Very special episode

"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]

Usage

The term was generally used in reference to sitcoms as a way of highlighting that the normally lighthearted show would be dealing with a more serious topic. During these episodes, the laugh track was largely absent, or, in the alternative, the live studio audience present during the taping of the show rarely responded with laughter. Often a "very special episode" concerns a moral issue. For some shows, one of the main actors would address the audience before the opening credits out of character to let the audience know the nature of the episode would be serious and tackle a certain issue, usually to warn viewing families that the subject may be hard for children. In others, such as 'Good Times' and 'Roseanne', a tile card appeared before the episode began to say the nature of the episode might upset viewers, followed by a "Viewer Discretion Advised." The radical shift in the show's tone could be disorienting or discomforting to viewers and the technique was often parodied in other shows, and was included in the Jump the Shark website as an indicator that a show had "jumped the shark".

Diff'rent Strokes featured some very special episodes that involved child molestation, child pornography, pedophilia, hitchhiking, kidnapping, sexual assault, epileptic seizure, bullies, gun control, racism, bulimia, drunk driving, and drug abuse. One of the infamous special episodes, "The Bicycle Man", which featured a bicycle store owner who tries to molest Arnold and his friend, has been referenced in several other shows.

The Facts of Life, which was a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes, often featured very special episodes that involved drug abuse, teen suicide, teenage marriage, breast cancer, abortion, cheating (relationship), divorce, illiteracy, hearing problems, prostitution, rape, a teenage mother, drunk driving, interracial marriage, virginity, and cerebral palsy.

Some sitcoms often addressed the growing concern about HIV/AIDS at that time by featuring a very special episode. On an episode of The Hogan Family, David Hogan (Jason Bateman) struggles to comprehend that a friend of his is fighting with the disease and eventually dies from the complications. To make people aware of the disease, David and Sandy (Sandy Duncan), who has informed David that her father died of AIDS, put together a high school assembly on the subject. In an episode of Mr. Belvedere, Wesley Owens (Brice Beckham) has a friend who has HIV/AIDS and is shunned by other people and the school due to their ignorance of the disease which leads to Wesley questioning if he should be around him. However, Mr. Belvedere (Christopher Hewett) helps Wesley overcome the fear of the disease and accept him as a friend.

Other notable sitcoms that used the very special episode concept to address an issue were Silver Spoons, Punky Brewster, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Growing Pains, Charles in Charge, Small Wonder, Webster, Full House, Family Matters, Saved by the Bell, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, A Different World, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

The award-winning PBS animated children's program Arthur has had many very special episodes, which covered such subjects as divorce, animal loss, cancer, dyslexia, asthma, and a two-part episode that was made in response to the September 11 attacks titled "April 9". After Hurricane Sandy, an episode titled "Shelter from the Storm" was aired, showing the characters dealing with a similar storm (Idina Menzel made a guest appearance as Brain's therapist). An earlier 2-part Episode titled "The Great MacGrady" discussed the school's lunch lady having cancer and how different characters responded to the disease. The episode honored a writer of the show and mentioned episode, who died of cancer before the episode was completed.

Sometimes, as with the 1990s NBC sitcom Blossom, the network wanted to find a way to warn viewers that the upcoming episode would be about a serious issue without directly putting a "parental advisory" message.[4]

The producers of the sitcom Seinfeld were diametrically opposed to very special episodes. The on-set motto among writers and cast was "No hugging, no learning." One writer commented, "There will never be an advertisement for 'a very special episode' of Seinfeld, for its humor is of a more practical and parodic nature."[5]

The Drew Carey Show parodied very special episodes in the season five finale "A Very Special Drew," in which the cast, in a facetious attempt to win an Emmy Award, battles illiteracy, kleptomania, obsessive compulsive disorder, and a coma.

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. (13 April 2003). "When episodes could still be very special", The New York Times. Retrieved on 13 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Ben Silverman."A very special episode of... When sitcoms get serious", MSN TV. Retrieved on 13 January 2009 (Internet Archive)
  4. ↑ Blossom - A Very Special Show on YouTube
  5. ↑ 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.
  • When Episodes Could Still Be Very Special, from The New York Times
  • Salon.com discussion of very special episodes
  • The Poop : A very special episode ...
  • "Very special episode". TV Tropes.
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