The Midnight Special (TV series)

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The Midnight Special
Genre music variety show
Creator(s) Burt Sugarman
Starring various
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 450[2]
Production
Executive producer(s) Burt Sugarman
Running time 90 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run February 2, 1973[1] – 1981
Links

The Midnight Special was a weekly musical television series during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman and airing on NBC. 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 in 1981.[3] The ninety-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

The program featured over 1,200 performers during its run[citation needed]. Some notable guest stars and hosts included Andy Kaufman, Tina Turner, Richard Pryor, The Bee Gees and Donna Summer, Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, B.B. King and Fleetwood Mac.

The show mostly featured guest hosts, except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when Helen Reddy was the regular host.[1] Wolfman Jack served as the announcer.

The show was noted for featuring musical acts performing live, which was unique 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).

Contents

[edit] History

Burt Sugarman proposed the program as a way for NBC to take advantage of Johnny Carson’s large audience. At the time none of the Big Three networks had programming on after 1:00 a.m.; in spite of this lack of competition, NBC initially rejected the idea.[2] The rejection led Sugarman to buy air time for the premiere on his own, convincing Chevrolet to become the show’s first sponsor.[2] It premiered with ratings big enough that NBC changed its mind and bought the program.[2]

The show sponsored the last performance of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust — it was broadcast on November 16, 1973,[4] in an episode taped a month earlier from specially-commissioned performances at the Marquee Club in Soho.

The series was cancelled by NBC at the request of Dick Ebersol as part of a deal for him to take over then-ailing Saturday Night Live.[5] It was eventually replaced by the music video show Friday Night Videos, also produced by Ebersol.

In 2006, a DVD collection entitled "Burt Sugarman 's Midnight Special"[3] was made available by the Guthy Renker Corporation through television and radio informercials

[edit] Trivia

The show was referenced in Tammy Wynette's 1976 hit "(I'd Like to See) Jesus on the Midnight Special".

[edit] Guests

Note: Year denotes first appearances only

[edit] 1972 (Pilot)

[edit] 1973

[edit] 1974

[edit] 1975

[edit] References

General refererence:

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

Specific references:

  1. ^ a b http://www.tv.com/the-midnight-special/show/2974/summary.html&full_summary=1 TV.com detailed summary]
  2. ^ a b c d The Midnight Special Comes to VH-1, a 1997 article by pop culture critic Ed Robertson
  3. ^ a b http://www.midnightspecial.com/ (promotional site for the DVD re-issue)
  4. ^ http://www.5years.com/1980.htm, a fan's detailed website focused just on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
  5. ^ Dick Ebersol, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications
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