1980 NOON on ABC: THE ABC WEEKEND SPECIALS

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The 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, so it totally counts as a Saturday Morning Cartoon in my opinion.

Many people confuse The ABC Weekend Specials with the ABC Afterschool Specials, so let's get this straight right now - Similar to the ABC Afterschool Special that had started five years previous, the ABC Weekend Special differed in that it was primarily aimed at younger viewers following ABC's Saturday Morning cartoon lineup, whereas the ABC Afterschool Special was known for its somewhat more serious, and often dramatic storylines dealing with issues concerning a slightly older teen and pre-teen audience.

Basically, if it felt like you were supposed to learn something about life and/or adolescents from it? It was an ABC Afterschool Special.

Unfortunately, to further complicate matters, they took a bunch of the ABC Afterschool Specials that had been aimed at slightly younger audiences and re-packaged them into episodes of The ABC Weekend Specials.

The ABC Weekend Specials were a huge downer to me, as they signified the End Of The Cartoons. Oh sure, I could probably flip around the dial a bit and find some syndicated cartoons, or over on ABC they always had re-runs of Jonny Quest and The Jetsons if there wasn't a sporting event of any kind that they could air. The ABC Weekend Special meant I had to go get dressed :(

Comments

[zombie1974.livejournal.com]

Marking the end of Saturday Morning Cartoons is why I hate golf.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Golf, Basketball and College Football - THE AXIS OF SATURDAY MORNING EVIL!!!

[aurora77]

Golf and college football and car racing and basketball...

I actually liked gymnastics and didn't mind so much when they occasionally pre-empted my cartoons, though.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

They were all in league with Dick Clark and his accursed American Bandstand GRRRRRR!!!

[aurora77]

Didn't Solid Gold follow up cartoons on another channel?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Solid Gold was syndicated, so possibly a YMMV situation... but Dick Clark's American Bandstand was a Saturday afternoon staple on ABC for 7,000 years before his tyranny was put to an end.