''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 differ ...

for children that aired Saturday mornings on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

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 anim ...

. Similar to both ''

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 ...

'' 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 ABC ...

'', 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 programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

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 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 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. Tyler has been credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie Tyler & Lester. Willie Tyler recorded "Cannibal" for Motown Records in 1968, but it was not rele ...

and his dummy

Lester Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisc ...

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, 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 sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with visu ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ABC Weekend Specials 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

Weekend Special "Weekend Special" is the debut single by the South African recording group Brenda and the Big Dudes taken from their debut studio album ''Weekend Special'' (1983). It was written by Melvyn Matthews, as was the B-side "Life Is Going On". "Wee ...

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