tour and need an opening act for their upcoming
concert.
Songs: Little Bitty Pretty One, If I Have to Move a Mountain
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