Never Too Cool for Afterschool-ABCs Afterschool Special

When I was a teen, I ran with a pretty motely crew. I was the anomaly of the group, as I never really did anything wild or rebellious. My role was to provide the conscience, the voice of reason, and the place to crash when someone's parents caught them in some dubious act. I remember one late night, a friend lay sobbing on my bed about her positive pregnancy test. I gave her a brief  keep-your- head-up–girl-speech, to which she responded “Wow T, you’re sooooo Afterschool Special”.  

“ABC’s Afterschool Special” ran from 1972 to 1997. It was an anthology series that aired in the 4 PM timeslot, intended to reach the youth viewing population after school. Each episode was a drama that tackled tough topics relevant to teenage life such as sex, drugs, divorce, sex, drugs, alcoholism, sex, drugs, crushing on your teacher, sex, drugs, illiteracy, sex, drugs…you get the picture.

ABCs Afterschool Special

Say No to drugs... and plaid shirts

The goal for these morality shows was to show teens in situations like being pregnant, or addicted to drugs and demonstrating the consequences of their choices. Sometimes the teens were faced with ordeals such as the loss of a parent, or bullying.

As for me and my crew, we almost considered these shows more like lightweight soap operas, amused by the melodrama and hilariously intense background music, yet disappointed at how watered down the the story lines were compared to what was happening in our neighborhood. Episodes like "The Late Great Me," about a girl who started drinking to impress her boyfriend, was more so a reprieve from the   real life drama of, say, finding out your dad is back smoking crack.

Nevertheless, ABCs Afterschool Specials did a lot to show teen viewers that the issues affecting them were important enough to tackle, and corny music or not, succeeded in leaving an impact on our culture.

Next post, I will explore some of the memorable (and forgetful) "Afterschool" eps.

Stay tuned!