"CBS Schoolbreak Special" Contract for Life: The S.A.D.D. Story (1984)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writer:

Peter Silverman (writer)

TV Series:

"CBS Schoolbreak Special" (1984)

Original Air Date:

11 December 1984 (Season 2, Episode 2)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

True story of high school hockey coach Bob Anastas. After losing two of his all-star hockey players, he gets the students to prevent more tragedies by forming Students Against Drunk Driving. |

Plot Keywords:

After School Special | Schoolbreak Special | Family Relationships | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Stephen Macht	...	Bob Anastas
Timothy Gibbs	...	Jimmy Matthews
William Zabka	...	Rick Peterson
Robert Chestnut	...	David Shaw
Charles Vally	...	J. D.
David Glasser	...	Mark Anastas
Heather Ryan	...	Beth
Nicky Katt	...	Jeff Anastas (as Nick Katt)
Linda Henning	...	Carol Anastas
Anne Gee Byrd	...	Mrs. Shaw
Estee Chandler	...	Lucy Wilson
Bill Sorrells	...	Mr. Shaw
John Washington	...	Reynolds
Joey Green	...	Marcus
Don Dubbins	...	Mr. Peterson

Runtime:

46 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Quotes:

Bob Anastas: Let me ask you something: Did you ever think of calling your parents? I'll tell you what he's thinking: You want me to tell my parents what I'm doing? You must be kidding!

In dire need of an update. (spoilers)

The only anti-drunk driving campaign I recall from high school was the 'Prom Promise,' in which you signed a sort of contract that on prom night, you vow not to drive drunk or with someone who had been drinking. That, an a skit performed by some members of the senior class in conjunction with the city police and fire department (which seemed quite successful, since they did it several years). These campaigns are quite valuable in the high school setting, and, as the movie had shown, Students Against Drunk Driving (S.A.D.D.) since it's inception (since 1984, when the film was made), had been quite effective as chapters had been opened in schools nationwide and the overall youth drunk driving death rates had fallen twenty-three percent.

This movie was right on the money about one thing: no one seems to talk to kids about these kinds of things anymore, especially not in school. Not just drunk driving, but lots of those 'peer pressure' things.

In this short, Disney made-for-TV feature, Stephen Macht plays high school hockey coach and life skills teacher, Bob Anastas, who helped found S.A.D.D. after two members of the hockey team die from drunk-driving related accidents. Contract For Life refers to a contractual agreement (and, hopefully, more than that) between kids and their parents that 1) if the kids call on them for help, the parents will help them find a sober ride home and 2) that a parent will set an example by doing the same. Bottom line: avoid driving home drunk or driving home with someone who is drunk.

But, the consistent impression I got from seeing this movie is that it wouldn't work effectively today. It is far too cheesy and doesn't approach the situation realistically enough in a way that would at least get a kid to stop and think about it. It's almost laughable. This movie is done with traditional, after-school special idealistic appeal that just wouldn't work on today's young audiences. These were the kind of out-dated movies they showed in life management (or simiarly named) courses in high school where teen problems are resolved all too easily in the brief time that the movies ran. It had to be, obviously, since these movies were only about thirty or forty minutes long (and had to allow for commercial time).

I don't know what the trend is in drunk driving deaths among youth these days, but I do believe that, if the networks everyone want to sacrifice a teeny bit of airspace (as they should, since they're using the PUBLIC airwaves) (or if the junior high and high schools wanted to use them), should update the story and make it more realistic, if it is to be taken seriously.