Very special episode

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"Very special episode" is an advertising term originally used in American television promos to refer to an episode of a sitcom or drama series which deals with a difficult or controversial social issue. [1] The usage of the term peaked in the 1980s. [2] [3]

Contents

Overview and legacy

History

Traditionally, very special episodes contained either a brief message from the cast or a title card reading either "Viewer Discretion Advised" or "Parental Discretion Advised", alerting viewers to the potentially graphic or disturbing nature of the episode and giving them time to decide if they wanted to watch it. [4]

Topics

Popular topics covered in very special episodes include abortion, birth control, sex education, racism, sexism, death, narcotics, pregnancy (particularly teenage pregnancy and unintended pregnancy), asthma, hitchhiking, kidnapping, suicide, drunk driving, drug use, sexual abuse, child abuse, child abandonment, sexual assault, violence, cults and HIV/AIDS. [3] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Portrayals

How a topic is portrayed can vary drastically from show to show, and its portrayal is influenced by a number of factors, including the personal beliefs of those involved in the show, advertising concerns, cultural attitudes, and the show's format, genre, and broadcasting company. [6] [7] [8] The Atlantic summarizes the core values of a very special episode as thus:

The main characters beloved by viewers would inevitably avoid serious harm. The dangers posed by story lines were more threats than actual occurrences, and on the occasion that bad things did happen, they usually happened to ancillary characters whom audiences cared less about. This selective meting of moral justice kept lessons from becoming too morbid, while still allowing episodes to serve as cautionary tales. [7]

Public reception

The purpose of a very special episode is generally to raise awareness of an issue and encourage those affected to seek help if necessary. For example, the Diff'rent Strokes episode "The Bicycle Man", in the same year it was released, influenced a child in La Porte, Indiana, to inform his mother of a pedophile in the area, and the LaPorte police department credited the episode for the man's arrest. [10] The Washington Post called the episode "a calm, careful and intelligent treatment of a difficult and potentially traumatizing subject. There seems little possibility that watching this program would do children harm, and considerable likelihood it could do them good." [11]

Comedian Frank Caliendo spoofed this concept with "TV Promos" and "A Very Special Seinfeld" on his 2002 album Make the Voices Stop. [12]

Notably, Larry David, producer and co-creator of Seinfeld , was reportedly strongly opposed to having a very special episode in the series, with the motto of writers and cast being "No hugging, no learning". [13] [14] [15]

The concept was also spoofed on the 1996 Animaniacs episode "A Very Very Very Very Special Show" where Yakko, Wakko and Dot attempt to teach politically correct lessons in order to win a Humanitarian Animation Award. [16]

Notable examples

See also

Notes

  1. Tropiano, Michael and Stephanie Tropiano. The Prime Time Closet. Hal Leonard, 2002. 232. ISBN   1-55783-557-8.
  2. Nussbaum, Emily. (April 13, 2003). "When episodes could still be very special", The New York Times . Retrieved on January 13, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Silverman, Ben. "A very special episode of... When sitcoms get serious". MSN TV. Microsoft. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009.
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  5. 1 2 Dyess-Nugent, Phil. "A 'very special' Diff'rent Strokes that's terrifying for all the wrong reasons". The A.V. Club . G/O Media. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Betancourt, Manuel (February 21, 2019). "A Very Special Episode, but Maybe Not So Precious" . The New York Times.
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  8. 1 2 Adams, Erik (February 3, 2017). "Very special episodes were a joke—now they're the whole sitcom". The A.V. Club. G/O Media.
  9. A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE: THE MIXTAPE|Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
  10. Hastings, Julianne (September 20, 1983). "TV World;NEWLN:Networks target shows to fight child abuse". United Press International . Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  11. Shales, Tom (February 12, 1983). "A Bold Show Treated with Care". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  12. Frank Caliendo Make the Voices Stop Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic , retrieved May 24, 2022
  13. McWilliams, Amy. "Genre Expectation and Narrative Innovation in Seinfeld". In Seinfeld: Master of Its Domain: Revisiting Television's Greatest Sitcom. David Lavery with Sara Lewis Dunne, eds. New York: Continuum, 2006. p. 82. ISBN   0-8264-1803-1.
  14. Colburn, Randall (May 10, 2018). "'No hugging, no learning': 20 years on Seinfeld's mantra still looms large". the Guardian . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  15. Kosner, Edward (August 12, 2016). "No Hugging, No Learning: The 'Seinfeld' Credo" . The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  16. "Animaniacs" A Very Very Very Very Special Show/Night of the Living Buttons/Soda Jerk (TV Episode 1996) - IMDb
  17. 1 2 3 4 Kovalchik, Kara (March 18, 2013). "12 Very Special 'Very Special Episodes'". Mental Floss . Minute Media.
  18. Shales, Tom (October 16, 1977). "Tonight: Edith Bunker's Ordeal". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN   0190-8286.
  19. 1 2 Beard, Lanford (February 16, 2013). "10 'Very Special Episodes' That Make You Wonder 'Did That Really Air?!'". Entertainment Weekly . Meredith Corporation.
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  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Best Sitcom "Very Special Episodes"|ScreenRant
  23. 1 2 3 Weirdest Captain Planet and the Planeteers Episodes|Collider
  24. Remember when Captain Planet did an episode on AIDS?|Flickering Myth
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  27. 1 2 3 4 Fowler, Matt (June 14, 2012). "The Top 10 Very Special Episodes". IGN . Ziff Davis.
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  50. 1 2 3 4 White, Brett (February 14, 2017). "What 'The Golden Girls' Got Right About Gay Issues In The '80s". Decider . New York Post.
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