Friday Action Night is a phrase that has meaning for many South Africans, but only those who grew up a little bit before the age of streaming services like Netflix and Showmax.
The phrase is associated with a continuous theme on local television network eTV, which used it to announce the movies that were usually aired on a Friday night from 20:00 onwards.
Who else was excited when you knew the movie was about to come on?
Here’s more about the phenomenon that many South Africans will still be able to remember, and which movies used to make us all sit at the edge of our seats.
eTV: Friday Action Night
Friday Action Night used to be the catchphrase for the channel eTV and their weekly movie schedule, which started on a Thursday and ran through the weekend until Sunday Nights.
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Thursday nights were reserved for comedy or romantic comedy movies, while Saturday nights were for family or kid-friendly movies; Sundays were Blockbuster nights, where we’d get to see some newer movies from Hollywood.
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Movies were aired at 20:00.
Just before the movies, you could tune in to watch the news.
Friday Action Night Favourites
Can you remember which movies made the Friday Action Night lineup?
If it was an action movie, then you might have seen it on one of the weekend lineups.
Some of the movies that were aired over the years include the Rambo-movies, Con Air, Face-Off – and Speed, starring Keanu Reeves.
Friday nights were also the perfect time for martial arts movies, including many Bruce Lee classics.
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Other movies that you might remember from eTV weekend programming during the same ‘golden era’ of television movies includes Bad Boys I and II, Charlie’s Angels, and Miss Congeniality.
eTV late-night television
Anyone who stayed up too late on a weekend might have caught one of the more adult titles airing over the weekend. While it was a great time to air action and comedy movies, late-night weekends were reserved for ‘other’ films – usually ones not friendly for younger viewers, who were expected to be asleep by this late hour.
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These weekend titles included the Emmanuelle-series, an adult film series about, well, adult things.
Do you remember late-night South African television?
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