Instant Favorite.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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.

The real star is Billy Carpenter, Lance Kerwin. He supports a basically not very nice person well portrayed by Scott Baio. Billy is more convincing as the nice guy who cares, we need more of this positive role model.