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| ABC Weekend Special | |
|---|---|
 Main title card | |
| Genre | Saturday morning anthology |
| Starring | Cap'n O. G. Readmore |
| Theme music composer | Tommy Leonetti (1977–90) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 17 |
| No. of episodes | 132 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 10, 1977 – August 30, 1997 |
| Related | |
ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated.[1] Similar to both ABC Afterschool Special and The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, the ABC Weekend Special differed in that it was primarily aimed at younger viewers following ABC's Saturday-morning cartoon 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 and pre-teen audience. The main focus of ABC Weekend Special was to encourage children to read.[2]
With the debut of the ABC Weekend Special, some of the early ABC Afterschool Specials that had been targeted towards younger viewers were subsequently repackaged and re-run instead as ABC Weekend Specials.
Presenters/hosts
1979–1981: Michael Young served as host of the series for two seasons.
1981–1984: Willie Tyler and his dummy Lester 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 packages, all of which included storybook/literary elements and characters in varying forms.
January 29, 1977–August 1990 |
The Pop-Up Book
The original opening, designed and animated by Rick Reinert Studios, consisted of a stack of books on a library desk accompanied by a rhythmic disco theme tune in the background. A larger book in the middle of the display (with the show's title printed on the cover) magically opens, with the ABC logo printed on the first page. Various figures from literature and intertitles pop up from out of the book. The intertitles read Children's Novels for Television and Short Story Specials respectively. The series title "blossoms" into view at the end of the intro. This was the longest running umbrella sequence in the show's broadcast history. |
September 1990–September 1994 |
Reading is Magic
With a new decade comes a new visual sequence and theme song. For this package, Weekend Specials combined computer animation with live action elements, as neighborhood kids discover the wonders of reading with a turn of a page and a little bit of magic. When the enchanted books are open, the readers become part of the story...from cowboys to undersea explorers to cave kids. One of the books (with the series title printed on the cover) magically grows and flips open, with Cap'n O. G. Readmore ushering the readers for fun and adventure. This opener was animated by San Diego-based American Film Technologies, with key animation by comic book artist Terrie Smith. |
September 1994–August 30, 1997 |
Adventures in Reading
During the mid-1990s, the graphics package was again updated. This CGI opener takes place back at the library, where we pan through a row of books. The camera stops at a book with the ABC Circle signature printed on the side. The logo then magically pops out and grows arms and legs and leaps to a book on a nearby desk. It opens the book and dives into an array of worlds and universes inhabited by letters! The Circle figure fights off combatants at a medieval castle, swings a vine in the jungle and flies through the solar system in its spacecraft. The Circle figure ends its journey on the front cover of a book with the show's title beside it. |
| Closing Credits
The closing sequence varied over the years. In the 1970s and 1980s, a short version of the theme played as a bookmark floats into view, gently landing in the closing Pop-Up Book. An intertitle fades in: "Recommended by the National Education Association". The NEA intertitle was used until c. 1983. |
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:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentine's Second Chance | Jan 29, 1977 | ABC Circle Films | A safecracker (Ken Berry) receives a second chance at freedom when he risks arrest to open a time-locked safe to save the life of a young boy named Joe Willie (Sean Marshall). |
| 2 | The Haunted Trailer | Mar 26, 1977 | Sharon (Lauren Tewes) and Mickey (Monie Ellis) are teenage sisters who discover that their motor home is haunted by four pesky male ghosts and join forces in their efforts to rid their home of the unwanted guests. | |
| 3 | My Dear Uncle Sherlock | Apr 16, 1977 | A 12-year-old amateur sleuth (Robbie Rist) teams with his detective uncle (Royal Dano) to find the culprit who robbed a wealthy old recluse. | |
| 4 | Homer and the Wacky Doughnut Machine | Apr 30, 1977 | Homer, a mechanically-inclined young boy (Michael LeClair), invents an automatic doughnut making machine to help save his uncle's (David Doyle) faltering coffee shop. |
Season 1 (1977–1978)
14 episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | The Winged Colt | Sep 10, 1977 | ABC Circle Films | (Part 1) Uncle Coot, a former movie stuntman and ranch owner (Slim Pickens) and his nephew Charles (Ike Eisenmann) become the owners of a colt born with wings. |
| 6 | Sep 17, 1977 | (Part 2) Uncle Coot refuses to believe the colt can fly, but Charles is convinced that it will. | ||
| 7 | Sep 24, 1977 | (Part 3) When the winged colt disappears again, Charles goes in pursuit and runs into an old hermit (Keenan Wynn) who claims he has seen Comet fly. | ||
| 8 | The Ransom of Red Chief | Oct 22, 1977 | Two inept con men (Jack Elam and Strother Martin) kidnap a financier's son – a mischievous boy who calls himself Red Chief (Patrick Petersen) – and request a large ransom for his return, but the boy turns the tables on his captors. | |
| 9 | Portrait of Grandpa Doc | Nov 05, 1977 | Phoenix Films | A young artist (Bruce Davison) prepares a tribute to his loving grandfather (Melvyn Douglas), a man who encouraged him to pursue his dreams. |
| 10 | Trouble River | Nov 12, 1977 | Martin Tahse Productions | (Part 1) A young boy (Michael LeClair) and his grandmother (Nora Denney) ride a makeshift raft down a dangerous river to escape from a group of renegades. |
| 11 | Nov 19, 1977 | (Part 2) | ||
| 12 | Tales of the Nunundaga | Nov 26, 1977 | 20th Century Fox | (Part 1) |
| 13 | Dec 03, 1977 | (Part 2) | ||
| 14 | The Escape of a One-Ton Pet | Jan 07, 1978 | Tomorrow Entertainment | (Part 1) A young girl tries to save her prizewinning bull from the butcher shop. |
| 15 | Jan 14, 1978 | (Part 2) | ||
| 16 | Jan 21, 1978 | (Part 3) | ||
| 17 | Soup and Me | Feb 04, 1978 | ABC Circle Films | The misadventures of two friends, Soup (Christian Berrigan) and Rob (Shane Sinutko) during one October day: skinny dipping in a chilly pond, dressing up as girls to avoid a bully and destroying a Halloween party with an out-of-control baby carriage carrying a giant pumpkin. |
| 18 | The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy | May 6, 1978 | Ruby-Spears | Petey the puppy (voiced by Todd Turquand) goes through a series of harrowing adventures as he sets out to the city to adopt a boy of his own. |
Season 2 (1978–1979)
12 episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody | Sep 09, 1978 | Learning Corporation of America | Joanna Peabody (Star-Shemah) is granted seven wishes by Aunt Thelma, a wise fairy godmother (Butterfly McQueen) who appears on Joanna's TV screen. Joanna squanders a few wishes before she learns the value of sharing. |
| 20 | The Contest Kid and the Big Prize | Sep 16, 1978 | ABC Circle Films | Harvey Small, a 12-year-old boy (Patrick Petersen) enters a contest and wins first prize: the services of a butler named Hawkins (John Williams) for one month. |
| 21 | If I'm Lost, How Come I Found You? | Sep 30, 1978 | (Part 1) | |
| 22 | Oct 07, 1978 | (Part 2) | ||
| 23 | The $100,000 Bill | Oct 28, 1978 | An insecure insurance salesman (Donny Most) asserts his independence by telling off his boss and quitting his job when he finds a large amount of cash and later discovers he possesses counterfeit 1,000 dollar bills. | |
| 24 | Little Lulu | Nov 04, 1978 | Little Lulu (Lauri Hendler), the mischievous little girl with big goals, and her friends crusade for women's rights when the boys object to the fact that their summer camp, Camp Whackadoo, has become co-ed. | |
| 25 | Soup for President | Nov 18, 1978 | Soup (Christian Berrigan) runs for school president against Janice Riker (Mary Margaret Patts), the toughest kid in school. | |
| 26 | Weep No More, My Lady | Feb 10, 1979 | Ruby-Spears | Skeeter (voiced by Jeremy Lawrence), a young Mississippi boy, adopts a courageous dog named My Lady and together they challenge the dangers of a scary swamp when they are both held prisoner by a vengeful man. |
| 27 | The Horse That Played Centerfield | Feb 24, 1979 | (Part 1) The N.Y. Goats baseball team have not won a game yet, but manager Casey Balloo (voiced by John Erwin) has a brainstorm – he sends in Oscar, a horse who is very good at catching oranges – to catch flys in center field and figures that the team's playing will improve. Oscar manages to lead the Goats to victory. | |
| 28 | Mar 03, 1979 | (Part 2) With Oscar as a permanent team member, the Goats make it to the World Series. When the Goats win the first three games, Oscar is suddenly "horsenapped" and everyone sets out on a wild hunt to rescue him before the Series is lost. | ||
| 29 | The Baby with Four Fathers | Mar 31, 1979 | D'Angelo/Bullock/Allen Productions | In 1946 New York City, four 11-year-old boys (Al Billera, Patrick Piccininni, Albert Ferrara, Eric Gurry) encounter problems when they find an abandoned baby girl and decide to "adopt" her. |
| 30 | The Puppy's Great Adventure | May 12, 1979 | Ruby-Spears | Petey (voiced by Bryan Scott) is determined to prove he is an individual when his new owner is adopted by parents who do not like dogs. |
Season 3 (1979–1980)
12 episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | The Big Hex of Little Lulu | Sep 15, 1979 | ABC Circle Films | Little Lulu (Lauri Hendler) uses a fortune teller, pickle-flavored ice cream and her active imagination in a scheme to convince her friend Tubby (Kevin King Cooper) to donate money for uniforms for the neighborhood hockey team. |
| 32 | The Contest Kid Strikes Again | Sep 22, 1979 | Harvey the contest kid (Patrick Petersen) wins a flock of chickens and uses them to help his friend Hawkins (Alan Napier) out of a financial predicament. | |
| 33 | The Girl with ESP | Oct 20, 1979 | Laura Hoffman (Rachel Longaker), a seemingly average young girl, suddenly finds her world turned upside down when she discovers she can envision events a few minutes into the future. | |
| 34 | The Ghost of Thomas Kempe | Nov 03, 1979 | (Part 1) The ghost of a 17th-century sorcerer gets 12-year-old James Harrison (Shane Sinutko) into trouble when the boy refuses to become his apprentice. | |
| 35 | Nov 10, 1979 | (Part 2) Irish handyman Bert Ellison (Garrett O'Connor) volunteers to help James lure the ghost of Thomas Kempe back to its resting place. | ||
| 36 | The Incredible Detectives | Nov 17, 1979 | Ruby-Spears | A trio of pets – Reggie, a bulldog (voiced by Laurie Main); Madame Cheng, a Siamese cat (voiced by Marlene Aragon); and Hennessy, a crow (voiced by Frank Welker) – join forces to rescue their kidnapped master. |
| 37 | The Revenge of Red Chief | Dec 15, 1979 | ABC Circle Films | Two drifters (Jack Elam and Noah Beery Jr.) again face Red Chief (Patrick Petersen), the boy who enjoys being kidnapped, who becomes a part of their scheme to sell a fake rain-making machine to a drought-stricken town. |
| 38 | The Puppy's Amazing Rescue | Jan 26, 1980 | Ruby-Spears | Petey (voiced by Bryan Scott) and Dolly (voiced by Nancy McKeon) have to outwit poachers, a hungry bear and a hawk to rescue their humans from an avalanche while celebrating Tommy's birthday at his parents' mountain cabin. |
| 39 | The Gold Bug | Feb 02, 1980 | Highgate Pictures | A young boy (Anthony Michael Hall) joins an ex-slave (Geoffrey Holder) and a treasure hunter (Roberts Blossom) in a wild search for Captain Kidd's buried gold. |
| 40 | Feb 09, 1980 | |||
| 41 | The Trouble with Miss Switch | Feb 16, 1980 | Ruby-Spears | (Part 1) Rupert Brown (voiced by Eric Taslitz) and Amelia Daley (voiced by Nancy McKeon) are classmates who discover that their teacher, Miss Switch (voiced by Janet Waldo), is a witch with a magical talking cat named Bathsheba (voiced by June Foray). |
| 42 | Feb 23, 1980 | (Part 2) Miss Switch and Bathsheba fly to Witch Mountain with Rupert and Amelia in their plan to stop the wicked witch Saturna (voiced by June Foray), who has condemned Miss Switch and taken control of the Witches' Council. |
Season 4 (1980–1981)
Eight episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Scruffy | Oct 04, 1980 | Ruby-Spears | (Part 1) Scruffy (voiced by Nancy McKeon) is a lovable puppy struggling to survive in an unfamiliar world where she loses loved ones, battles fiendish foes and learns the value of loyal friends. |
| 44 | Oct 11, 1980 | (Part 2) Scruffy – frightened and freezing – returns alone to the big city and finds an affectionate new master, a ragged but regal Shakespearean street performer named Tibbles (voiced by Hans Conried). | ||
| 45 | Oct 18, 1980 | (Part 3) Scruffy meets a tough bulldog named Butch (voiced by Michael Bell) who takes her to join his family of strays who have set up a canine commune in an abandoned station wagon. | ||
| 46 | Arthur the Kid | Jan 03, 1981 | ABC Circle Films | Three bumbling outlaws (Marvin Kaplan, Graham Jarvis, Charles Hyman) who advertise in the Medicine Bow Gazette for a "boss" have their careers redirected when a spunky 10-year-old named Arthur (Dennis Dimster) applies for the job. |
| 47 | Zack and the Magic Factory | Jan 10, 1981 | (Part 1) Zack and Jenny (Jim Gatherum and Olivia Barash) are two young people who combine their talents to operate a magic shop. | |
| 48 | Jan 17, 1981 | (Part 2) Zack uses a little magic to save his aunt's (Jane Withers) magic-making factory from the wrecking ball. | ||
| 49 | Mayday! Mayday! | Jan 24, 1981 | (Part 1) Lou Parker (Don Fenwick) and his family are forced to make a crash landing in the High Sierras. With both parents trapped in the plane's wreckage, young Allison (Heather McAdam) and Mark (Brad Savage) set out alone to find help. | |
| 50 | Jan 31, 1981 | (Part 2) The prospects of rescue become increasingly dim as Allison and Mark struggle to elude a pack of wild dogs and encounter a rattlesnake ready to strike. |
Season 5 (1981–1982)
Six episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | The Puppy Saves the Circus | Sep 12, 1981 | Ruby-Spears | Petey (voiced by Sparky Marcus), after suffering a memory loss, finds fame as a performer, which saves the fortunes of a struggling family circus. |
| 52 | The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County | Sep 19, 1981 | ABC Circle Films | A modern adaptation of the short story by Mark Twain about a young scoundrel (Billy Jacoby) who plots to win a frog-jumping contest at all costs. |
| 53 | Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit | Jan 09, 1982 | Ruby-Spears | After a family adopts an abandoned baby rabbit, Bunnicula, mysterious happenings lead the family cat Chester (voiced by Howard Morris) and dog Harold (voiced by Jack Carter) to suspect their new peer is a vampire. |
| 54 | Miss Switch to the Rescue | Jan 16, 1982 | (Part 1) When Amelia (voiced by Nancy McKeon) is kidnapped by Mordo the warlock (voiced by Hans Conried), Miss Switch (voiced by Janet Waldo) returns to help Rupert (voiced by Eric Taslitz) rescue his friend. | |
| 55 | Jan 23, 1982 | (Part 2) Saturna the wicked witch (voiced by June Foray) is the real power behind this diabolical plot. Amelia begins to fade away and vanishes – a disappearance Miss Switch knows will be permanent, unless Amelia is rescued by nightfall. | ||
| 56 | The Joke's on Mr. Little | Feb 06, 1982 | ABC Circle Films | An unusual school teacher (Richard Sanders) uses a little creativity to out-trick an inventive pair of pranksters (K.C. Martel and Georg Olden). |
| 57 | Stanley, the Ugly Duckling | May 1, 1982 | Fine Arts Films | A modernized take on the classic fairy tale that follows an ugly duckling (voiced by Susan Blu) who befriends a loner fox and learns a lesson about self-esteem. |
Season 6 (1983)
Nine episodes:
| No. | Title | Airdate | Production Company | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | The Haunted Mansion Mystery | Jan 08, 1983 | Scholastic Productions | (Part 1) Angel Wilson (Tristine Skyler) and her neighbor Billy (Christian Slater) embark on a quest to investigate the mystery surrounding an old mansion haunted by an old miser. |
| 59 | Jan 15, 1983 | (Part 2) | ||
| 60 | The Red Room Riddle | Feb 05, 1983 | Hightide | Two youngsters (Billy Jacoby and Nicholas Gilbert) are trapped in an eerie haunted mansion by a ghost (Christian Hoff) who tells them that to escape, they must solve the riddle of the red room. |
| 61 | Horatio Alger Updated: Frank and Fearless | Feb 12, 1983 | ABC Circle Films | (Part 1) |
| 62 | Feb 19, 1983 | (Part 2) | ||
| 63 | All the Money in the World | Mar 19, 1983 | A 13-year-old boy (Nyles Harris) gets three wishes from a leprechaun (Dick Beals), and wishes for all the money in the world. He then learns about the real-life ramifications of such a wish. | |
| 64 | The Secret World of Og | Apr 30, 1983 | Hanna-Barbera | (Part 1) Five young siblings – Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy and Pollywog (voiced by Marissa Mendenhall, Noelle North, Josh Rodine, Brittany Wilson and Julie McWhirter) – journey to the underground magical and mysterious world of Og, which is inhabited by small green people. |
| 65 | May 7, 1983 | (Part 2) The children and their pets continue their journey through Og. Penny and Pollywog are jailed by Og's little green town sheriff (voiced by Hamilton Camp). |