MetaFilter posts tagged with afterschoolspecial

Duncan can't have his cake and eat it, too.

not_on_display — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:34:50 -0800

"My name's Duncan. I was just a lonely 13-year-old with a rapid aging disease until I met..." Cakey! The Cake from Outer Space! [ episode 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 ; each episode 4-5 minutes. Borderline NSFW. Must like talking cake. ]

West Hollywood Side Story

Christ, what an asshole — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:31:45 -0800

The quintessential gangfight of the 80s. Vintage afterschool specials, like wine, only get better with age.
On the day he enters Kennedy High in Manhattan wearing a patch over one eye, sixteen-year-old Horace Hobart is urged to join what he believes is the toughest gang at school.
Now you can enjoy the entire run of the 1985 CBS Schoolbreak Special, Ace Hits the Big Time. (1 2 3 4 5)
It's very likely the same minds were responsible for this scene.

High School Fascism Redux

mediocre — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:57:36 -0800

In 1981, ABC aired a program in daytime that, while pre-dating the After School Special format, was a moralist tale aimed at children. "The Wave" was based on the classroom experiments of Ron Jones, which at the time went largely undocumented and were primarily anecdotal. The Third Wave as he called it, fooled the children of his class into creating a fascististic movement within the school complete with symbolism and salutes. Like "The Day After" before it [previously], The Wave [the whole 45 minute feature hosted at Google Video] became a piece of oft-compulsory viewing for many high school students. Ron Jones became infamous for his experiment, often coming under fire for playing with the minds of teenagers in such potentially harmful ways. And to many, it was just as disturbing in different ways. Proving how easy it is to manipulate young people into herd mentality and fascist thinking, the movie and experiment has proven timeless. A book based on the special was written, stage productions have been mounted, various other schools have attempted to re-create the experiment with varying degrees of success. Recently, a German production based on Jones' writings and experiment, "Die Welle" was released in March of this year and follows much the same plot. Though with the added intrigue of them being German students who don't believe that anyone could fall into such thinking in this day and age, they quickly fall into line with Die Welle and their salutes and marches. To this day it remains a frightening study in the potential of mass human cruelty.

Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea?

GaelFC — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 23:18:01 -0800

After School Specials. Is that a Trapper Keeper in your locker or are you just happy to see me? Next month, two volumes of ABC's "After School Specials" will be released on DVD (in DVD sets designed to look like Trapper Keepers). After the first two sets, at least four more will follow. TV Shows on DVD has the names of many the specials ("Schoolboy Father," "She Drinks a Little," "Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea?") to jog your memory. Of course, Jump the Shark has plenty of memories of them, too. And anyone who saw Helen Hunt host "SNL" knows that in at least one (possibly two), she jumps out the window. Those were the days.