User Reviews

This is one those programmes that left an indelible impression on me when I first saw it in '75. I was (depending upon the time it aired) was about 11 and connected with the character's awkwardness,especially when it came to girls. I was very happy to find it on YouTube and how well it still holds up. Alfred Lutter had a rather short acting career ,but he was quite good here as well as the Bad News Bears films as well as playing a young Woody Allen in the film Love and Death and was in the pilot episode of Alice, playing the character he plays in the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

There is a particularly funny moment when he has invited a girl he has a crush on to a party but doesn't know how to dance, and takes a lesson. When the rest of the kids are dancing in a modern day style he begins a sort of ballroom dancing with the girl. It feels like something out of a Woody Allen film.

I cannot recall any other After School Special but I'm sure I watched them when they had an interesting . This one hit home and the passing of time did nothing to diminish the emotions. It their way they prepared me for adulthood and stated that it would not be easy but also offered hope as well. Within thirty minutes our young hero must confront some harsh realities. This was truly wonderful.

This was one of the best of the old-school Afterschool Specials, basically a comedy but with a lot more to recommend it.

It was written by Arthur Barron, who a few years earlier had written and directed a "teenager movie" with some definite similarities to this show, including the appearance of some of the lead actors (although Alfred Lutter was a bit shorter than Robby Benson, they were the same physical type otherwise).

His teenage protagonists have a lot in common with each other. They tend to live in New York; they are contemplative and reflective beyond their years; they are intelligent and appreciate music and art; and they are interesting to watch...at least if you grew up as a shy teenager yourself. These aren't the teenagers troubled by drugs and pregnancy that came to be media staples a few years down the road. They are 70's characters,with likable, nurturing, non-toxic parents. They might be a little hard for modern TV-watching teenagers to relate to. Which is not intended as a criticism as Arthur Barron, but of the current culture.

Apparently the rights to this show were bought by a company which made educational films, so the chances of it ending up on DVD, as other Afterschool Specials have, may not be great.

I first saw this film at a Methodist Youth Camp in 1983 -- this poor nerdy kid adores the head cheerleader and tries everything he can to get her to notice him.

It's a great film about friendship and relationships. One part that made me laugh the hardest was when the nerdy kid's brother (or sister, it's hard to tell because the sibling isn't more than 6 or so, and his/her hair looks like a fright wig!) is listening in on the nerdy kid's phone conversation with the cheerleader, and when it comes time for the nerd to say why he really called, the sibling says, "To take you out, my DAHHHHH-ling!"

If you can find this film, you've got to see it (or rent it, or even buy it -- it'd be great if they ever released it on DVD!) -- and if you do find it, PLEASE put the name of the place where you found it here onto the IMDb!

For those of you who are from the 70s generation of watching those ABC Afterschool Specials, this one is well remembered.

In this film, you see Alfred Lutter (prior to his "Bad News Bears" films), in the lead role as Erik, the poor nerdy 13-year-old kid who is trying everything to get a date with Lisa (played by Vicky Dawson), the popular outgoing cheerleader. You know it is hopeless for Erik to even attempt to have Lisa as his girlfriend from the get go, but nevertheless he does manage to get a date with her by spray-painting her name in big large letters on a brick wall and surprising her with his "art". Lisa is ecstatic at seeing her name on the wall and agrees to go out with him, although she is less than thrilled going on a date with Erik to KFC and is critical of comments Erik makes about his dog Bill, who he adores. When he walks her home, you can tell he wants to kiss her goodnight, but she quickly goes into her apartment building. In the next scene, Leroy, the jock who she usually hangs out with, blows her off for practice, so she then sees Erik and happily waves him over and tells him what a great time she had with him and that they should definitely go out again. Erik has been invited to a party by his friend Cathy, played by Denby Olcott, so he suggests they go dancing. But poor Erik who does not know how to dance takes a quick dance lesson to learn the "bump" (the dance craze back in the mid 70s), only to have an instructor bent on teaching him how to waltz. When they arrive at Cathy's party, she is thrilled to see Erik, but her expression quickly turns to disappointment when Lisa confidently says hi and blows past her. At the party, Erik tries to waltz with Lisa, who again is not too happy, and in the next scene, hapless Erik is sitting in the corner (with his hair slicked down wearing a checked suit and bow-tie), while Lisa dances the night away (the bump of course) with a really "cool" guy to "You Haven't Done Nothing'" by Stevie Wonder. When the party is over, Erik and Lisa are in a cab while he nervously watches the meter ticking, knowing he only has a certain amount of money on him to pay for the ride. When he sees the meter hit the limit of how much cash he has, he tells the driver to pull over. It is pouring out. Erik then launches into a fantasy, taking on the role of Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain", trench coat and all, ending with Lisa giving him a big kiss (in the fantasy that is). Then the film goes back to reality and Lisa doesn't want to get soaked walking home in the rain, so she storms off and says she is calling her mother for a ride home, leaving poor Erik once again.

If viewed today, it presents a lot of nostalgia from that era, i.e. air hockey and snorkel jackets.