''On the Air Live with Captain Midnight'' is a 1979 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

directed by

Beverly Sebastian Beverly Sebastian and Ferd Sebastian are American film directors, producers and writers, whose independent films in the 1970s and 1980s were predominantly exploitation pictures similar to the work of Roger Corman and other directors in the 1 ...

and Ferd Sebastian with Tracy Sebastian as Marvin Ziegler, also known as Captain Midnight (not to be confused with the

Captain Midnight ''Captain Midnight'' (later rebranded on television as ''Jet Jackson, Flying Commando'') is an American adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. The character's popularity throughout the 1940s and into the mid-19 ...

serial character from the 1930s and 1940s), who runs his own

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station and becomes an underground cult hit. As "Tray Loren," Tracy Sebastian also starred in the Sebastian's

Rocktober Blood ''Rocktober Blood'' is a 1984 horror film directed by Beverly Sebastian, starring Tray Loren, Donna Scoggins, and Cana Cockrell. The film also stars the Los Angeles rock band Sorcery, as well as musician Nigel Benjamim, as actors and on the so ...

. The film was released in 1979 although it was filmed in 1977. The film is about a teenager who has a mobile broadcast transmitter in his van that allows him to take over the airwaves as a renegade

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

. Veteran Los Angeles DJ

Jim Ladd James William Ladd (January 17, 1948 – December 17, 2023) was an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer. He was one of the last notable remaining Freeform (radio format), freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio. Ladd first ...

co-stars in the film as a disc jockey.

In popular culture

Drawing upon the pirate radio themes in the film, the protagonist's name was later used in the 1986

pirate satellite broadcast on HBO protesting scrambling equipment and high fees.

References

External links

* Vansploitation films 1979 films Films about pirate radio 1979 comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Beverly Sebastian Films directed by Ferd Sebastian 1970s American films English-language comedy-drama films {{comedy-drama-film-stub