How the "Very Special Episode" has evolved from Diff'rent Strokes to Saved by the Bell to Netflix's One Day at a Time

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/arts/television/very-special-episodes-history-one-day-at-a-time-vaping-drugs.html

The phrase "Very Special Episode," with its attempt to bring seriousness to comedy, still draws snickers. "Still," says Manuel Betancourt, "an appetite for something like the Very Special Episode persists, as evidenced by the success of One Day at a Time, which is crammed with heart-to-heart discussions. The challenge for today’s creators has been figuring out how to have drug conversations meaningfully when the curtain on the old way has been pulled back."