After School Specials Collecto

After School Specials were dramatic, some times comedic, 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), often dealing with serious issues like drug and alcohol abuse, teen age pregnancy, and so forth...the series (I believe there were something like 26 episodes) was created and produced by Martin Tahse, which 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. Below is an episode listing with alternate titles.

The 18th Emergency (Originally aired 1/16/74) aka `Pssst, Hammerman's After You'

In Summer of the Swans (Originally aired 10/2/74) aka Sara's Summer of the Swans

The Skating Rink (Originally aired 2/5/75)

Dear Lovey Hart: I Am Desperate (Originally aired 5/19/76)

Francesca, Baby (Originally aired 6/10/76)

In Beat the Turtle Drum (Originally aired 4/6/77)

The Pinballs (Originally aired 10/26/77)

Trouble River (Originally aired 11/12/77)

It's A Mile from Here to Glory (Originally aired 5/5/78)

Thank You, Jackie Robinson (Originally aired 10/11/78) aka A Home Run for Love

Gaucho (Originally aired 10/25/78)

My Other Mother (Originally aired 9/26/79) aka Which Mother Is Mine?

A Special Gift (Originally aired 10/24/79)

The Gold Test (Originally aired 2/13/80) aka Heartbreak Winner

What Are Friends For? (Originally aired 3/19/80) aka What Are Best Friends For?

Schoolboy Father (Originally aired 10/15/80)

A Matter of Time (Originally aired 2/11/1981)

First Step (Originally aired 9/23/1981) aka She Drinks a Little

Tough Girl (Originally aired 10/28/1981)

The Night Swimmers (Originally aired 3/3/1982) aka Daddy, I'm Their Mama Now

Two Loves for Jenny (Originally aired 10/27/1982) aka Between Two Loves

Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea? (Originally aired 12/27/1983) aka Andrea's Story: A Hitchhiking Tragedy

Ace Hits the Big Time (Originally aired 10/28/1985)

Face at the Edge of the World (Originally aired 9/17/1986) aka A Desperate Exit

The quality of the video on these DVDs is not the best, but it is as how it was when originally televised, and given these were teleplays made to be presented on television in the 70's, you really can't compare it to today's production standards.

Cookieman108

Many of the after school specials were brilliant. They entertained while giving us life lesson with small morality plays. Alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, and teen parenthood were addressed. I enjoyed everyone of them and made a point to learn from the kids plights and mistakes. Unfortunately Amy and the Angel, one of my favorites that dealt with depression and teen suicide is missing from this series so I can't give it a 5th star. That doesn't mean the series isn't good. Just that I found it lacking for not being a complete collection. If you want to go down memory lane. This series is awesome. If your looking for films to watch with your kids and have a discussion about the subject matter afterward then its a 5 star purchase.

If it's your aim to get a complete collection of all the Afterschool Specials, this isn't it. In fact, even the other 4 or 5 sets with a couple years worth of episodes grouped together are suffering from the same omissions. Some missing episodes include:

The Amazing Cosmic Awareness Of Duffy Moon

P.J. and the President's Son

Me and My Dad's New Wife

The Boy Who Drank Too Much

The Wave

My Mother and the Monster

Bridge Of Adam Rush

Summer Switch

These sets are very misleading, allowing the buyer to believe they are getting all of the episodes. In my eyes, just the fact that The Boy Who Drank Too Much isn't included is enough to nix the idea of buying the set (Scott Baio and Lance Kerwin are stellar, believable teens in this excellently written and acted drama) The price they are asking for this set and the other split sets is ridiculous, and for that much money certainly it should be complete and then some.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  3.2 out of 5 stars