''Midnight Blue'' is a sexually-themed public access

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

program that aired on Manhattan Cable Television Channel J in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The show debuted in 1974, as ''Screw'' publisher

Al Goldstein Alvin "Al" Goldstein (January 10, 1936December 19, 2013) was an American pornographer. He is known for helping normalize hardcore pornography in the United States. Background Goldstein was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to a Jewish family. He ...

parlayed his publishing success into a cable access show, a freeform interview program that played on the late night airwaves of Manhattan cable for more than twenty-five years. He regularly included ads from phone sex companies, brothels, and escorts, the only television show to do so. ''Midnight Blue'' was the subject of controversy when Goldstein testified before the United States

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 1995 as part of a lawsuit brought against

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

's plan to scramble sexually explicit public access programs unless subscribers gave written consent for them. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Goldstein's favor in 2000.

was the host and producer along with radio personality Alex Bennett. Alex Bennett and ''Screw'' editor Bruce David were its creators and original producers. Seven collections of show excerpts have been released on DVD by Nyaftermidnight and

Blue Underground Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. It was originally formed as a shell company to oversee 'making of' documentaries during founder ...

, Inc., together with added info about the actresses and scenes from their movies.

References

External links

* *{{amg title, 338911, title=Midnight Blue American public access television shows Pornographic television shows 1970s American television talk shows 1980s American television talk shows 1990s American television talk shows 2000s American television talk shows 1974 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings