 | I skipped detention to watch this!?
rating: 4
I'm gonna share a Patriarch secret with you. I was born after the whole after-school special phenomenon. Or at least not while it was in it's prime. I never got to disembark the great Big Yellow and a wait for dinner under the tender embrace of the after-school special. Of course, after watching these I'm kind of glad that I didn't. Even though the 70s was the most evil decade, second only to the 90s, the shows weren't immoral and satanic like they are today. 8 years of Clinton can really mess up your global empire.
First we have the first after-school special ever, I assume, as it is the first one on the DVD series, The 18th emergency. This little film concerns some kid called rat, or mouse, or Benji. Mouse gets into a fight with the school bully over some evolution debate or something. Hammerman the school bully is a creationist so Mouse calls him a Neanderthal. It's like a remake of the Scopes monkey trial. Nah, I'm just kidding ya, except for the part about Mouse calling him a Neanderthal. See I like to lighten things up.
Anyway, Mouse runs around the city from the school bully for most of the duration of this film. Along the way he gets into little misadventures like having to take this vegetable stroke-victim guy around town. This scares me because I'm a cripple-phobic. From time to time, the scene cuts to a cartoon segment that gives you tips on how to survive in the wild. After watching this movie I don't feel like I'm more prepared to go vis-a-vis with the school bully anytime soon, but I know what to do if I'm ever attacked by a bear, lion, or ape.
Mouse also has this strange habit of drawing arrows all over the place, with an description. Example: he'll write doorknob and draw an arrow pointing to the doorknob. Give the kid a break this was before video games. I'm sure you're so excited to learn about how this classic film ends so I won't spoil how it ends for you.
All in all, 18th emergency was kind of fun, has me a pinin' for the good ol' days. The good ol' days being anytime before Clinton was sworn in. The second feature on this DVD is Summer of the Swan. This is like a girlie after-school special. But since the first feature was for boys, this makes sense.
Swan has to do with putting others before yourself, and that you should always spend time with your little brother. Sarah is having "the worst summer of her entire life." Mainly because she is stuck taking care of her borderline autistic brother. She also is developing manic-depressive order, "One minute I'm laughing and the next minute I'm crying!" That is if you beleive in that psycho-babble.
Anywho, she leaves her little brother outside where he is accosted by the bully's underling from the last episode. At least these specials are consistent. The bullies are playing keep-away with the boy when all of a sudden Peter Brady comes to the rescue! Later on while Sarah's washing her sneakers who should pop up but...Jan Brady! This special is like Night of the Living Bradys. It would have been better if she had arrived wearing her trademark black afro wig. "Look it's the new Jan Brady!"
After totally dissing Jan for no reason, she takes her brother to the lake to see some swans. Then the kid gets lost. That's about it. If you're a gawky seventies girl this show should cheer you up. It's like a remake of the ugly duckling.
When all's said and done I watched these and since I like the seventies I wasn't entirely bored. I did dock it one star for the evolution propaganda though. Can't let that pass. Bye everyone, stay funky.
|
Afterschool DVD
rating: 4
Wished they put on DVD the PBS shows, Bread & Buterflies, Inside Out and Self, Inc.! Watched them in school!
|
Kids today should watch these.....
rating: 5
Too bad ABC doesn't air After School Specials anymore. Kids today would learn alot about how to work things out a better way instead of the violent way. I'm buying all of the volumes so that my child can watch these programs just as I did when I was a child.
|
The Day My Kid Went Punk
rating: 5
does anyone have this later afterschool special on tape?? i can't wait for the last season to come out on dvd!!
email me: jensay27@hotmail.com
|
Oh. My. God...
rating: 5
...I thought this was stuck in the category "TV Shows Nobody Remembers But Me"; but I was wrong! These shows are now such a part of our popular culture that you might think they're just cliché, or perhaps a (sub)urban legend; but you'd be wrong, too! Make no mistake, folks; if you want a show with a clear moral and hefty dose of "edu-tainment", this is it! Relive the good old days, from Vietnam and Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan and Greneda.
|
|
