| 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 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 10, 1977 – August 30, 1997 |
| Related | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
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.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.