TV Reviews : Teen-Agers and Alcohol Subject of Two ABC Programs

Recent studies have shown that alcohol is the drug of choice among teen-agers. That makes “Over the Limit,” today’s “ABC Afterschool Special” about drinking and driving (3 p.m., Channels 7, 3 10 and 42), a timely one.

But neither good intentions nor a good cast are enough to get the message across in this sudser directed by Nancy Cooperstein.

High school senior Matt (Keith Coogan) attends an unsupervised party and gets drunk with his friends. He wakes up later that night to learn that three of his friends are dead, including the town hero Bobby (Michael St. Gerard, star of ABC’s “Elvis” series). They were killed in the high speed crash of their van.

A grim moral lesson, but one that quickly takes a back seat to Matt’s crusade to identify who was driving. Everyone blames bad boy Chris (Jason Andrews). But was it the lone survivor (Sam Rockwell)? Or was it Bobby?

No one else is interested. Not the investigating police officer (Tony Lo Bianco), not Bobby’s wealthy dad whose brother is running for governor. Not Matt’s politically active mom.

But in Todd Strasser’s too-condensed script, based on his book, “The Accident,” truth will out, even if it costs Matt an Ivy League college education.

Along the way, teen-age drinking becomes the peripheral issue.

ABC takes another shot at teen alcohol abuse in “Just Say No Way,” the March 30 8 p.m. episode of “Full House.” Thirteen-year-old D. J. (Candace Cameron) is accused by her uncle Jesse (John Stamos) of drinking at a school party.

It’s all sitcom-predictable and ends with the expected speechifying about good judgment--Jesse tells D. J., “I wish you could grow up in a world where you could enjoy bein’ a kid, but I’m sorry pal, that’s not the way it is.” Still, the scene is straightforward and notable for its simplicity and warmth.