ABC Afterschool Specials

Sometimes a TV show passes into the cultural fabric of the country. The ABC Afterschool Special is one of those shows.

It aired for more than 20 years providing a monthly dose of drama to pre-teens and teens during the school year in the hours after school before dinner. The specials were TV movies that explored the angst and problems that real kids experienced. They were little morality plays that while not being preachy, showed that actions have consequences.

Some of the known young stars of the times appeared including some who are stars now. For many it was one of their first jobs in the industry and for others it was their way of contributing to the community.

Stars included Ben Affleck, Heather Langenkamp, Jane Kaczmarek, Brandon Cruz, Christopher Knight, Melissa Sue Anderson, Kristy McNichol, and Scott Baio, and my favorite Lance Kerwin.

My favorite was Lance Kerwin. He appeared in several of the specials including "Pssst! Hammerman's After You!" and "The Boy Who Drank Too Much" with Scott Baio. Those two shows are my favorite. Baio also was in several specials.

The series came to an end as Oprah Winfrey took over the time slot on many stations in the early 90's. A local station would keep more of the advertising money by airing syndicated programs like Winfrey's talk show, reruns of old TV shows, or the tabloid shows like Judge Judy. Just like the toy companies killed the Saturday morning cartoons, money became more important than the community. Whenever I get overcome with the dreck on between 4 and 6 PM I wax nostalgic for those specials.

The specials also added to our cultural lexicon. Whenever someone is getting overly dramatic or sentimental how often to hear a response like "This isn't an Afterschool Special." Some the specials have been collected on DVD but I would like to see the specials come back. The ABC Afterschool Special holds a special place in my heart along with Schoolhouse Rock and American Bandstand.

I am a woman that was born in 1965. The times were very different then. Since I have become an adult, I realize that back then, things weren't so bad. I think that every generation views their coming up as harder than the one before theirs. I am a writer. In each book that I write, I try and provide hope and encouragement to the reader. My work covers practical situations that people experience every day. My most recent work is about drug addiction. Whether the reader be an addict themselves or a loved one of someone addicted to drugs, I tried to provide love and support and suggestions that would help either. When I was about half way through this book, I mentioned to my husband, my memory of the ABC After School Special and how vital a program of that nature was at that time. I think that it's a travesty that a program of such high impact, could be replaced with the likes of Judge Judy. In 1975, when I was just ten years old, I watched these After School Specials, every day after school. I enjoyed them. Even though I didn't realize that over 30 years later I would recall not only watching them but all of these years later, FEEL the impact of these shows and appreciate their invaluable message. Our children need these types of programs. Television has become a poison for our young viewers, glorifying violence and sick behavior. They are being programmed to grow into warped adults. Bring back the After School Specials. Let's arm our children with lessons that will enhance their chances of becoming caring adults. In the meantime, I will continue to write material that hopefully can help achieve this to some small extent.

I hate being Debbie Downer on this program, and while clearly people have good memories of it, I always found these to be an hour long public service announcements. The first year they were actually pretty good. Then started downward slope. First with "It Must Be Love Because I Feel So Dumb" and then "My Mom's Having a Baby" which were eye rollers. What made me stop watching them were the dumb drug themed ones that looked like they were produced in about 3 hours. When the young Helen Hunt went flying out the window because of Angel Dust, I was done. I have never used drugs, and don't condone the use, but these were so intelligence insulting that a large percentage of the target audience actually considered them funny. And they still do. However, I never knew the program lasted until 1997, how it did remains a mystery to me.

These shows, at least when I watched them as a child, were incredibly realistic, much in the same way the tv movies of the week featuring stars like Linda Blair were - they held nothing back, every situation depicted was really the way it was - nothing was hidden or whitewashed or censored the way those situations would be today - the '70s really did let it all hang out.

I did not, of course, watch this show as I got older and was therefore the age the show was actually tailored to, and had no idea the show went on for decades past my remembrance, but the shows I saw in the '70s were perfection and I would love to see them again.

All my kids watched these shows. It was about current issues that the kids may be learning about in school, family topics and great history stories. I'm hoping to find the one about how Hitler brainwashed the Germans - the best one I thought.