When I was a kid, my sibs and I weren’t allowed to watch much TV.

The one time we could usually sneak watch was after school. Our folks were both professors – the kind who actually cared about their students – so most days they both held office hours until nearly time to get home for dinner.

They weren’t thrilled to occasionally discover we’d been breaking the rules and doing our homework in front of the TV. However, if it was an ABC Afterschool Special we’d been watching, we would suffer no repercussions from Mom (and Dad would just put up with whatever Mom said).

Why? Because the Afterschool Specials all had a message.