ABC Weekend Specials

Back in the early-80s, on Saturday mornings, if my dad didn't drag me off to work with him (he was a plumber and electrician) -- I would stay home and watch the Weekend Specials on ABC. I had many favorites: "Land of Og" (about those little green guys who lived under ground); "Zack and the Magic Factory (the beginning was so intriguing -- the boy arriving by taxi at night at the front of this ominous-looking building, and the creepy monster and gadgetry guarding the inside of entranceway -- scared the be-Jesus out of the boy, riveted me to the sofa); and "The Haunted Mansion Mystery" (where the boy and girl are trapped under an old mansion in a secret room, which they think is haunted by the spirit of a rich old man -- who one day, miserly, hauled his money home from the bank in a wheelbarrow and died there, leaving his skeleton to entertain the boy and girl in the secret room). They just don't make programs for children of that quality anymore. I could mention many other shows, but I don't think there is space enough here.

I feel obligated to comment on this. Up until the Disney takeover of ABC, every Saturday morning for many, many years, this show was on. Every week a different children's TV movie was presented, and sometimes the story was about Capt. O.G. Readmore and his friends. (The official mascot for the show for the later years.) This was a refugee from the 80's that must have firmly planted itself into everyone's minds as being a Saturday morning standard. I don't know how many times I saw "Ralph S. Mouse" on it... It's too bad that no kids will be able to watch decades old hour long cartoon sagas anymore. For many of us, I am sure it's been cemented in our minds.

I had almost completely forgotten about the Captain and his friends and all the mornings I had actually woken up on time to watch them until my friend and I were talking on the phone one night. She says "What is this on Channel 99?" I turn on the TV and there's Cap't Readmore talking about Jack and the Beanstalk. I think I nearly went into shock. This was a little celebrated piece of the 80's and a memory of ABC before the Disney takeover (when they used to play good Saturday Cartoons).

Yeah, I remember them, I also remember the old intro showing a girl with a baseball cap blowing a big gum bubble and then all these different images would come out of the book that opened. I was just telling my children about how Saturday's were really for the kids with us having our own news show in between cartoons called "In The News" with a globe being the trade mark of the show. I even told them how they used a lot of the commercials to inform us about how to take care of ourselves. Anyone remembers "Yuk Mouth"?, I even remember all the school house rock segments that kept us on our toes as to not remember what we learned in school. I told them that I was going to write ABC and recommend that they bring a lot of those things back. of course in restored condition. I honestly do feel sorry for the young generation, we really did get a break on Saturday's.

This was one of the best shows from the retro-Saturdays as I like to call them. I always looked forward to seeing them. I liked them so much I even watched them as a teen. My favorite was "Adventures of a Two Minute Werewolf". I read the book in 5th grade and even taped the show from ABC. Unfortunately, I accidentally taped over it. Stupid me. They should bring this show back on. And bring Willie and Lester back. They were the bests hosts of the show.