Though social issues have been incorporated into TV shows more organically lately, the “very special episode” was a small-screen staple for decades. These episodes deal with societal woes like drug/alcohol abuse, crime, and violence — or, alternatively, death and other facts of life — in PSA-like storylines that were often resolved by the end of the hour or half-hour.
And very special episodes were often “cynical marketing opportunities as much as a desire to serve the public,” Arthur Smith, a former assistant curator at the Paley Center for Media, explained to The Atlantic in 2015. “Very special episodes were always scheduled for sweeps weeks, and so clearly had ratings expectations.”
But New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum said these ratings grabs might have made a different in viewers’ hearts and minds nevertheless. “I do wonder if some VSEs had social impact,” she told the magazine. “Just because something is bad art doesn’t mean it’s not effective.”
Indeed, the best-received very special episodes have remained in viewers’ memories for ages. The worst, meanwhile, live on in infamy. Here are our picks for both categories.
The Worst
4. Hannah Montana: “No Sugar, Sugar” —Hannah Montana missed the mark as it depicted Oliver (Mitchel Musso) getting a diabetes diagnosis in a canceled episode called “No Sugar, Sugar.” The original storyline had Oliver getting the nickname “Sugar Boy” as his friends tried to prevent him from eating any type of sugar, which is a misconception about diabetes, according to Parade. Amid protests from parents who saw the episode early, Disney Channel pulled the episode, per UPI. And a re-shot episode, written in collaboration with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, aired nearly a year later as “Uptight (Oliver’s Alright).”
3. Full House: “Shape Up” — When DJ (Cameron Candace Bure) starts developing an eating disorder in this episode, she gets cringe-worthy advice from the adults in her life. “Deej, if you wanna lose a couple of pounds, all you have to do is eat sensibly,” Aunt Becky (Lori Loughlin) tells her, before launching into a diet-culture babble. “You could have boiled fish, lean chicken without the skin, fresh fruits, delicious steamed vegetables, a nice whole grain pasta with a light tomato sauce and just a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.”
2. Glee: “Shooting Star” — Glee tried incorporating many serious issues, and this episode, as its distasteful title might indicate, was one of the very special episodes that went awry. The sound of gunshots puts Lima High into lockdown, but it turns out the gunfire was just an accidental discharge by a gun Becky (Lauren Potter) brought to school. Soon, everything was right as rain, with no lasting consequences for the students or staff, making this episode feel like a cheap ploy for viewer attention.
1. Saved by the Bell: “Jessie’s Song” — In this VSE, Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley) gets hooked on caffeine pills to deal with her stressful schedule. And in the cringe-worthy climax, Jessie starts singing The Pointer Sisters before breaking down: “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so… scared!” (In Saved by the Bell’s defense, the writers wanted to depict a speed addiction instead of a caffeine pill habit, but NBC censors shot down the former idea.)
The Best
4. Punky Brewster: “Cherie Lifesaver” — Cherie (Cherie Johnson) nearly dies in this Punky Brewster episode when she hides and gets stuck in an old refrigerator. Luckily, her pals Punky (Soleil Moon Frye) and Margaux (Ami Foster) recently took a CPR class at school, and they resuscitated her. As Reddit users testify, the episode was startlingly effective. “I’m not sure there’s another episode that has such a lasting impact,” one person said. Another speculated, “[That episode] saved lives, I’m sure.”
3. Degrassi: The Next Generation: “Time Stands Still, Part 2” — Unlike the Glee episode above, this episode doesn’t flinch away from the school-shooting issue, depicting one even before the problem reached epidemic levels. Outcast Degrassi student Rick (Ephraim Ellis) brings a gun to school to try to enact revenge on the classmates he thinks wronged him, and in a case of mistaken identity, he shoots and paralyzes Jimmy (played by a young Drake).
2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: “Mistaken Identity” — Fresh Prince had a few VSEs, especially the one with a heartbroken Will (Will Smith) mourning the father who disappeared from his life a second time. But this one, for our money, is even more powerful. Will and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) get pulled over by the cops merely for being two Black teens driving a luxury car, and later, Uncle Phil (James Avery) shares his own experiences with racial profiling. That episode aired more than 35 years ago now, but how far have we really come?
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Body” — Many a VSE deals with the unexpected passing of a loved one; rarely does one do so as effectively as Buffy. The namesake vampire slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) can handle all sorts of undead creatures, but the sight of her lifeless mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) — who died of a brain aneurysm, as the Scooby Gang would later learn — is the most horrific image yet. And that scene — filmed, mostly, as one long take to disquieting effect — depicts the shock, confusion, and sense of isolation that can precede the wallop of grief.
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