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Desperate Lives

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Desperate Lives
DVD cover
GenreDrama
Written byLew Hunter
Directed byRobert Michael Lewis
StarringTom Atkins
Diane Ladd
Doug McKeon
Helen Hunt
Diana Scarwid
Music byBruce Broughton
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersArthur Fellows
Terry Keegan
ProducerLew Hunter
Production locationWilliam S. Hart High School in Newhall, Santa Clarita, California
CinematographyJoseph Biroc
EditorLes Green
Running time96 minutes
Production companiesFellows-Keegan Company
Lorimar Television
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseMarch 3, 1982 (1982-03-03)

Desperate Lives is a 1982 American made-for-television drama film about drug use in a high school. The film has a very strong anti-drug message.

Plot summary

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The Cameron family seems, on the surface, to be the perfect family, but things are not as they seem. Their two teenage children, Scott and Sandy, fall in with the wrong crowds at their high school and eventually become involved with drug experimentation. Sandy, after ingesting angel dust made by her boyfriend in the school's chemistry lab, jumps through a glass window of the school (purposely cutting her arms with the cut glass in the process) and is subsequently paralyzed from the fall.

A caring idealistic guidance counselor, Eileen Phillips, sees the problem that is going on in the school and, after other tragic incidents involving two other students (one of which involves Scott and his girlfriend smoking drugs and crashing their car off a cliff) and when no one else on the staff is willing to do anything about it, takes the steps to deal with and confront the problem. The aftermath of this tragedy makes Scott and Sandy's parents realize that even their "perfect" kids can be affected by drugs, especially after Scott has a violent reaction and goes into the hospital.

At a school assembly, Eileen storms in and confronts the students about the increasing drug use, sending a message to the crowd about the effects of what the drug problem is doing to the kids and the tragedies that resulted because of it.

Cast

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Production notes

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Home media

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Desperate Lives was released on DVD on April 21, 2010.

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When hosting a 1994 episode of Saturday Night Live as the star of Mad About You, Helen Hunt showed clips of her earlier acting career during her opening monologue, including the scene from Desperate Lives where her character jumps out the window.[1]

A Keyboard Cat video featuring clips from the film was uploaded to YouTube in 2009. However, it was later taken down for copyright reasons, because the video also contained the music video for "You Make My Dreams" by Hall & Oates.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "March 19, 1994 – Helen Hunt / Snoop Doggy Dogg (S19 E16)". The 'One SNL a Day' Project. WordPress. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ^ McCarthy, Caroline. "YouTube pulls audio from greatest music video ever". CNet. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. ^ Barnett, Lindsay (16 July 2009). "Keyboard Cat falls victim to copyright law". L.A. Unleashed. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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