seven. Shirley and Lee were introduced in 1974 singing 'Let the Good Times Roll', when actually 'Lee' wasn't on stage; 'Shirley' was singing with Steeltown Records Founder and Hollywood Shuffle actor Lou 'Ludie' Washington. The show presented The 1980 Floor Show, the last performance of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. It was broadcast on November 16, 1973, and was taped a month earlier from specially-commissioned performances at the Marquee Club in Soho, London. Cancellation The series was canceled by NBC at the request of Dick Ebersol as part of a deal for him to take over the then-ailing Saturday Night Live. Because there was no time for NBC to develop a new show from scratch in light of the urgent SNL situation, The Midnight Special was replaced by SCTV, a weekly Canadian sketch comedy series performed by members of the Toronto satellite of Chicago's The Second City improvisational troupe. That program, in turn, would later be replaced with another music show, Friday Night Videos, in 1983, also produced initially by Ebersol. DVD release In 2006, a DVD collection entitled Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special was made available by Guthy-Renker through television and radio infomercials. In 2014, an 11-DVD collection entitled The Midnight Special was released by Star-Vista through standard retail channels. See also List of late night network TV programs The Midnight Special (radio) References Notes Bibliography McNeil, Alexander M. (1980) Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, Ltd. External links 1973 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings 1970s American late-night television series 1980s American late-night television series 1970s American music television series 1980s American music television series 1970s American variety television series 1980s American variety television series English-language television shows NBC original programming NBC late-night programming Pop music television series Rock music television series