MovieChat Forums > ABC Afterschool Specials (1972) Discussion > The Pinballs

The Pinballs

posted 14 years ago by seas286
8 replies | jump to latest

I use to watch these after school specials growing up and remember one called " The Pinballs" Kristy McNichol was in it. It was about a 3 kids being taken care of by foster parents. One boy was in a wheel chair because his dad ran over him and broke his legs. I think Kristy's parents don't get along and she is staying there for a while. I think the other little boy was played by the kid brother in the original Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster. He is there because his relatives are too ill to care for him.

[–] screenscreams 14 years ago

I remember that. One of the boys had been raised by his deaf aunts, so he yelled instead of talking.

[–] alexluthor 14 years ago

that was based on a book by Betsy Byars. You can't post links on imdb but here is the info. http://www.amazon.com/Pinballs-Apple-Paperbacks-Betsy-Byars/dp/0064401987

[–] screenscreams 14 years ago

Hi, Alex. You can post links on imdb. When you reply, beside where it says "Body Text", click where it says "markup enabled". It will show you the code you need in order to post a link.

[–] screenscreams 14 years ago

Wow, I just realized it's you, Teddy. Stop following me.

[–] alexluthor 14 years ago

oh crap you're the idiot from that other message board. Goodbye. Sorry I forgot your screen name because you were so unimportant. I will be blocking you now so I don't "stalk" you again.

[–] screenscreams 14 years ago

Well,congratulations, you "just" remembered!
Seriously..you're really bad at this.

[–] bellatrix318-1 14 years ago

This episode is on youtube.

[–] shayg 13 years ago

I really like this one. Carlie starts out being justifiably obnoxious to the adults. She hasn't been respected by adults in her life, and ill manners shouldn't get in the way of these more important things she's lacking. The foster mother of the house is able to accept her and see a person inside with real needs. If Carlie hadn't been obnoxious, she wouldn't have really known whether the foster mother was really loving or just putting on an easy show to a polite child. It gets interesting when Harvey arrives. At first, she's obnoxious to him, but that falls flat and she starts to see him as another person in a situation like hers. Later, she finds herself in a position more like the foster mother, and is able to lead and find things to make Harvey's life better. Through the episode you see some of her needs get met and how she's able to relax and benefit from the care of people around her. I relate a lot with this one.

Seeing that there were tons more than the 8 or so of these on DVD at the local library is fabulous. Hopefully they are available, though they're probably all of this lousy picture quality.