The Midnight Special

1972

Seasons & Episodes

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8.5| NA| en| More Info
Released: 19 August 1972 Returning Series
Producted By: NBC
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series that aired 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. The ninety-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. 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 series also occasionally aired vintage footage of older acts. As the program neared the end of its run in the early 1980s, it began to frequently use lip-synched performances rather than live. The program also featured occasional comedic performances such as Richard Pryor and Andy Kaufman.

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NBC

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The Midnight Special Audience Reviews

Nonureva Really Surprised!
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
dsnyder1 I really looked forward to Fridays after Johnny Carson to watch The Midnight Special.There were always great music & comedy acts.The first three years were the best.There was a different host every week,with great music,comedy,& no boring chit chat.Then Burt Sugarman pulled a big boner by bringing in a permanent host,(I liked the idea of rotating hosts).Of all the people he could have gotten,it had to be one of the most obnoxious,least talented of the era,Helen Reddy.That was it for me.I rarely watched anymore after that.I could not stand that droning nasal "singing" of hers,or her far left political leanings.Evidently there were others who felt the same,Reddy was dropped after about a year,but the show never seemed as good or was as popular as before,it went off after two more seasons.
sentra14 It's not really fair just reviewing the Andy Kaufman episode just because it's the only one ever released on video. The show was much more than an Andy Kaufman episode. It showcased the best that the music world had to offer in the 1970s and it's archives house some of the best performances of all time. It's really a shame that the owner, Paul Brownstein, does nothing with the tapes but just sell "clips" to corporations that sell disco albums on TV at hundreds of bucks a clip. Too bad the real fans won't ever be able to see the show again like it was presented. The same thing has happened to Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. It's only offered as "clips". I'm glad I have my own library of original tapings of the shows to watch over and over.
Earl Taylor In September 1973 I had just returned from two years in Indonesia as a missionary for the LDS Church. The first week end I was back in the US I went out to a movie, and when I came home I flipped on the TV. It was the Midnight Special, a program that had started in my absence. I was familiar with the host Wolfman Jack from his days on radio station XERB. Not so with the first act of the evening. Out comes David Bowie, whom I had never seen, and while attired in a dress he started singing the song with the lyrics "something tells me she the devil's daughter". All the while he started shedding the dress. After two years of an intense "non-worldly" existence as a missionary, it was startling. "My, things must have changed in my absence!"
Andy Edwin Nystrom The only episode I've seen of this is the Andy Kaufman episode which aired January 23, 1981, and which is out on DVD (Sony Music). This review thus reflects that episode and not the series as a whole.There are two aspects to this special: a stage show with the usual Andy Kaufman antics (including the use of Tony Clifton) and behind the scenes material.It's hard to know how seriously to take the behind the scenes material, as Kaufman is pretty poker-faced when he's playing a prank, and as it refers to Kaufman's wrestling career which (in terms of his feud with Jerry Lawyer) has been confirmed to be an elaborate hoax. Of course that makes the material more edgy because you don't know to what extent you're getting into the mind of one of the most fascinating entertainers ever and to what extent he's pulling your leg.The stage material is pretty typical for Kaufman, which still means it's a lot of fun and offbeat.The episode is a worthwhile addition to the collection of any fan of the performer.