Starting in 1986, each episode had more of Max and less of videos until 1987, when Max spun off into his own American TV show Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future. The videos were primarily British pop and American rock, but it was the biting comedy between the songs that was the primary draw. Great Britain’s Channel 4 late night video program hosted by the computer generated Max Headroom (Matt Frewer in real life) only lasted 16 episodes. (Oh, and Fee Waybill of the Tubes liked to stop by and visit.) 9. The sketches that appeared between videos were barely above the production value of public access, but for those of you who love 80’s cheese, Rock N America’s videos are a must see. First hosted by comedian Rick Ducommun, radio personalities Frazier Smith and Russ Parr took over in season 2.
In the mid-80’s, NBC tried to capitalize on the music video fad with this late night entry for less than accessible music. For those of you who agree that the music video is an underappreciated art form, this list, of Top 10 Late Night Music Video Shows is for you: 10. At one time, MTV’s entire existence was also based on showing videos, but those days are long gone. Way back, before the days of VEVO and YouTube, there was actually television programming whose singular purpose was to present you music videos.