Tonight’s original episode comes from 1983, i.e. the early days of discovery on NF that often featured uncut performance footage. Here, we see Toyah’s 1981 show at London’s Rainbow Theatre with the irrepressible performer at the top of her game. Listen up for excellent tunes like "War Boys," "Neon Womb" and more. 

In Take Off To Self Destruction (1986), Night Flight focuses on some of the darker elements that defined the 1980s, looking at music that dealt with topics like drug abuse and crime. Featured songs like “Stop The Madness” and “Just Say No” convey a conflicted range of emotion when watched today. The videos are definitely humorous in their categorically ‘80s presentation but they also require a somber reflection of the ineffective and corrosive drug policies promoted by the Reagans. Along with artist interviews and PSA style interstitials (including a brilliant one from Frank Zappa), this episode features videos from Armband, Jazzy Jeff, Fine Young Cannibals and more. A closing video of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” for this segment proves that Night Flight was willing to take on uncomfortable topics like drug abuse and suicide with an elegance you couldn’t find anywhere else on TV at the time. That’s a fact.

Welcome back to Night Flight. Tonight, we jump into the world of Slapstick Comedy. “Drawing on the theatrical tradition of Vaudeville, Slapstick Comedy is one of America’s most enduring traditions in cinema history,” syndication host Tom Juarez tells us. Its visual, it’s physical, and tonight we present collected the masters of the genre: Chaplin, W.C Fields, The Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis in drag and more.

“Take Off” to Animation is one of the most beloved original Night Flight formats, as true today as it was in the 1980s. Like our other animation specials, this 1987 arrival from the vault is a one-of-a-kind time capsule from an era when music videos and animation technologies were evolving side by side. Featuring Grace Jones’ multi-media visual spectacle, vibrant cel animation for Wally Badarou’s “Highlife,” and David Bowie’s rotoscoped video for “Underground” from Labyrinth (also streaming on Night Flight Plus), the episode highlights hybrid formats and emerging tools like early 3D computer animation at the height of the cultural zeitgeist.

This time capsule compilation from Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro and Laurie Dolphin celebrates the work of 40 innovative media artists using Flash in the early 2000s. At the time, Flash animation was the heartbeat of a new generation of pop culture enthusiasts at the beginning of the Internet. Whether creating their own independent animated clips or working with some of the biggest names in the music world, such as Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, Dr Dre and Phish, these Flash artists used the medium's unique quality to make art that defined a pivotal internet era.

Night Flight’s 1985 “Take Off” to Animation Vol. 4 is a perfect mid-decade snapshot of the remarkable evolution of technology and creativity in animation happening in the 1980s. Featuring super-group The Power Station's composited cutout acid trip for their T-Rex cover, Machinations rotoscoped “Pressure Sway” (above), Steve Miller’s early 3D animation effort “Bongo Bongo," and even some interview segments with animators working on Disney's The Black Cauldron.

Tonight we bring you a July 1989 episode of Hit Parader Magazine's Heavy Metal Meltdown! Visit a Sunset Strip tattoo parlor with L.A. Guns, get up close and personal with Badlands' lead vocalist Ray Gillen, go on the road with Winger and step inside the Elektra Records office for a little Metal Business Advice. Get ready for the meltdown!

An evil demon runs a toy store.

Night Flight's iconic interview with Kiss from 1983. “Tonight, we introduce you to the men behind the masks with an exclusive interview as well as concert films from their Inner Sanctum and Japanese tours.” - Night Flight's season 2 host, Al Bandiero.

Night Flight highlights the funniest women in showbiz in this special on female comedians, featuring material and interview clips from Tracy Ullman and Sandra Bernhardt.

A series of vignettes told by a woman relating to her television obsession.

Classic Night Flight profile of avant-garde experimentalist Laurie Anderson. Featuring an incredibly candid interview with Anderson about her background and work.

In this bite-sized episode of Night Flight, future Academy Award nominee Marky Mark discusses the criticism he's received for being a white rapper, while Vanilla Ice introduces the man behind his iconic wardrobe.

Welcome to Night Flight’s exclusive Video Profile of Kate Bush. “This multimedia performance artist has combined dance, music, literature and mime on her way to becoming Britain’s most popular female star,” Pat Prescott says to introduce the pop polymath. Featuring Bush’s candid interview from the Night Flight studios (recorded in November 1985), this episode is an immersive survey of her creative vision and premiered as “Running Up That Hill” was topping the charts. A timely treasure from the archive in 2022!

This classic episode of Night Flight's venerable "Take Off" series which premiered in 1984 features music videos featuring flashy female rock icons such as Debbie Harry, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Wendy O. Williams & Stevie Nicks.

Tonight on Night Flight, we feature masters of rock and roll comedy genr, including Weird Al, Dog Police, The Muppets, Mr. T., Doug and The Slugz and a whole new set of commandments from the bible of Mr. T! There are a bunch of hidden treasures in this hour long episode from 1985 that also includes the British TV show “Spitting Image.”

This Night Flight original episode from our 1983 season is rife with deep cuts and nostalgic video gems from a lost era. The highlight is of course, Nameneko Punk Rock Kittens which features cats in punk outfits on cat-sized diorama sets (known as Perlorian cats in the US) created by photographer and artist Satoru Tsuda. These feline punkers join the ranks of other zoological video oddities like Dog Police and Fish Heads that were seared into the dazed minds of teenagers up way past their bedtime in the '80s.

Watch the director discuss "tired" comparisons to Hitchcock, the importance of beauty in horror, and the potential pitfalls of directing music videos all while seeing pivotal scenes from Carrie, Phantom Of The Paradise, Body Double and more...

Tonight Night Flight profiles one of Rock’s great renegades: Neil Young. The essential episode features a candid NF studio interview with Young discussing his origins and inspirations and features some of Young’s more esoteric deep cuts on Geffen Records in the '80s including 1982’s techno track “Sample and Hold” and his Rockabilly ballad “Wonderin'.” Night Flight creator Stuart S. Shapiro's independent film distribution company International Harmony distributed Young's film "Rust Never Sleeps," a regular title in our early days on the air. It’s great to have the icon back on Night Flight.

Welcome to tonight’s "special investigation" into Satanic Metal circa 1988 (peak Satanic Panic!). Ever since the days of Paradise Lost, Faust and Hot Stuff Comic Books, the devil has been folk antihero numero uno and when Rock & Roll finally came along, he had his soundtrack (according to outraged fundamentalists).  Kicking off with Ozzy's "Miracle Man," join us as we descend into a realm of dark hymns from Damien, Iron Maiden, and much more…

This Night Flight original episode is part 2 of the 1983 New Year's Special. Featuring Music Videos, Video Profiles, and more. Night Flight rings in the New Year in style!

Phil Soussan, proper birthname Philip Raphael Soussan was born June 23. 1961 in London, England. A successful veteran bass guitarist, songwriter and producer, his resume boasts tours and tracks with Last in Line, the Vince Neil Band, Big Noize and most famously for slapping the fat stings during Ozzy Osbourne’s historic 1986 Ultimate Sin campaign. He co-authored the hit single, “Shot in the Dark.” I’ve always found him to be immensely intelligent and well-spoken, like a couple other not so mad Englishmen whose company I long enjoyed, Bruce Dickinson and Lemmy Kilmister.

Welcome to Night Flight. Tonight we Take Off to Rock and Roll Cowboys, original air date 1988. Sharpen your spurs and saddle up as Night Flight shows you how many of today’s rockers take their musical and visual style from the Wild Wild West. Kicking off with Martini Ranch’s “Reach,” The Damned’s Cinescope spaghetti-western themed cover “Alone Again Or,” and more from Robbie Robertson, Kool Moe Dee, and more!

Welcome back to Night Flight! “In a world where musicians bend over backwards to carry message of social responsibility, the wild and raucous Jane’s Addiction sings of personal freedom and non-conformity." - Pat Prescott. In tonight's 1991 original episode of Night Flight, find out why Jane's Addiction had become the most talked about band of the early ‘90s by going behind the scenes with lead singer Perry Farrell's Home Movie "Soul Kiss" This uncut original episode also features all the original 1-900 commercials, Night Flight comedy cuts, and clips from the 1938 exploitation movie, "Sex Madness."

This 1988 special Night Flight episodes has 1930s beauty tips, cult classic cartoons and a lost interview with heartthrob Mick Jagger. "For decades moviegoers have fulfilled their romantic fantasies by watching the big screen," host Pat Prescott tells us before kicking off the segment "Greatest Love Scenes and Lovers."

Tonight we Take Off to some of the "best bets of ’86!” That’s right, we’re talking about the mid-decade buzz bands (was that even a term in the '80s?) that landed on our radar. As you'll see, Night Flight was prescient in it's curation—many of these prospects went on to become massive acts. The episode includes The Hooters, Waterboys, Charlie Sexton, Tom Petty approved Del Fuegos and we think this episode is pretty special for its interview with Mr. Mister. Watch it tonight!