Thank God It’s Friday – 1978
After 5000 years of civilization, we all need a break.
Director
Robert Klane

Writer
Armyan Bernstein (as Barry Armyan Bernstein)

Producers
Neil Bogart executive producer
Rob Cohen producer
Phillip M. Goldfarb co-producer
Anthony Masters associate producer
Lauren Shuler Donner associate producer

Cast
Phil Adams – Tarzan
Hilary Beane – Shirley
Judith M. Brown – Badmouth in bar (as Judith Brown)
Marianne Bunch – Boutique salesgirl
Tony Cacciotti – Club cashier
Jacqueline Carlin – Blonde in blue blouse
Wade Collings – Jennifer’s partner
Cosie Costa – Parking attendant
Linda Cremeans – Tony’s friend #1
Christine De Lisle – Tony’s girlfriend
MacIntyre Dixon – Bartender
Michael Durrell – Bar boor
Al Fann – Voice of Sam
John Friedrich – Ken
Jeff Goldblum – Tony Di Marco
Harry Gold – Mercedes driver
Heidi Gold – Kathy
Nanci L. Hammond – Marv’s dancing partner
Andrea Howard – Sue
Howard Itzkowitz – Transvestite
Paul Jabara – Carl
DeWayne Jessie – Floyd
Osko Karaghassian – Bouncer
Gregory V. Karliss – Bar bore #2
Solomon Karriem – Another bouncer
William King – Himself (as The Commodores)
Valerie Landsburg – Frannie
Ronald LePread – Himself (as The Commodores)
Mark Lonow – Dave
Sheila MacKenzie – Tony’s friend #3
J.W. Bear Martin – Bouncer at Bobby’s booth
Thomas McClary – Himself (as The Commodores)
Robin Menken – Maddy
Terri Nunn – Jeannie
Walter Orange – Himself (as The Commodores)
Shelly Parsons – Tony’s other girlfriend
Sherry Peterson – Tony’s friend #2
Luce Rains – Swinger in phone booth (as Steven Hartley)
Lionel Richie – Himself (as The Commodores)
Chuck Sacci – Gus Nicula
Nicholas Shields – Gorilla in elevator
Mews Small – Jackie (as Marya Small)
Donna Summer – Nicole Sims
Chick Vennera – Marv Gomez
Ray Vitte – Bobby Speed
Vaya Warren – Guy who cuts in on Jennifer
Richard Weinberg – Bar boy in blue
Milan Williams – Himself (as The Commodores)
Sandra Will – Miss Negative
Debra Winger – Jennifer
Jonathan Wynne – Trooper

Review by Gary F Taylor

Thank God It’s Friday (1978)

Last Dance of the Disco Era,
THANK GOD IT’S Friday was released just as the disco craze crested, when anything and everything might happen during a night on the town, when sex was casual, and drink and drugs were still regarded in a lighthearted manner, and music wailed and blared with the likes of Gloria Gaynor and K.C. & the Sunshine Band. Within a few years Disco would be publicly declared dead–but it still lives on in the recordings… and in Donna Summer’s screen image of the Disco Diva, shimmering in the spotlight beneath the mirror ball with a hibiscus tucked into her hair as she belts out her megaton hit, “Last Dance.”

TGIF is best regarded as a cultural artifact, an attempt to show everything that was shiny about the Disco world without any reference to its down sides of sexually transmitted diseases, next-morning-hangovers, and serious drug addictions. The story is slight: a disco is hosting a big dance contest, and every one arrives at the door with personal ambitions. There is, of course, the singer who hopes to hit it big; two underage teen girls hot to be Disco Queens; a sweet young thing who hates polyester and is looking for Mr. Right in the wrong place; and a ladykiller looking to score his next victim. The film is most memorable for the look of the disco, which is the real star of the film, and the cast, which includes several performers on their way up: Jeff Goldblum as the lady killer; Deborah Winger as the anti-polyester good girl; and of all people a very, very young Terri Nunn, who would later score big as the front singer for the band Berlin.

There are all the usual running gags, and as a whole the film is only mildly entertaining. But then Donna Summer steps into the spotlight–and for a few moments everything that was magic about Disco lives and breathes again. For what it is–an incredibly light, mindless bit of tinsel–the film is well done, but it has an extremely limited appeal for a contemporary audience.

Unless you were actually part of the disco scene and want to revisit old memories, you’re better off catching it on the late-late show. But my oh my… wasn’t Donna Summer something special!