http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/very-special-episode/398432/

They were staples of ‘80s and ‘90s TV, especially on family sitcoms. Nowadays, the very special episode feels naive and anachronistic.

Take a deep dive into the dramatic history of TV’s “very special episodes” (http://www.avclub.com/article/take-deep-dive-dramatic-history-tvs-very-special-e-223393)

It’s worth a look to revisit the history and see why this format slowly died out as audiences became too cynical and TV became more savvy with how it told stories.