The Late Night Files

Remember sneaking downstairs as a kid to watch TV in the middle of the night? You’d have the volume way down low so your parents wouldn’t hear you, because you were supposed to be sleeping. But forbidden fruit always tasted better, and what subterranean delicacies awaited you in those witching hours.

In those days of only thirteen TV channels, when VCRs were still a luxury (if they had been invented yet), local stations would come alive after midnight, especially on weekends. Old movies and TV shows, discarded by the media zeitgeist once something new came along, were resurrected, and often presented by a host. It was a cry of rebellion, to be awake when “normal people” slumbered, and experiencing some renegade entertainment banished from the popular eye. It was an intimate feeling of communion that other like-minded strangers were simultaneously sharing this piece of neglected culture with you. There was a mystery, an allure, as one never knew what to expect. There was an urgency too, as one could miss out on something unique, never to be repeated.

All of this is lost in our current age of PVRs, on-demand, streaming. It’s great to have all this content at our fingertips, but perhaps we appreciated things more back then, as there was an anticipation built up for them. The Late Night Files will serve as a history of the late-night experience that was part of our viewing culture for decades. It is an important history that I don’t want to die.

Thanks, enjoy.
Greg

Note: some pieces here were originally published in ESR Vol.1, Issue #21, 2008, which was devoted to late-night television, and reprinted with the authors’ permission. But this page will link to future pieces about late-night culture. Check back soon for updates!