# Lifestories: Families in Crisis

Lifestories: Families in Crisis is an American after school special drama television series that premiered on HBO on August 1, 1992.

## The show

Lifestories: Families in Crisis deals with major issues involving individuals, mostly teenagers and young adults. The stories usually ended with the real person on which the story is based providing helpful information for others in a similar situation. Issues include a child molesting priest (played by Craig Wasson) terrorizing families, a college student with bulimia (played by Calista Flockhart) trying to deal with her problems, a football player addicted to steroids (played by Ben Affleck), substance abuse by a teenager, homosexuality and bi-sexuality involving teenagers, a teenage girl (Dina Spybey, in a Daytime Emmy Award-winning performance as Becky Bell) who has an illegal abortion and dies, a young man (played by Sam Rockwell) who is ultimately convicted of vehicular homicide after crashing into a young woman's (played by Jorja Fox) car while drunk, a boy (Adam LaVorgna as Joey DiPaolo) who contracts HIV and has to live with the disease, homelessness in Philadelphia and the major impact it has on a teenager (Ward Saxton as Trevor Ferrell) and the depression and suicide of one popular athletic teenager and its lasting effect on his best friend.

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Issue | Cast | Original air date |
| 1 | "The Secret Life of Mary Margaret: Portrait of a Bulimic" | Allen Coulter | Eating Disorders | Calista Flockhart, Christine Jones, John Cunningham, Judy Kuhn, Tovah Feldshuh, Amy Hargreaves | August 1, 1992 (1992-08-01) |
| A popular teen struggles with bulimia. ||||||
| 2 | "Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story" | Risa Bramon Garcia | Suicide | Wil Wheaton, Curnal Achilles Aulisio, Sarah Trigger, Audra Lindley | August 8, 1992 (1992-08-08) |
| A teenager reminisces about a friend who committed suicide. ||||||
| 3 | "Public Law 106: The Becky Bell Story" | Juan José Campanella | Abortion, Parental Consent Laws | Dina Spybey, Debra Monk, Craig Wasson | August 15, 1992 (1992-08-15) |
| A pregnant teen obtains an illegal abortion to circumvent Indiana's Parental Consent Law. ||||||
| 4 | "Gunplay: The Last Day in the Life of Brian Darling" | Daniel Taplitz | Gun safety; Gun control | Benari Poulten, Chris McKenna, Darren Higgins, Adam LeFevre | September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19) |
| A 10-year-old boy is accidentally killed when he and a friend play with a gun. ||||||
| 5 | "Blood Brothers: The Joey DiPaolo Story" | Dean Pitchford | AIDS | Adam LaVorgna, Amy Aquino, Lawrence Taylor | September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26) |
| A 13-year-old boy's HIV status is revealed to the public. ||||||
| 6 | "No Visible Bruises: The Katie Koestner Story" | Juan José Campanella | Date rape | Ali Thomas, Christopher C. Fuller, Suzanne Bertish, Julie Bowen, Lisa Nicole Carson | January 12, 1993 (1993-01-12) |
| A young woman (Katie Koestner) is the victim of date rape. ||||||
| 7 | "Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story" | Juan José Campanella | Drunk driving | Sam Rockwell, Jane Adams, Jorja Fox | March 15, 1993 (1993-03-15) |
| A teen kills an 18-year-old girl while driving drunk. As part of his punishment, her parents request that he send them a one dollar check every week for the next eighteen years. ||||||
| 8 | "More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter" | Juan José Campanella | Coming out, Sexual orientation | Sabrina Lloyd, Claire Danes, Angela Baker | January 24, 1994 (1994-01-24) |
| A teenage lesbian couple want to attend prom, but must deal with their community's reactions. ||||||
| 9 | "A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story" | David Burton Morris | Steroid abuse | Ben Affleck, Kamala Lopez, Ernie Hudson, Bryan Genesse, Michael Cudlitz | March 23, 1994 (1994-03-23) |
| A teen football player turns to steroids to improve performance, and then must deal with the consequences. ||||||
| 10 | "Brotherly Love: The Trevor Ferrell Story" | Gordon Edelstein | Homelessness | Ward Saxton, Lázaro Pérez, Brenda Pressley | March 31, 1994 (1994-03-31) |
| An 11-year-old boy becomes an activist for the homeless in his community. ||||||
| 11 | "A Child Betrayed: The Calvin Mire Story" | Juan José Campanella | Child molestation, Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church | Blake Bashoff, Craig Wasson, Brian Reiser | April 11, 1994 (1994-04-11) |
| An altarboy is molested by a priest. ||||||
| 12 | "Confronting Brandon: The Intervention of an Addict" | Iris Dugow | Substance abuse | Andrew Kavovit, Lisa Zane, Trevor Lissauer, Bodhi Elfman | May 20, 1994 (1994-05-20) |
| A group of teens stage an intervention for a friend who is abusing alcohol and drugs. ||||||
| 13 | "POWER: The Eddie Matos Story" | Jesús Salvador Treviño | Gang violence | Alexis Cruz, Nestor Serrano, Socorro Santiago, Isaiah Washington, N'Bushe Wright | July 12, 1994 (1994-07-12) |
| A teen drops out of school, joins a gang, and begins dealing drugs. Eventually, a gunshot wound confines him to a wheelchair. ||||||
| 14 | "A Dangerous Affair" | Unknown | Safe sex, Sex education, | Kim Frey | January 1, 1995 (1995-01-01) |
| Kim Frey narrates her own story, detailing how a brief romantic relationship in college resulted in a diagnosis of HIV. ||||||
| 15 | "Someone Had to Be Benny" | Juan José Campanella | Refusal of medical assistance | Michael Shulman, Donna Murphy, Suzanne Cryer | February 8, 1996 (1996-02-08) |
| A terminally ill teenage boy sues for the right to stop his medical treatment. ||||||