About this season
The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to both the ABC Afterschool Special and The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie that had started five years previous, 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. 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.
Episodes (8)
1. Scruffy (1)
Aired 4 October 1980 • 30 min
Scruffy (voiced by Nancy McKeon) is a lovable puppy struggling to survive in an unfamiliar world where she loses loved ones, battles fiendish foes and learns the value of loyal friends.
2. Scruffy (2)
Aired 11 October 1980 • 30 min
Scruffy – frightened and freezing – returns alone to the big city and finds an affectionate new master, a ragged but regal Shakespearean street performer named Tibbles (voiced by Hans Conried).
3. Scruffy (3)
Aired 18 October 1980 • 30 min
Scruffy meets a tough bulldog named Butch (voiced by Michael Bell) who takes her to join his family of strays who have set up a canine commune in an abandoned station wagon.
4. Arthur the Kid
Aired 3 January 1981 • 30 min
5. Zack and the Magic Factory (1)
Aired 10 January 1981 • 30 min
6. Zack and the Magic Factory (2)
Aired 17 January 1981 • 30 min
7. Mayday! Mayday! (1)
Aired 24 January 1981 • 30 min
8. Mayday! Mayday! (2)
Aired 31 January 1981 • 30 min