Friday Night Videos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Network | NBC |
| Regular Host(s) |
Frankie Crocker |
| Announcer(s) | Nick Michaels |
| Premiere Date | July 29, 1983 |
| Final Date | May 24, 2002 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes (90 minutes from 1983 to 1987) |
| IMDb Page | |
Friday Night Videos was a music video show broadcast on the American NBC television network from July 29, 1983 to May 24, 2002, and was considered network television’s answer to MTV.
Contents |
[edit] History
In the beginning, MTV was still a phenomenon that very few people actually could see in their homes, as cable television wasn't yet the "norm." Friday Night Videos took advantage of that fact and proved to be the next best thing.
While it primarily showcased music videos by popular top 40 acts of the day, unlike its cable rival — Friday Night Videos tended to offer more variety, featuring artists from the genres of: pop, rock, R&B, and rap.
In the beginning, the show was 90 minutes long, and consisted of music videos introduced by an off-camera announcer. In addition to this, classic artists of the 1960s and 1970s occasionally appeared in Hall of Fame Videos, major stars were profiled in Private Reels, and new clips made their network debuts as World Premiere Videos.
The most popular feature was Video Vote. Two videos were played back-to-back, and viewers across the country could call in and vote for one of them, using nationwide 900 numbers for a small per-call fee. The winning video faced a new challenger the following week.
Nick Michaels and Scott Muni were the off-camera announcers.
[edit] The first year
"Many of our viewers aren't familiar with music videos, so we're going to begin our first show with one of the best." — so stated the announcer at the beginning of the first telecast. Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean was the video chosen for this honor.
During the early years, the Video Vote segment often received as many as 200,000 calls in one night. The first year ended with a final contest, pitting the videos with the most victories against each other. Callers chose ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man as the 1983 Video Vote Champion.
Occasionally, FNV was simulcast on the radio, so viewers could hear the music in stereo. In December 1983, the show scored a ratings victory when it aired Michael Jackson's Thriller as a World Premiere Video.
[edit] Celebrity hosts
In 1985, FNV began to use different celebrity guests to host the show each week. Actors, comedians, media celebrities and musicians all did their stint on FNV (usually in teams of two); a handful of whom made repeated appearances. As a result of the host banter, the show often would have to slightly shave off bits of the end of the videos to conserve time.
Notable hosts have included:
- Ahmad Rashad & Phylicia Rashad
- Bobby Brown & Malcolm-Jamal Warner
- Darryl M. Bell & Tempestt Bledsoe
- Dave Coulier & Cree Summer
- Bob Saget & George Wallace
- Jason Bateman & Barry Sobel
- Justine Bateman & Michael J. Fox
- John Ratzenberger & George Wendt
- Don Johnson & Philip Michael Thomas
- Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon
- Mary Gross & Shelley Long
- Whitney Houston & Pebbles
- Debbie Allen & Kadeem Hardison
- Dawnn Lewis & Bobby McFerrin
- En Vogue & Johnny Gill
- Don King & Mike Tyson
- The cast of The Facts of Life
- The cast of Kate & Allie
- Elvira
- The Jets
- George Carlin
- Bobcat Goldthwait
- Pee Wee Herman
- Patti LaBelle
- Madonna
- Howie Mandel
- New Kids on the Block
- Paul Shaffer
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Dr. Ruth Westheimer
- Stevie Wonder
[edit] Late 80s/Early 90s
In 1987, the show was cut from 90 minutes to 60, and its starting time was moved back from 12:30 a.m./EST to 1:30 a.m., as a result of Late Night with David Letterman now with an additional Friday broadcast at 12:30. In 1989, FNV gave out its own awards, naming Michael Jackson the Greatest Video Artist of the Decade.
In early 1990, NBC sporadically ran a Saturday morning edition of Friday Night Videos for viewers who missed the show hours earlier because of its late night time slot. That fall, the network premiered a clone show on the Saturday morning line up called Saturday Morning Videos, which followed Saved by the Bell and was basically a campier version of Friday Night Videos that targeted the lead-in teenage audience. It was cancelled in 1992.
In late 1990, FNV began to move away from an all-video format. Regular bumper segments were added, featuring Judy Tenuta (The Goddess of Gossip), Richard Belzer (Ask the Belz), Kim Coles (Girl Talk), Tom Kenny (Music News), and James Stephens III (Rapitorials).
In 1991, live in-studio musical performances were added. Tom Kenny, meanwhile, became the regular on-screen host, while popular radio personality Frankie Crocker hosted his own feature, Frankie Crocker's Journal — which highlighted important dates in music history. Shortly thereafter, Crocker took over as host, sharing duties with Darryl M. Bell (who was later replaced by Branford Marsalis in 1993) while continuing to host Frankie Crocker’s Journal.
[edit] Format change
In January 1994, after years of falling ratings and seemingly becoming more and more insignificant in the wake of the cable television boom that allowed more households to have access to MTV, the show was retooled in an attempt to stay relevant. Moving to Los Angeles from New York, it shortened its name to Friday Night, and became less of a music video show and more of a general entertainment and variety program — featuring celebrity interviews, stand-up comedy, movie reviews, live performances, viewer polls, and comedy sketches. Subsequently, the show now only made room to air approximately two music videos per episode. The new format brought two new hosts: comedians Henry Cho and Rita Sever. In 1996, Rita Sever took over as sole host. The old Video Vote segment, meanwhile, was resurrected and renamed Friday Night Jukebox.
[edit] The twilight years
In 2000, despite having its highest ratings in years, the show was once again reformatted by NBC for budget reasons. As is, Friday Night's last telecast was December 29. On January 5, 2001, the show came back being called Late Friday. Completely nixing music and entertainment segments, the show now solely revolved around lesser-known stand-up comedians doing their stage routines. Terrible ratings forced the network to cancel it on May 24, 2002.
It was replaced by Last Call with Carson Daly, which was extended to five nights a week.
[edit] External links
- Friday Night Videos at the Internet Movie Database
- TV Tome Site
- Jump The Shark - Friday Night Videos
- Lisa's FNV Nostalgia Cafe
- Save Friday Night
- "Friday Night Videos" with Paul McCartney and Julian Lennon
- DEB'S NEW JOVI WORLD
- Zap2it - TV news - NBC To Replace 'Friday Night'
- Friday Night Videos w/ Peebles
- Friday Night with Rita Sever
- Liveworld.com
- Videos out, comics in on NBC
- The Michael J. Fox Database :: Acting Career :: TV Series :: Friday Night Videos - 02/20/87
- Friday Night Videos: A Look Back!
Categories: 1983 television program debuts | 1980s TV shows in the United States | 1990s TV shows in the United States | 2000s TV shows in the United States | NBC network shows | Music video networks | Variety television series | Friday | Television series by NBC Universal Television | Music television series
