What Were ABC Afterschool Specials?

ABC after school specials were shown occasionally on weekday afternoons from 1972 until 1996. They offered school-age children something more substantial to watch than the billionth rerun of Gilligan's Island. Broadcast on ABC-TV, the Emmy-winning series featured educational documentaries and minimovies with cautionary story lines, all covering controversial issues like drug addiction, alcoholism, physical abuse, mental illness, teen pregnancies, AIDS, and homosexuality.

Some of the movie stars that often appeared in the ABC after school specials were Jodie Foster, Kristy McNichol, Rob Lowe, Scott Baio, and Nancy McKeon. The ABC after school specials usually featured the teens that most young people liked and adored.

The ABC after school specials stopped airing on television in 1996. Every once in awhile, one may see a playing of one of the minimovies, but there are no longer any after school specials being written or filmed.

The main goal of the after school special was to educate youths of the possible dangers of various situations that they face daily.