All three commercial networks broadcast the half-hour cartoon special Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue.

Produced by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and broadcast across the four major networks in the United States earlier in the year to an audience of 33 million viewers, the program delivered an anti-drugs message via a cast of cartoon characters representing all the major animation studios.

In the US, the program was introduced by President George H W Bush. The Australian screening was introduced by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Mrs Hazel Hawke.

The three networks repeated the special, again in simulcast, on Christmas Eve, 1990.

Source: TV Week, 3 November 1990

	ABV2	HSV7	GTV9	ATV10	SBS28
6AM		6am Thundercats 6.30 Agro’s Cartoon Connection. Includes Scooby Doo, Foofur, The Jetsons, The Smurfs	6am The Littles 6.30 ITN World News 6.55 Business Today	Ten Newswatch (cont’d)
7AM	7am Spartakus And The Sun Beneath The Sea 7.30 The Berenstain Bears 7.54 The Wombles		7am Today	7am Good Morning Australia
8AM	8am The Wind In The Willows 8.20 Sesame Street			8.55 Ten’s Billboard
9AM	9.20 Parental Guidance Recommended 9.30 Play School	9am Bewitched (B&W) 9.30 Fat Cat And Friends	9am Here’s Humphrey 9.30 In Melbourne Today	9am ‘Til Ten
10AM	10am For Schools: Dreamtime Stories, Into Music, Read All About It, Flip Slide Turn, For The Juniors, The Secret Garden	10am The Beverly Hillbillies 10.30 People’s Court	10.30 Hart To Hart	10am Mulligrubs 10.30 Ten Morning News
11AM		11am Eleven AM	11.30 Barney Miller	11am Another World
12PM	12pm Catalyst (Rpt) 12.30 The Makers – Craft In Australia	12pm Movie: The Killers. 1964 [IMDB]	12pm Midday With Ray Martin	12pm Santa Barbara
1PM	1pm Parental Guidance Recommended 1.50 Masterworks From The World’s Great Museums		1.30 Days Of Our Lives	1pm The Bold And The Beautiful 1.30 Donahue
2PM	2pm Quantum (Rpt) 2.30 Let’s Learn Japanese	2pm Perry Mason (B&W)	2.30 The Young And The Restless	2.30 The Rockford Files	2pm Vremya (USSR) 2.40 Close
3PM	3pm Sesame Street 3.55 Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends	3pm The New Leave It To Beaver 3.30 I Dream Of Jeannie	3.30 Diff’rent Strokes	3.30 Gimme A Break	3pm TV Ed
4PM	4pm Play School 4.30 Swap Shop	4pm Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.30 Special: Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue	4pm The Charmings 4.30 Special: Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue	4pm Lassie 4.30 Special: Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue	4pm Kaleidoscope. Includes The Adventures Of Choko And The Frog Boko (Bulgaria), Emily (Belgium), Johnny The Pea (Czechoslovakia), The Adventures Of Tin Tin (France)
5PM	5pm The Afternoon Show. James Valentine. Includes Count Duckula, Doctor Who, Roger Ramjet	5pm Family Feud 5.30 Wheel Of Fortune	5pm The Bugs Bunny Show	5pm Charles In Charge 5.30 Candid Camera On Australia	5pm The Book Show (Rpt) 5.35 International Cookbook 5.45 Little Missy (Brazil)
6PM	6pm Countdown Revolution 6.30 Gardening Australia. Peter Cundall	6pm Seven Nightly News. Jennifer Keyte 6.30 Home And Away	6pm National Nine News. Brian Naylor, Rob Gaylard, Rob Gell 6.30 A Current Affair. Jana Wendt	6pm Ten Evening News. David Johnston	6.30 World News. Mary Kostakidis
7PM	7pm ABC News. Mary Delahunty 7.30 The 7.30 Report. John Jost	7pm Hinch. Derryn Hinch 7.30 The Golden Girls	7pm Sale Of The Century. Tony Barber, Alyce Platt 7.28 Keno 7.30 Burke’s Backyard	7pm Neighbours 7.30 Baywatch	7pm Asia Report. Lee Lin Chin 7.30 Lenny Henry Tonite
8PM	8pm Countrywide. Doug Murray 8.28 ABC News Update 8.30 Movie: The Prince And The Showgirl. 1957 [IMDB]	8.30 Movie: Unspeakable Acts. 1989 [IMDB]	8.30 Movie: Superman. 1978 [IMDB]	8.30 Movie: Swimsuit. 1989 [IMDB]	8pm Tonight. Paul Murphy, Pria Viswalingam 8.30 Connections: Soviets
9PM					9.30 Movie: Summer Nights On The Planet Earth. 1987 (Sweden) [IMDB]
10PM	10.25 ABC News Late Edition. Clive Hale 10.35 Snooker: Embassy World Professional Championships	10.30 Tonight Live With Steve Vizard		10.30 Ten Night Watch 10.35 Movie: The Sign Of Four. 1983 [IMDB]
11PM	11.35 Basketball: NBA	11.35 Today (NBC)	11.30 Nightline 11.35 MTV Music Television		11.05 Eat Carpet. Includes Warhol’s Cinema
12AM				12.35am Ten Newswatch (Continues to 6am)	12.10am The Noise
1AM	1.05am Rage (Continues to 10am)	1.35am Island Son			1.10 Steps 1.35 Close
2AM		2.30 Rituals 2.55 Generations	2am Movie: Purple Rain. 1984 [IMDB]
3AM		3.20 Trial By Jury 3.45 Hard Time On Planet Earth
4AM		4.40 Laura McKenzie’s Travel Tips	4.05 Movie: Blood Sport. 1973 [IMDB]
5AM		5.35 The Flying Nun (Continues to 6am)	5.30 Starting Out (Continues to 6am)