The early 80s...the groovy 70s were over, and we were unceremoniously dumped into the gimme gimme greed is good era, rife with yuppies, Iran/Contra hearings, and jellybeans (President Reagan's favorite treat), and we all laughed at the antics of a diminutive (in size, but not in heart), adopted, African American boy named Arnold Jackson as he posed the question we all wanted to know the answer to in 'What choo talkin' bout, Willis?' Yes, what were you talking about, Willis? Anyway, After School Specials, dramatic programs designed especially entertain and teach pre-teens about life and issues they could have very well faced, in terms they could understand in an hour-long format (approximately 45 minutes, without the commercials), were now a television staple. Networks, seeing the potential in reaching a younger audience, began airing primetime sitcoms, that, while they were still comedies, often included more serious tones like drug and alcohol abuse, teen age pregnancy, and so forth in shows like Diff'rent Strokes (1978), The Facts of Life (1979), Family Ties (1982), and so on... this set comes with two DVDs, each containing 2 episodes, or 4 episodes per set. The series (I believe there were something like 26 episodes) was created and produced by Martin Tahse, and won a slew of awards, was really unique in that it was programming for young people that wasn't created to tie into products or sell merchandise, but to speak to them about situations difficult to understand or comprehend, treating its' audience with the respect and intelligence not often seen, not talking down to them but relating to them on a level they understood and appreciated.
After School Specials: Class of 1981-1982 The episodes in After School Specials 81-82 Vol 5, are as follows;
A Matter of Time (Originally aired 2/11/1981) stars Karlene Crockett (Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen) as Lisl Gilbert, a girl struggling to cope with the very real fact that her mother is suffering from a terminal illness (the big C), has to go outside the family (never go against the family) to find the support she needs, as her father is about as emotional as a tree stump. With the help of guidance counselor, Lisl begins to come to terms with her families' plight by means of documenting her experiences with the intention that someday she may become a well known writer, thus using a painful, personal experience as a means of improvement...talk about putting a happy face on a bad situation...good thing Lisl didn't go to my high school as the only advise my guidance counselor ever gave me was to become a poultry farmer...Rob Lowe also appears in this one, apparently free of the parental responsibilities he aquired in an earlier episode titled Schoolboy Father (released a year previously)
First Step (Originally aired 9/23/1981) aka She Drinks a Little, stars Amanda Wyss (Silverado, Better Off Dead...) as Cindy Scott, who, along with her younger brother Brett, live with their mother, who likes the drink just a bit too much, subsequently Cindy is stuck taking on a lot more responsibilities than she should, and also trying to keep her mother's embarrassing problem a secret from the outside world Despite the burdens, Cindy manages to land the lead in the school play, to which her mother actually sobers up (apparently mom once had theatrical aspirations) and appears to be on the road to recovery, until opening night when mom shows up blotto...oops...oh mom, you so crazy! Anyway, a disheartened (to say the least) Cindy learns of a program, from one of her peers, called Alateen, one that helps embarrassed children deal with alcoholic parents, and proves invaluable to Cindy in her understand of her mother's all consuming disease.
Tough Girl (Originally aired 10/28/1981) stars Karin Argoud ("Mama's Family") as Renie, the titular `tough girl', living with her divorced mother and her mother's latest boyfriend (of which there have been many, or so I got the sense). Anyway, after a run in with The Man, Renie is slapped with a seemingly lenient sentence of having to live with her father in the `burbs, but is unable to get along with her stepmother and her really annoying, prissy stepsister. Feeling all unloved and what not (gee, what teen didn't feel this way?), Renie decides to hit the bricks, but comes across a damaged critter in the form of a puppy, to which, with help and friendship of a hearing disabled (in my day we said deaf) college student/future veterinarian, Renie's tough girl act fades as she learns she's not the center of the universe.
The Night Swimmers (Originally aired 3/3/1982) aka Daddy, I'm Their Mama Now, stars Mallie Jackson (Hollywood Harry), Trey Wilson (Vampire Hookers), Jason Lively (European Vacation), and Jason Hervey ("The Wonder Years"). It seems recently widowed country singer Shorty Rollins (Wilson), has a hit on his hands called `My Honey Went to Heaven in a DC-3' (oh bruther) and thus is unable to spend much time with his family, consisting of his older daughter Retta, short for Loretta, as in Loretta Lynn (Jackson), and his two, younger sons Roy `Acuff' (Hervey), and Johnny `Cash' (Lively)...seriously, they named their kids after country and western singers...anyway, Retta is stuck watching her brothers, and the three of them begin taking secret nighttime swims in a neighbors pool, until, like mom always said, `It's always fun until someone gets hurt.'...actually she said `It's always funny until someone gets hurt.', but that didn't really fit so I modified it...this results in Shorty seeing the errors of his ways, i.e. what a crummy father he's been, and subsequently inspired him to write the hit single `Lordy What a Lousy Parent I Am'...actually I made that last part up, but I thought it was a better ending than that actually provided.
After School Specials: Class of 1982-1986 The episodes featured on After School Specials 82-86 Vol 6 are as follows;
Two Loves for Jenny (Originally aired 10/27/1982) aka Between Two Loves stars Robert Reed (`The Brady Bunch'), Karlene Crockett (Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story), and Lance Guest (The Last Starfighter). Reed is an widowed architect with three boys who marries a widowed woman with three girls...er, wait, wrong show...Reed is a high school music teacher who, after plucking a potential promising student (Crockett) from the manure pile that is the general student population, seeing promise in her ability with a violin, eventually coaxes her to participate in a contest where the prize is a scholarship to a hoity toity music school. The catch is the girl's boyfriend (Guest) also plans to enter the competition, so now she's torn `between two loves', as she so covets the music scholarship, but is afraid the competition will torpedo her relationship (hey baby, boyfriends are a dime a dozen)...an added bonus, looks for an appearance by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger (no foolin').
Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea? (Originally aired 12/27/1983) aka Andrea's Story: A Hitchhiking Tragedy features Michele Greene (Abby Perkins on the TV show `L.A. Law'), Carrie Snodgress (The Attic), Matt Clark (Brubaker), Moosie Drier (Oh, God!), and an especially young Kirk Cameron. Andrea (Greene) and her boyfriend David (Drier) thumb a ride with an innocent looking man. After dropping David off first (good idea, Dave), Andrea arrives home much later, avoiding contact with her family (as you can guess, she ended up paying for the ride...you know the old saying `Cash, grass, or ash, no one rides for free). Anyway, the truth finally comes out and her parents are torn...Pops (Clark) is understandably angry and Mom (Snodgrass), living in the realm of Neverland, wants to pretend it never happened. Meanwhile, David decides to take matters into his own hands ala Charles Bronson in Death Wish, by hunting the man down and gutting him like a fish...er, wait, no, that's not right...what he actually does is track the man down by getting his license plate number and reporting it to the police, who subsequently catch and arrest him, but now Andrea isn't sure if she can deal with facing him in court...all joking aside, this was probably one of the more serious episodes, dealing with a particularly difficult issue...
Ace Hits the Big Time (Originally aired 10/28/1981) features Rob Stone (Kevin Owens on the TV show `Mr. Belvedere') as Horace 'Ace' Hobart (you can see why he went with the nickname Ace). After moving to New York with his family, Ace is warned by his annoying sister that school gang, `The Purple Falcons', will kill him, figuratively speaking. Anyway, Ace shows up to school with an eye patch (a touch of the pink eye) wearing a garage sale jacket, looking just generally weird. The gang, who are actually a bunch of whiffs, decide Ace would fit right in with them, so he joins up and makes time with the only girl member who ends up getting kidnapped by a rival gang because they're jealous about, get this, the fact that Ace and his got picked to appear in a low budget movie and they didn't (no foolin')...sort of a low rent West Side Story, this episode features music, dancing, and even a love ballad (no foolin' again)...actually this one is pretty lively...
Face at the Edge of the World (Originally aired 9/17/1986) aka A Desperate Exit features Malcolm-Jamal `Don't call me Theo!' Warner (`The Cosby Show') and Rob Stone (Kevin Owens on the TV show `Mr. Belvedere'). Jed (Stone) Charlie (Warner) were life-long friends, that is until Jed finds out Charlie decided to check out early, if you get my drift...anyway, Jed, who is obviously crushed by not only the loss of his best friend, but also the fact that he had no fore warning of what his friend was going to do, or why he even did what he did. This drives Jed to delve into Charlie's life, with a little help from some others, to understand the things they never really talked about, things that directly contributed to Charlie's choice to shuck off his mortal coil...
Color: Color
Format: DVD (Region 1 - U.S. & Canada)
Condition: New, Factory Sealed (Never Opened) |
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