- A Friday in the life of the disco club The Zoo, where the staff and clients meet and dance their lives away.
- It's Friday and everyone is going to the hot new disco. The Commodores are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
- It's Friday night in Los Angeles, and the place to be is the Zoo, a disco where The Commodores are performing for a dance contest. The Zoo is owned by the smooth talking Tony Di Marco, a Lothario who is not averse to using his position to pick up women, single or not. Bobby Speed, the DJ, is doing a live radio broadcast, which may be his last if The Commodores don't show up in time ready to perform. That may not happen as the disco's missing-in-action roadie Malcolm Floyd is having one problem after another getting the band's instruments to the Zoo. Bobby's job may also be on the line if Nicole Sims, an aspiring singer, gets her way in hijacking the DJ booth to play her demo and/or sings live over the airwaves. Frannie, with her best friend Jeannie in tow, has come to win the contest to earn enough money to buy tickets for the upcoming KISS concert. Their problem is that they may not even be able to get into the disco being underage. New to town Jennifer, who is at the Zoo with her know-it-all when it comes to picking up men friend Maddy, just wants to meet a nice guy. Ken, who is at the Zoo with his near-sighted overconfident friend Carl, just wants to meet a nice girl. The primary question in this situation becomes whether nice girl Jennifer and nice guy Ken will ever meet each other in the crowded disco. Straight-laced couple Dave and Sue have just had their fifth wedding anniversary dinner out on the town and are about to go home, when Sue suggests they extend the evening by going to the Zoo instead. While Sue is somewhat ready to party, Dave tries to overcome his fish-out-of-water status to keep up with his wife. Gus and Shirley, who meet at the disco on a computer blind date, have to decide to call it a night or stick around to make the best of a bad situation. And Marv Gomez, who is at the Zoo every night, can't get into the groove until he changes into his "Leather Man" persona and gets onto the dance floor.—Huggo
- This film tells several intertwining stories of the patrons and staff of a fictional Los Angeles disco club 'The Zoo' on one long Friday night. The central characters include:
Tony Di Marco (Jeff Goldblum) is the owner of The Zoo. Lecherous and promiscuous, he's inordinately fond of his expensive sports car.
Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) is the club's disk jockey who's broadcasting his first live show from the club.
Frannie (Valerie Landsburg) and Jeannie (Terri Nunn) are two high school friends who want to win The Zoo's dance contest to buy KISS concert tickets for themselves.
Carl (Paul Jabara) and Ken (John Friedrich) are two best friends who frequent the The Zoo. Carl is a hopelessly near-sighted shlub looking for a casual liaison, while Ken is just looking for a girlfriend.
Dave (Mark Lonow) and Sue (Andrea Howard) are a young married couple celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary.
Jackie (Marya Small) is another woman who frequents The Zoo. She is a dental hygienist by day, and a pink-haired, a drugged-out disco freak by night.
Jennifer (Debra Winger) is the klutzy new girl in town who is taken to the disco by her know-it-all friend Maddy (Robin Menken) who's not as sophisticated as she thinks she is.
Nicole Sims (Donna Summer) is an aspiring disco singer hoping to make her debut at the Zoo.
Marv Gomez (Chick Vennera) is a self-described "leatherman" who lives to dance.
Malcolm Floyd (DeWayne Jessie) is the roadie for The Commodores (appearing as themselves), responsible for delivering their instruments to the club by midnight for their appearance.
Gus (Chuck Sacci) and Shirley (Hilary Beane) are a mismatched couple on a blind date.
Sue insists her uptight accountant husband Dave take her to the disco after having dinner at a local restaurant despite the fact that it is already 10 PM.
On a bet with Bobby, Tony tries to pick up Sue when she and Dave walk into the club. Dejected that some other man is flirting with his wife, Dave ends up drugged and renamed "Babbakazoo" by Jackie, and makes a fool of himself.
Carl and Ken are repeatedly thwarted in their attempts to meet girls on the dance floor and the bar.
Meanwhile, Frannie and Jeannie trick Marv into helping them sneak into the disco after several failed attempts at gaining entry.
Elsewhere, Jennifer tries to meet a guy, but Maddy vetoes each of the guys Jennifer is attracted to.
Nicole repeatedly attempts to slip into the DJ booth to get Bobby to play her single.
Crude garbage collector Gus is horrified that the dating service has matched him with a prim college educated woman, and one who is taller than he is.
Floyd gets stopped repeatedly by the police on suspicion of stealing The Commodores' instruments.
Back at the club, Marv teaches the uptight Ken how to dance in the parking lot.
Maddy ends up ditching Jennifer to attend a hot tub party (with the same sleazy guys who came on to Jennifer).
Gus and Shirley decide to give it a try. They leave the disco together.
Carl finally meets a girl at the bar, but gets locked in the stairwell before they can leave together.
Meanwhile, Floyd finally makes it to the club in time for the Commodores to play but before they go on, Nicole sneaks up on stage and scores a huge triumph singing "Last Dance".
Frannie, after tricking Marv's dance partner (Nanci Hammond) into the locked stairwell, enters the dance contest with Marv. Carl and Marv's dance partner end up hooking up in the stairwell.
Jennifer and Ken share a romantic dance, as do Nicole and Bobby.
Dave finally comes down from his "acid trip" and Sue ditches Tony to return to her husband. As Tony prepares to leave for the night, his parked car, having taken innumerable hits from pretty much every other character's car, falls apart in the parking lot.
At the climax, Marv and Frannie win the big dance contest. Deciding that the KISS concert is "kid stuff," Frannie and Jeannie, now self-proclaimed "disco queens," go with Marv to hit another disco for the 1:00 AM dance contest.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content