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Romy and Michele: In the Beginning

2005 television film directed by Robin Schiff

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ826743 ↗
Source-derived summary

Romy and Michele: In the Beginning is a 2005 American television film and backdoor pilot starring Katherine Heigl as Romy and Alexandra Breckenridge as Michele, with a special appearance by Paula Abdul. It is a prequel to the 1997 film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion and is the second installment in the Romy and Michele film series. Written and directed by Robin Schiff, its working title was Romy and Michele: Behind the Velvet Rope. The film premiered on ABC Family on May 30, 2005.

Plot

In this prequel to Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, it shows Romy and Michele as they graduate in 1987, and again three years later as they take on Los Angeles.

For years Romy and Michele have been dreaming to move to L.A. and become rich and famous, but they decided to put their move on hold while they save money. Three years have passed by and they've only managed to save $68, only $8 more than they had in high school. Despite their lack of money, they decide to go ahead with their plans to move to L.A. after seeing Pretty Woman. As the girls arrive in L.A., they decide to become prostitutes but chicken out after their first encounter with a client. As they walk home, a man lends them a dollar for a vending machine, and Romy and Michele are arrested for prostitution.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Romy and Michele: In the Beginning” as 2005 television film directed by Robin Schiff. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2005, 1997, 1987—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2005-05-30. The account is most persuasive where Romy, Michele and Beginning can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2005 television film directed by Robin Schiff. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q826743. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2005, 1997 and 1987.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Romy and Michele: In the Beginning”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Romy and Michele: In the Beginning primary sources, Romy and Michele: In the Beginning archive and Romy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Romy and Michele: In the Beginning”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Romy and Michele: In the Beginning” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.