The Midnight Special is an American musical variety series that aired during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman and airing on NBC. 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 In 1973, producer Sugarman pitched the program as a means for NBC to capitalize on The Tonight Show '​s large audience. At the time, none of the Big Three television networks had programming on after 1:00 a.m., as common practice was to sign-off after the final program. Despite this lack of competition in the time-slot, NBC initially rejected the idea. The rejection led Sugarman to buy the air time for the premiere on his own, convincing Chevrolet to become the show's first sponsor. It premiered with ratings high enough for NBC to reconsider its decision, and the network subsequently bought the program. The program remained a part of NBC's late night lineup until 1981. The pilot for the series aired on August 19, 1972. It was presented as a 90-minute special encouraging young people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Several months later, on February 2, 1973, it premiered as a weekly series. Midnight Special's original time slot was from 1:00am to 2:30am. When Johnny Carson cut his own show from 90 to 60 minutes, The Midnight Special was moved up to 12:30am–2:00am. In 1978, at the height of the disco craze, the set was changed to resemble a disco nightclub complete with a platform dance floor. Wolfman Jack stood behind an elevated DJ booth. By fall 1979, as the genre's popularity waned, the disco set was gone.