The Midnight Special is an American latenight musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s created and produced by Burt Sugarman It premiered as a special on August 19 1972 then began its run as a regular series on February 2 1973 its last episode was on May 1 1981 The ninetyminute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The show typically featured guest hosts except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when singer Helen Reddy served as the regular host Wolfman Jack served as the announcer and frequent guest host The programs theme song a traditional folk song called Midnight Special was performed by Johnny Rivers