The ABC Afternoon Playbreak is an American television anthology series that was broadcast on ABC from 1973 to 1975. The ninety-minute dramas aired once a month and featured some of the more popular television and film stars of the 1970s (Diana Hyland

Diana Hyland

Diana Hyland was an American actress best known for her television appearances and occasional films.-Career:Hyland made her acting debut in 1955 in an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents...

, Bradford Dillman

Bradford Dillman

-Early life:Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930 in San Francisco, California, the son of Josephine and Dean Dillman, a stockbroker. He studied at Town School for Boys and St. Ignatius High School. Later he attended the Hotchkiss boarding school in Connecticut, where he became involved in...

, Patty Duke

Patty Duke

Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...

, Diane Baker

Diane Baker

Diane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...

, David Hedison

David Hedison

Albert David Hedison, Jr. is an Armenian-American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work. In 1959, when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers, NBC insisted that he change his name...

).

Episodes

Season 1

1. "The Things I Never Said" (October 31, 1973)
2. "A Special Act of Love" (November 14, 1973)
3. "Mother of the Bride" (January 9, 1974)
4. "Miss Kline, We Love You" (February 27, 1974)
5. "Last Bride of Salem" (May 8, 1974)

Season 2

1. "Can I Save My Children?" (October 17, 1974)
2. "Heart In Hiding" (November 14, 1974)
3. "Oh, Baby, Baby, Baby..." (December 5, 1974)
4. "The Girl Who Couldn't Lose" (February 13, 1975)

ABC's Matinee Today

The series was preempted in December for the pilot of ABC's Matinee Today, another dramatic anthology series. The pilot ran daily for five days, but never returned to the ABC schedule. The five episodes are frequently listed as part of The ABC Afternoon Playbreak.

1. "I Never Said Goodbye" (December 3, 1973)
2. "The Other Woman" (December 4, 1973)
3. "Alone With Terror" (December 5, 1973)
4. "My Secret Mother" (December 6, 1973)
5. "The Mask of Love" (December 7, 1973)

Awards

The 14 episodes of these two related anthologies won 18 Daytime Emmy Award

Daytime Emmy Award

The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...

s and were nominated an additional 16 times.

Prolific director Burt Brinckerhoff

Burt Brinckerhoff

Burt Brinckerhoff , is an American actor, director, and producer best known for directing the WB television series 7th Heaven from 1996 to 2002; some older works credit him as Burt Brinkerhoff.-Biography:Burt Brinckerhoff was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1936 to J...

was nominated for a 1974 Daytime Emmy Award for his direction of "The Mask of Love" episode.