''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...
for children that aired Saturday mornings on
ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
and
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
.
Similar to both ''
ABC Afterschool Special'' and ''
The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'', 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
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
and
pre-teen audience. The main focus of ''ABC Weekend Special'' was to encourage children to read.
With the debut of the ''ABC Weekend Special'', some of the early ''ABC Afterschool Special''s that had been targeted towards younger viewers were subsequently repackaged and re-run instead as ''ABC Weekend Special''s.
Presenters/Hosts
1979–1981:
Michael Young served as host of the series for two seasons.
1981–1984:
Willie Tyler and his dummy
Lester took over as the new hosts of the series, a