After School Specials 1976-1977

Rating:
Summary: Nicely done educational drama for the kids of the 70's
Review: Here is the sad truth about the video quality. It's not due to bad DVD mastering. These shows were filmed on film but then they were post produced and edited on videotape(Videotronics was the company). Videotape of the 1970's. You get the idea. The best broadcast quality videotape of yesteryear is no match for DVD quality of today (as fans of the classic Norman Lear videotaped sitcoms have found out).

Add to that the deterioration that the master tapes have experienced then it all adds up to that we are seeing it as good as it's ever going to get (unless someone digs up the original film and edit that together).

the packaging is truly inspired and remarkable and the quality concerns were unavoidable.

Rating:
Summary: Good fun with great menus and packaging
Review: I actually don't find the quality to be all that horrible. Looks like I would expect from 70's vidio TV. Colors are nowhere near as vivid as we now expect from HDTV but the shows themselves are fun and include some talent that has gone on to do some new favorites. Also the packaging and full motion animated menus are excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: It's such a great idea to release these shows on DVD and the packaging for these two volumes is really inventive. However, great packaging doesn't make a great DVD. The quality of the shows on these DVDs is bottom of the barrel. I am actually surprised they had the gall to release these. Literally, the picture quality of "The Pinballs" episode is, and I am not exaggerating here, the same as a third generation VHS cassette as if the show were taped off of broadcast television.

The extras are actually worse. The extras consist of still frames from the shows that have been blown up to fill the screen. The images are completely blown out and pixelated. I would have preferred no "extras" than something this bad.

I don't know if it is a blessing that these shows are available at all or if it is just plain insulting that this company is asking people to pay for these horrible reproductions. Overall I think this DVD is an embarrassment. What a shame.

Rating:
Summary: After school with Melissa Sue Anderson, among others...
Review: The mid 70's...that wondrous time between Vietnam and Reaganomics...if you were growing up during that period, like me, you're probably familiar with these shows. Many families needed two incomes to survive (so much more so now), so generally once school let out for the day, you were pretty much on your own until Mom or Dad got home (usually Mom). What to do? There was no MTV (or cable, for that matter) and no Playstation 2...no, if you weren't off messing around with your friends poking dead animals with sticks, you were probably at home, watching After School Specials, dramatic programs designed especially entertain and teach pre-teens about life and issues they could have very well faced, in terms they could understand in an hour-long format (approximately 45 minutes, without the commercials). Each set comes with two DVDs, each containing 2 episodes, or 4 episodes per set. The series (I believe there were something like 26 episodes) was created and produced by Martin Tahse, and won a slew of awards, was really unique in that it was programming for young people that wasn't created to tie into products or sell merchandise, but to speak to them about situations difficult to understand or comprehend, treating its' audience with the respect and intelligence not often seen, not talking down to them but talking to them, and basically relating to them on a level they deserved.

Francesca, Baby (Originally aired 6/10/76) deals with the issue of an alcoholic parent. Francesca (Carol Jones) and her little sister, Kate (Tara Talboy) deals with the burden (in the words of Lost in Space's Dr. Smith, "The shame, the shame...") of a mother who's struggling with a booze monkey on her back. Their father, unable to deal with his alkie-wife, tends to go on a lot of business trips, leaving the girls to fend pretty much for themselves (nice guy, hunh?). Francesca's boyfriend, Bix (Dennis Bowden) tries to get her to go to Ala-Teen, a program for kids with alcoholic parents, but she's too embarrassed, that is until her drunken stumblebum mother nearly kills them all by falling into a boozy sleep with a lit coffin nail (cigarette). Francesca sees her own embarrassment is a rather paltry, trifling matter when weighed against the lives of her, her sister, and her mother.

In Beat the Turtle Drum (Originally aired 4/6/77), Kate (Melissa Sue Anderson) must deal with the accidental death, caused by the rapid deceleration of hitting the ground after falling from a tree (you canna change the laws of physics, captain) of her younger sister Joss (Katy Kurtzman). Could Kate have prevented the accident? Is she to blame for death of the more popular of the two sisters? (everyone knows in families with multiple children, there's always a favorite, despite what the parents say) She searches for answers and, I guess, a sense of closure to the tragedy, by involving a number of different people (more like bothering), gaining insight she didn't have before. Ultimately she learns sometimes things just happen, and while it's easy enough to take the blame and burden one's own soul, it may not always be hers to take (although I think it was).

The Pinballs (Originally aired 10/26/77) deals with three kids who develop a friendship in a foster home. There's Carlie (Kristy McNichol), a voracious liar, constantly making up stuff about her past, Thomas J. (Sparky Marcus) who was sent to the home after his guardians (his two twin aunts) get sick and can't care for him anymore, and finally Harvey (Johnny Doran), who suffers from a pair of broken legs (ouch) after his rummy father confused the boy for the driveway (double ouch). Basically the three learn that while their lives may suck (and they do), there's value to be had in friendship and a positive outlook, rather than focusing on the negatives (like being a `pinball', bouncing around from place to place).

The fourth and final episode in this collection is set in the olden times, and by that I mean covered wagons, log cabins, outhouses and such, titled Trouble River (Originally aired 11/12/77). Dewey (Michael LeClair) is stuck at the homestead with his old granny (Nora Denny) when his parents leave for a nearby settlement as his mother is about to give birth (procreation was a big thing before the invention of the TV). Things get hairy when news of renegades are in the area causing all kinds of trouble, so Dewey builds a raft and does a Tom Sawyer bit with his grandmother hoping to reach the settlement where his parents went to have the baby. The trip is a difficult one, as not only must Dewey face the trials and tribulations of navigating the raft through treacherous waters, but he must also deal with his pain in the behind grandmother who's stubbornness seems to know no bounds (I probably would have pushed her and her precious rocker into the river and say she fell in). In the end, Dewey learns old people can serve a useful function, rather than be a cumbersome weight dragging you into the abyss.

The quality of the pictures on these DVDs is not the best, but it is as how it was when originally presented, and given these were teleplays made to be presented on television in the 70's, you really can't compare it to today's standards. The packaging is amazing, as the DVDs, enclosed in a regular DVD case, come in a surprisingly detailed reproduction of a Trapper Keeper (oh how we all lusted for organizational capabilities of Trapper Keepers back in the day). Printed inside is a brief synopsis and airdate for each episode, along with the key talent, and the name of the original author for each story. If you liked these, also look for After School Specials 1974-76, available here.

Cookieman108


Rating:
Summary: a great piece of 70s Americana!
Review: These old after school specials have aged very well...Children and teens watching them today would have no trouble identifying with the characters and their issues, especially if they had gone through some of the same things themselves (i.e. having an alcoholic parent, the death of a sibling, etc.). The picture quality on these shows are not bad at all. They may not be digitally remastered, but they are very, very watchable and I have seen MUCH worse! Brentwood Communications/BCI Eclipse (the company that released these shows) continues to amaze me with the stuff they put out; when it comes to quality at a low price, they do not disappoint. It's very rare to find "bargain bin" DVDs, ESPECIALLY of old 70s TV shows that are watchable; if anyone thinks the quality on these shows are bad, check out some of the bargain bin "Lucy Show" DVDs sometime...THAT is poor quality...audio dropouts, horrible color, artifacting, and dirt and grain. These shows have none of those problems. Do yourself a favor and pick these After School Specials up. You won't be disappointed!