And I'd agree with the hypothesis that the special was shot on videotape, both due to the look of the picture, and the actual budget (ha ha) they had for that freagin' miscarriage. The coloration is crappy and blurry, edges aren't crisp at all (not as crisp as I would expect under the circumstances anyways), etc etc.
A good way to make comparisons between film and video---six episodes or so of the Twilight Zone were shot on video to save money. Look at a transfer of one of these episodes compared to the ones shot on film. While they're in black and white and shot nearly two decades before the special, it gives you an idea of the comparison. And again, given how crappy the budget was, there's no way in hell they shot on film.