Night Flight

Simply put, Night Flight was to TV in the '80s what FM was to radio in the '70s - a threat. FM was soon tamed after a few years, so it became as mainstream and predictable as any AM station, and so was Night Flight.

I would just set the VCR and go out, knowing I could come home and watch something I had no opportunity to see or hear anyplace else on cable or network TV. There were nights I chose not to go out to whatever great new club, since Night Flight was always far more interesting.

Unfortunately, it had to end, and it did - one night, there were no more banned music videos, no more unedited films, no more questionable shorts and cartoons, no more head trip, all of the brilliance was replaced first by some inane English rock show that seemed to be made for an audience of 12 year olds, and then Gilbert Gottfried up all night, which put me to sleep.

I assume USA had to let it go, since it wasn't pay-per-view or a premium cable channel, and therefore was too risky for advertisers afraid of offending those good parents who wanted to use safe family channels like USA as their electronic babysitter, even at 11:00 pm.

For a long time I've talked about this show to friends and no one seemed to remember it. I felt like I was in some movie where everyone's mind had been erased and for some reason I was the only one left to remember this bizarre show. As a kid I'd stay up late, quietly as to not alert the parents, and I'd watch Tales From the Darkside and other strange shows. Then, really, really late at night one local channel began replaying episodes of Night Flight. My mind was blown and was never to be the same again. Night Flight was an amazing show, nothing like it before or ever since. As many comments have mentioned this is a show that will never exist again. It was a rare gem that slipped through the cracks during the 80s to enlighten the few who were lucky to catch it. It finally dawned on me to look up the show on IMDB. I wasn't surprised at all to find it and i was pleasantly surprised to find so many others who had witnessed this one of a kind late night feast for the mind.

I realize it now. When it's 2am and I am flicking channels, skimming over the endless infomercials. I am looking for something, anything that might be as cool as Night Flight was. It was the most influential television show in my life, exposing me to so much that I am still interested in 20 years later.

This is the TV show that introduced so much of middle America to cult movies, punk rock, reggae, deconstructionist video, the Church of the Subgenius and so much more. Television had never been so anarchic and probably never will be again.

Highlights are showings of the silent short, "Mystery Of The Leaping Fish" with Douglas Fairbanks playing a drugged up detective named Coke Ennyday, showings of the reggae movie "Countryman" , Peter Ivers on "New Wave Theatre" presnting Punk bands from dingy clubs. Black & White cartoons, old commercials, showings of school films, atomic bomb scare films and anything they could find.

Sadly with the homogenization and demogrification of TV (as well as most media), we won't see a show like this again. Infomercials now rule the late-night landscape and it is apt to stay that way, informercials bring in income, shows like "Night Flight" only brought in viewers, and who cares about them anymore? And due to copyright infringements by the show, they were very casual about obtaining permission to air stuff on 'Night Flight' it will probably never be shown on repeats, not as it originally aired anyway. Those who saw it, enjoy your memories.

What another great USA Network show from the 1980's, daddy-o! Night Flight was a great showcase for rock videos, cult and B-movies, and off the wall shorts. I always did kinda have the hots for the babe who did the voice over work for the show too. And Frankie Pace was a comedy stud as the host of Rick Shaw's Takeout Theater too! Long live Night Flight! I miss the show's opening CGI footage of those mountains too.

I used to see this show very late at night. It was always on around 2 or 3 AM late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. It was a great mix of music videos, short films and off the wall cartoons ("Bambi vs. Godzilla" was one of them). Very cool late night viewing for night owls such as myself. I believe most of episodes centered around different themes, and everything that was shown flowed smoothly within the subject matter. I wish there was a similar show like it on today; however, there was better music to work with back them.