The
American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
coined the term
after school special in 1972 with a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly teenagers.
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
distributed its own productions as the
CBS Afternoon Playhouse (later known as
CBS Schoolbreak SpecialSchoolbreak Special was a television series for teenagers that aired on CBS. The concept was very similar to ABC's Afterschool Special. It premiered in 1979 as CBS Afternoon Playhouse. The name was changed for the 1984 - 85 season, and the series ran through 1996.-See also:* ABC Afterschool...
).
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The
American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
coined the term
after school special in 1972 with a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly teenagers.
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
distributed its own productions as the
CBS Afternoon Playhouse (later known as
CBS Schoolbreak SpecialSchoolbreak Special was a television series for teenagers that aired on CBS. The concept was very similar to ABC's Afterschool Special. It premiered in 1979 as CBS Afternoon Playhouse. The name was changed for the 1984 - 85 season, and the series ran through 1996.-See also:* ABC Afterschool...
). CBS had a program called
Famous Classic TalesFamous Classic Tales is a series that airs cartoons from production companies such as Filmation, Rankin-Bass, Ruby-Spears, API, Hanna-Barbera, Hanna Barbera Australia, and Southern Star Group....
, which aired Australian cartoons that were adapted from literature books (similar to
Family Classic TalesFamily Classic Tales is an animated literature series that is produced by API. These cartoons were later aired on CBS. This series is similar to Famous Classic Tales....
).
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
also had afterschool programs under the umbrella title
Special Treat. Other similar programs included the
ABC Weekend SpecialThe ABC Weekend Special was a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated....
.
List of specials
- Last of the Curlews
Last of the Curlews is a novel, a fictionalized account of the life of the last Eskimo Curlew. It was written by Fred Bodsworth, a Canadian newspaper reporter and naturalist, and published in 1954.-Plot introduction:...
(1972The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel (1973
The year 1973 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1973.-Events:*January 4 - The record breaking, long running comedy series in the UK and the world "Last of the Summer Wine" starts as a 30 minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show....
)
- The 18th Emergency (1974
The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Summer of the Swans
Summer of the Swans is a novel by Betsy Byars that won the Newbery Medal in 1971 about fourteen-year-old Sara Godfrey's search for her missing, mentally retarded brother Charlie....
(1974The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Skating Rink
The Skating Rink is a novel by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. A translation from the Spanish by Chris Andrews is set for publication by New Directions in August, 2009.-Summary:...
(1975The year 1975 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1975.For the American TV schedule, see: 1975-76 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon (1976
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
)
- Dear Lovey Hart: I Am Desperate (1976
The year 1976 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1976.-Global television events:*The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide....
)
- My Mom's Having a Baby (1977
The year 1977 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1977.For the American TV schedule, see: 1977-78 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Boy Who Drank Too Much
'The Boy Who Drank Too Much' is a 1980s movie based on a novel by Shep Greene, initially distributed by CBS, starring Scott Baio as a high school hockey player struggling with alcoholism...
(1980The year 1980 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1980.For the American TV schedule, see: 1980-81 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Stoned
"Stoned" is a 1980 made-for-TV movie featured in the Peabody Award-winning ABC Afterschool Special series. The film, starring Scott Baio, is built around peer pressure and its resultant drug abuse. It was featured as the fourth episode in the program's ninth season.-Plot:Jack Melon is a gangling...
(1981The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Color of Friendship (1981)
The Color of Friendship is a 1981 film shown as part of the ABC Afterschool Special series. It's about the friendship between two 13-year-old boys, one black and one white, in a small town that has just started integrating its schools.-Awards:...
- Please Don't Hit Me, Mom (1981
The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- I Think I'm Having a Baby (1981
The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Amy and the Angel (1983
The year 1983 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1983.For the American TV schedule, see: 1983-84 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Backwards: The Riddle Of Dyslexia
Backwards: The Riddle Of Dyslexia is a 1984 ABC Afterschool Special about dyslexia. It stars 13 year old River Phoenix in "one of his first major roles" as Brian Ellsworth. Joaquin Phoenix also stars as his younger brother Robby. According to allmovie, Brian Ellsworth is a junior high student...
(1984The year 1984 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1984.-Events:*January 2 - RTL Television launched a second programme, this one in German...
)
- The Day My Kid Went Punk (1987
The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987-88 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- What If I'm Gay? (1987
The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987-88 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Frog Girl: The Jennifer Graham Story (1989
The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.For the American TV schedule, see: 1989-90 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- My Dad Can't Be Crazy (Can He?) (1989
The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.For the American TV schedule, see: 1989-90 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Girl with the Crazy Brother (1990
The year 1990 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1990.For the American TV schedule, see: 1990-91 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- The Perfect Date (1990
The year 1990 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1990.For the American TV schedule, see: 1990-91 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Two Teens And A Baby (1991
The year 1991 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1991.For the American TV schedule, see: 1991-92 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- I Hate the Way I Look (1994
The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
- Boys Will Be Boys (1994
The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
)
See also
- Famous classic tales
Famous Classic Tales is a series that airs cartoons from production companies such as Filmation, Rankin-Bass, Ruby-Spears, API, Hanna-Barbera, Hanna Barbera Australia, and Southern Star Group....
- Last of the Curlews
Last of the Curlews is a novel, a fictionalized account of the life of the last Eskimo Curlew. It was written by Fred Bodsworth, a Canadian newspaper reporter and naturalist, and published in 1954.-Plot introduction:...
- The very first ABC Afterschool SpecialThe ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes...
(1972)The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, and one of very few animatedAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways...
ones.
- Degrassi
Degrassi is a Canadian drama that follows the lives of a group of teenagers who lived on or near De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario. The three main series were The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. The early Degrassi series were produced by the small production...
- Schoolhouse Rock
- Very special episode
"Very special episode" is an advertising term originally used in American television commercials to refer to an episode of a situation comedy or television drama that deals with a serious or controversial social issue...
- Public information film
Public Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...
- In the UK, extended versions of these were shown in schools. These were often about safety.
- Wonderworks
WonderWorks was a PBS project that made short, made for TV movies out of acclaimed children's books. WonderWorks movies included adaptations of Anne of Green Gables, Bridge to Terabithia, All Summer in a Day, Jacob Have I Loved, The Box of Delights, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hoboken...
- Produced several Afterschool-type specials for PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. However, its operations are largely funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
External links
- Complete list of ABC After School Specials at the Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media...
- Complete list of CBS Schoolbreak Specials at the Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media...
- Partial list of NBC Special Treat episodes at the Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media...
- Reviews of a DVD collection of ABC After School Specials
- The strange afterlife of the After School Special - by Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe January 1, 2006
- My Dad Lives In A Downtown Hotel: The Subtle Brilliance of the After School Special by Marisa Meltzer - Slate.com - July 20, 2006