TV REVIEW : ‘Private Affairs’ Teaches Teens Trust and Responsibility

Today’s “ABC Afterschool Special” for teens is a shining moment for the series. In “Private Affairs,” at 3 p.m. on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42, best friends learn about trust and betrayal and the audience gets a lesson in sexual responsibility.

The primary focus in the script by Brenda Wilson and Neil Baer is Madeline (Kerri Greene), a together teen, happily organizing the big school dance. Her self-confidence is shattered when she finds out that Dad (Dean Butler) is having an affair with Mom’s best friend. Should she tell Mom (Kay Lenz)? Should she confront Dad? Does it mean divorce?

A sympathetic adult (Lynne Thigpen) offers comfort and the name of a counselor to give Madeline a lifeline. Histrionics are avoided; the moments of anguish are understated and truthful. The outcome is tentative.

But the vital core of the show is what happens to Madeline’s friend Lindy (Amy Lynne). She and her first love, Nickel (Christopher Collet), have had sex--without contraception. No, she doesn’t get pregnant, but neither of them knows that a former girlfriend has given him gonorrhea.

When Nickel finds out, he receives treatment--and advice--from an earnest doctor (Michael Warren), who lets the unhappy teen know kindly but firmly that he must tell Lindy. The doctor cautions him to use a condom in the future, to lower the risks of pregnancy and venereal disease.

Then, he gives Nickel a condom to carry. There’s no sidestepping.

Can so much Angst and its resolution be delivered, with conviction, in an hour? Not without a convenient plot that includes sympathetic adults and peers and easily obtainable medical help. The uniformly fine cast, a responsible script and sensitive direction from Baer bring it all home.