"Dinky Hocker" is a 1978 episode of the American television anthology series ''

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

'', which aired on December 12, 1978. It was based on the 1972 novel ''Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack'' by

M. E. Kerr Marijane Agnes Meaker (May 27, 1927 – November 21, 2022) was an American writer who, along with Tereska Torrès, Tereska Torres, was credited with launching the lesbian pulp fiction genre, the only accessible novels on that theme in the 1950s. ...

Premise

The story revolves around its main protagonist, a large-figured

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

teen who turns to food as her source of comfort because of the neglect she gets from all circles, which includes her upper-middle-class mother, who is more focused on her charity work at a drug rehabilitation center than on her daughter (she believes the only way to make her feel better is by feeding her more food), thus Dinky feels neglected. Dinky's desperation to be noticed receives a surprise boost from another large teen named P. John, who helps her realize that she needs to be herself as she makes a radical change in her life. But when her family fails to notice that she wants to change, Dinky takes matters into her own hands, which ultimately proves effective at a charity event that her mother is involved in. The message gets across to her family, and they finally see that Dinky wants to be accepted as the one thing they failed to notice... a daughter who wants to be loved and not fed with food.

Comparisons to the novel

There were radical changes made to the adaptation of the story. The novel focused more on the observations from a male character, Tucker Woolf, a bookworm who befriends and details the going-ons of the title character and helps her self-esteem while dealing with his own family problems. Tucker's family (his father and journalist mother and an uncle with a drinking problem and an issue with responsibility and commitment) was notably absent from the program. Also the novel was more comedic and hinted at some political views, whereas the TV adaptation toned down some of the elements to make it a little more serious, along with the location setting from

Brooklyn Heights, New York Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

to Los Angeles."Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack"
from Novel Guide

Cast

Wendie Jo Sperber Wendie Jo Sperber (September 15, 1958 – November 29, 2005) was an American actress, known for her performances in the films ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' (1978), ''Bachelor Party'' (1984), and ''Back to the Future'' (1985), as well as the telev ...

as Susan "Dinky" Hocker *

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, beginning a film career in 1930s & 1940s in such films at ''A Christmas Carol'' and ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. She primarily acted in 1950s and 1960s television, and with performances on ...

as Helen Hocker *

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

as John Hocker *

Jon Walmsley Jon Walmsley is a musician, songwriter, actor and producer. Acting career Walmsley is known for his accomplishments as an actor, most notably a nine-season run as Jason Walton on ''The Waltons''. He also returned for all of the ''Waltons'' re ...

as Tucker Woolf

References

External links

* 1978 American television episodes ABC Afterschool Special episodes Television episodes based on works {{tv-episode-stub