The Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm column: Lifetime explores teen life with HIV.(Column)

Byline: Jonathan Storm

Jun. 25--Listen up, kids. A long, long time ago, ABC and CBS had daytime movies aimed at kids and teens. They were called Afterschool Specials and they imparted important lessons about everything from drunk driving, to teen fatherhood, to bullies and suicide.

In those same days, all three networks (can you believe there were only three, totally?) also ran their own movies, in prime time, sometimes three times a week. That was a lot of movies, so everybody jumped for joy when somebody came up with an idea that would provide plenty of fodder.

The "disease of the week" genre was born, and, kids, people suffered, sometimes…