The Midnight Special (TV series)

The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series originally broadcast on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981.[2] The 90-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

The Midnight Special
Chuck Berry as guest host, November 2, 1973.
GenreMusic variety show
Created byBurt Sugarman
Presented byHelen Reddy (1975–1976)
Narrated byWolfman Jack
Opening theme"Midnight Special" performed by Johnny Rivers
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes450[1]
Production
Executive producer(s)Burt Sugarman
Producer(s)Dick Ebersol
Production location(s)NBC Studios in Burbank, CA
Running time90 min
Production company(s)Burt Sugarman Productions
Release
Original networkNBC
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseFebruary 2, 1973 (1973-02-02) –
May 1, 1981 (1981-05-01)
Chronology
Related showsTomorrow
Ike & Tina Turner Revue on The Midnight Special, 1973

Like its syndicated late-night cousin Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, the show typically featured guest hosts, except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when singer Helen Reddy served as the regular host. Wolfman Jack served as the announcer and frequent guest host. The program's theme song, a traditional folk song called "Midnight Special", was performed by Johnny Rivers.

The Midnight Special was noted for featuring musical acts performing live, which was unusual since most television appearances during the era showed performers lip-synching to prerecorded music. The series also occasionally aired vintage footage of older acts, such as Bill Haley & His Comets. The program also featured occasional performances of comedians such as Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, and George Carlin.

History

In 1972, producer Burt Sugarman pitched the program as a means for NBC to capitalize on The Tonight Show's large audience. At the time, none of the Big Three television networks had programming on after 1:00 am local time, as common practice by most stations was to sign-off after the final program. Despite this lack of competition in the time-slot, NBC initially rejected the idea. The rejection led Sugarman to buy the air time for the premiere on his own as a brokered show, convincing Chevrolet to become the show's first sponsor. It premiered with ratings high enough for NBC to reconsider its decision, and the network subsequently bought the program.[1] NBC reasoned that the additional weekly hour of programming would allow NBC to recoup revenue lost as a result of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned the advertising of tobacco on television.[3] The program remained a part of NBC's late night lineup until 1981.

The pilot for the series aired on August 19, 1972. It was presented as a 90-minute special encouraging young people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Several months later, on February 2, 1973, it premiered as a weekly series.[4] Within eight months of its premiere, The Midnight Special had proven that programming in the later time period was viable, and NBC would expand its programming in the time slot to five days a week with the addition of the talk show Tomorrow the other four nights.

The Midnight Special's original time slot was from 1:00–2:30 am in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (Midnight to 1:30 am Central and Mountain). When The Tonight Show's run time was shortened from ninety to sixty minutes in September, 1980 The Midnight Special was moved to 12:30 am (ET/PT)/11:30 pm (CT/MT), maintaining its ninety minute run time.[4]

In 1978, at the height of the disco craze, the set was changed to resemble a disco nightclub complete with a platform dance floor. Wolfman Jack stood behind an elevated DJ booth. By fall 1979, as the genre's popularity waned, the disco set was gone.[4]

Guest stars
Main article: List of guests appearing on The Midnight Special

Some notable guest stars and hosts included:

ELO had more appearances than any other band with four.

The show presented The 1980 Floor Show, the last performance of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. It was broadcast on November 16, 1973, and was taped a month earlier from specially-commissioned performances at the Marquee Club in Soho, London.[5]

Cancellation

The series was canceled by NBC at the request of Dick Ebersol as part of a deal for him to take over then-ailing Saturday Night Live.[6] The Midnight Special was replaced by SCTV, a weekly Canadian sketch comedy series produced by the Toronto satellite of The Second City improvisational troupe; that in turn would later be replaced with another music program, Friday Night Videos.

DVD release

In 2006, a DVD collection entitled Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special was made available by Guthy-Renker through television and radio infomercials. In 2014, an 11-DVD collection entitled The Midnight Special was released by Star-Vista through standard retail channels.

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See also
  • List of late night network TV programs

References

Notes

  1. The Midnight Special Comes to VH-1, a 1997 article by pop culture critic Ed Robertson
  2. Promotional site for the DVD re-issue Archived 2006-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Tom Snyder on Later, 1994
  4. TV.com. "The Midnight Special". TV.com. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  5. Fan's detailed website focused just on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
  6. Dick Ebersol, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications

Bibliography

  • McNeil, Alexander M. (1980) Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-14-004911-8
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