I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

You won't be disappointed!

Just perfect...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Apparently there were several of these type of films with Scott Baio. I only saw and remember this one. I believe it was aired at night by CBS so I do not know if it was an "afterschool special" or not but it was VERY well done. Scott definitely played a high school hockey player in this one with Lance Kerwin as his very understanding teammate and friend.What no one has mentioned is that it was one of my favorite actors from that era, Don Murray who did a great job of portraying Scott's dad, also an alcoholic. As I recall the movie made some really good points about how alcohol was poisoning the relationship between father and son.This is one of many excellent made for TV movies that came out in the 1970s...Brian's Song, The execution of Private Slovick,Sweet Hostage, Son-Rise, The Jericho Mile. The Lonliest Runner, Leave Yesterday Behind, and Helter Skelter just off the top of my head. As someone else mentioned, it is too bad there is not a cable channel that features these and other movies and miniseries from that era. The encore channels have dabbled in showing some of them but there is room for many more.

BJs Twit, that was ANOTHER other Afterschool Special! The one where Baio was a diver and missed the meet because of a drunk driving accident was called "All the Kids Do It". Jeez, how many of these were there? Anyway, I remember all three of these, and I remember hating Stoned, because obviously Baio's character had problems fitting in, and problems living in his brother's shadow, but all he "learns" is that getting high is the WRONG way to deal with that. Nothing about the RIGHT way. The message I got was that you should do drugs just so you can get clean, and THEN people will respect you for getting clean. What-ever.

I haven't seen this movie in 25 years. If only some cable channel would wise up and have a Lance Kerwin Marathon perhaps a new generation of young people could be turned on to this classic cinematic gem. I remember Scott wetting his pants. If you were a teenager and that scene didn't inspire you to never become an alcoholic (pardon my double negative), then it was only because you'd already had one too many lost weekends. Ironically Lance Kerwin played a bed wetter in an earlier TV movie called "The Loneliest Runner" so maybe he gave some pointers to Scott on how to play the scene. Sadly Lance would succumb to his own demons of addiction which would lead him out of show biz and into the religious biz as a clean and sober youth pastor.

This is one of a few (three I think) ABC "After School Specials" that Scott acted in. While his acting in this one is not as good as "Stoned", he plays a similar character spiraling down, due to drinking, not drugs. This is a hard hitting story, as most of the specials were meant to be, so show young people the pitfalls of doing things they shouldn't.