Night Flight (TV series)
| Night Flight | |
|---|---|
Night Flight title screen from 1988
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| Created by | Jeff Franklin Cynthia Friedland Stuart S. Shapiro |
| Directed by | Stuart S. Shapiro |
| Narrated by | Pat Prescott |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jeff Franklin |
| Producer(s) |
Stuart S. Shapiro Cynthia Friedland |
| Camera setup | multi-camera |
| Running time | 4 hours |
| Distributor | Research Video, Inc www.researchvideo.com |
| Release | |
| Original network |
USA Network (1981–1988) Syndication (1990–1996) |
| Original release |
First Run June 5, 1981– December 30, 1988 Second Run 1990–1996 |
Night Flight is an online visual-arts magazine and variety television show that originated on cable TV network USA Network. It originally aired from 1981 to 1988 before moving to syndication in the early 1990s. The show relaunched online on nightflight.com in 2015 with original episodes that can be streamed on the subscription channel Night Flight Plus. It includes a mix of mainstream and alternative music videos, artist interviews, B movies, documentaries, short films, stand up comedy, cartoons, and more.
Jeff Franklin (head of American Talent International) and Stuart S. Shapiro (head of International Harmony) approached USA Network about developing Night Flight in February 1981. The network was struggling to define itself and to identify and expand a target audience. USA Network and its young cable rivals had few original shows, and a typical broadcast day lasted 16 hours or less. The channels filled time mostly with syndicated programs repeated throughout the day; many of these programs were decades old, and there was a need for inexpensive but unique content that would attract a wider audience and increase advertising revenues.
A new series that defied conventional formats and easy categorization was an acceptable risk to USA, and it aired the first episode of Night Flight on June 5, 1981. The timing was a deliberate move to exploit the Hollywood writers' strike, which had halted production NBC's highly popular program Saturday Night Live.
Episodes originally lasted four hours each, and aired in the late-night programming block after 11:00 PM Eastern Time on Friday and Saturday nights. The final original broadcast of Night Flight aired December 30, 1988; it was replaced with the programs Camp Midnite and USA Up All Night starring Gilbert Gottfried, starting the following week.
In 1990, Night Flight was revived in syndication. New episodes were produced for three seasons until 1992, when the program reverted to selected reruns of episodes from the USA Network years hosted by Tom Juarez. These “best of” shows were aired as late as 1996.
In 2015, the series found a new life on NightFlight.com. In addition to the original series, it features new short and feature films, as well as curated YouTube and Vimeo clips. A subscription service called Night Flight Plus launched in March 2016 which allows viewers to pay a monthly or annual fee for access to full segments of the show, and other content that reflects the spirit of the original series.
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