I really miss pre pay-tv late night television

Back in the good old days before there were 500 channels of garbage, there were typically just three stations in range of anybody's antenna, and it was good. They were forced to compete between themselves, and in my opinion much of the programming was better than it is now.

A couple of my faves are the old Midnight Special (free rock concerts for all on friday night!) and The Tomorrow Show. Tom Snyder was da MAN back then, and he was well worth watching.

For the two years I was in England in the early 70s there was The Old Grey Whistle Test, which was probably THE precursor of all television rock videos. I have fond (if blurred) memories of getting stoned on Blonde Lebanese hashish and zoning out to the incredible stuff they lovingly played.

(I've always thought it was a real pity that when MTV finally came along they eventually forgot what the "M" stood for.)

What are your old late night faves?

'B' movies (and a lotta 'C') running all night on some stations, often with few commercials and a rather silly host. Man, do I miss that.

Also:

• "Night Flight" on USA, which introduced me to '30s drug-propaganda films as well as a cult classic I finally tracked down on DVD, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains."

• "In Concert" on ABC, which I thought was better than "Midnight Special" — certainly better than what "Midnight Special" became after about four seasons.