Does anybody else remember “Friday Night Videos”? This was a program that aired on NBC Friday nights after “The Tonight Show” a few years before “Late Night With David Letterman” took over that programming slot that night.
Debuting in 1983, NBC was looking to capitalize on the popularity of music videos – and produce a cheap late night program. For years “The Midnight Special” stood tall in the late Friday night slot with its presentation of live music. Then it gave way for a couple of years to “SCTV” but that seemed to take away from “Saturday Night Live” so executives went looking for something else. MTV was making headlines and music videos were extremely popular, but cable still had not penetrated into most television viewing homes.
The format of the series changed (as did its time slot) later on in the 90s as cable became the standard for television viewing. The off-screen announcer gave way to on-screen guest hosts. Then there were stand-up comedy segments. Eventually it just sort of morphed into a general entertainment show and disappeared.
Now that MTV doesn’t show music videos, or any channel these days, the time is ripe for a revival. Sure, you could go online and find some videos, but the trouble with this method is the discovery is absent since you sort of have to know what you are searching for. Having a curated block of music videos would be most welcome (at least on my television).
Air the program overnight on Fridays, or maybe after “Saturday Night Live” (I’m not tied to the name anyway). Heck, at 1 in the morning on Sunday (Saturday night) it might get more viewers than you expect. I would set my DVR to record it. The time is right. Come on NBC. You know the viewers would like this. The music industry wouldn’t mind either.