''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

for children that aired Saturday mornings on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

from September 10, 1977 to August 30, 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both

live-action 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 feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

and

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

. Similar to both ''

ABC Afterschool Special ''ABC Afterschool Special'' is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controve ...

'' and ''

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the ...

'', the ''ABC Weekend Special'' differed in that it was primarily aimed at younger viewers following ABC's

Saturday-morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a ...

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 human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

and

pre-teen Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is c ...

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 Michael Young may refer to: Academics * Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), British life peer, sociologist and social activist * Michael Young (educationalist), British educational theorist and sociologist * Michael K. Youn ...

served as host of the series for two seasons. 1981–1984:

Willie Tyler Willie Tyler (born September 8, 1940) is an American ventriloquist, comedian and actor. He has been credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie Tyler & Lester. Tyler recorded the album ''Hello Dummy'' for Motown Records, released in 1965. He al ...

and his dummy

Lester Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester Oliver Bankhead (1912–1997), American architect * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from ...

took over as the new hosts of the series, appearing in an opening segment introducing that week's episode as well as an ending segment wrapping up the show and often recommending the book that that week's episode had been based on. 1984–1989: The puppet character Cap'n O. G. Readmore took over as host of the series, along with

Jon "Bowzer" Bauman Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947) is an American singer, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's Sha Na Na character Bowzer was a greaser in a muscle shirt. Biography and career Bauman was bo ...

, and/or other celebrity guest co-hosts. The character also starred in five animated episodes of the show, as well appearing in animated Saturday morning PSAs encouraging children to "read more".

Title sequence

During the series' tenure on Saturday Mornings, ''ABC Weekend Specials'' had three main opening

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

packages, all of which included storybook/literary elements and characters in varying forms.

List of episodes

Listed by original airdate; however, many of the episodes were put into heavy rotation, continuing to air in reruns for years after their original airdate.

Short Story Specials (1977)

Four episodes:

Season 1 (1977–1978)

14 episodes:

Season 2 (1978–1979)

12 episodes:

Season 3 (1979–1980)

12 episodes:

Season 4 (1980–1981)

Eight episodes:

Season 5 (1981–1982)

Six episodes:

Season 6 (1983)

Nine episodes:

Season 7 (1984)

Nine episodes:

Season 8 (1984–1985)

Eight episodes:

Season 9 (1985)

Nine episodes:

Season 10 (1986)

Nine episodes:

Season 11 (1988)

Four episodes:

Season 12 (1988–1989)

Five episodes:

Season 13 (1991)

Three episodes:

Season 14 (1992)

Three episodes:

Season 15 (1992–1993)

Eight episodes:

Season 16 (1993–1994)

Three episodes:

Season 17 (1994–1996)

Six episodes:

Other specials

Occasionally, during the ''Weekend Specials'' timeslot, ABC aired a series of specials under the title ''ABC Saturday Morning Specials''. Two ''ABC's Wide World of Sports for Kids'' specials were also produced in 1994.

List of other specials

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s 1977 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1970s American anthology television series 1980s American anthology television series 1990s American anthology television series 1970s American children's television series 1980s American children's television series 1990s American children's television series American Broadcasting Company television dramas American English-language television shows American television series with live action and animation American television shows featuring puppetry Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Disney