The All-Night Show was a television series starring Chas Lawther

Chas Lawther

Charles "Chas" Lawther is a British-born Canadian actor, comedian and writer.Lawther came to local prominence in Toronto when in the 1980s he created the character of Chuck The Security Guard for CFMT-TV's The All-Night Show, on the ostensible premise that as the station's night security he would...

 and produced by Jeff Silverman

Jeff Silverman

Jeff Silverman is the president of Yuk Yuk’s, Canada's largest chain of comedy clubs, a television producer who created and produced Canada's first all night television show, The All-Night Show, in 1980-1981...

 which ran from September 1980 to August 1981 on CFMT-TV

CFMT-TV

CFMT-DT, channel 47, is a television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with rebroadcasters in Ottawa and London. The station broadcasts multicultural programming targeting European and Latin American communities throughout Southern Ontario. Part of the Omni Television group of stations...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

The show ran live nightly from the end of other programming (typically 2 am) until 6 am. The premise was that Lawther's character, Chuck the Security Guard, had, with the help of his never-seen

Unseen character

In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...

 technically-minded friend Ryerson Dupont (played by writer Errol Bruce and named after Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnical Institute

Ryerson University

Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

) and P.B. Leonard, took over the facilities of CFMT and accidentally broadcast their favorite shows over the air while fooling around with the equipment. The All-Night Show generally showed reruns of classic series such as The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...

, The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)

The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...

, and The Prisoner

The Prisoner

The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...

, and filled the space in between with music videos (including old Scopitones), old movie shorts, and comedic banter. The show only lasted one year, ending when CFMT cut its budget for the time slot.

Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

was featured in some episodes of The All-Night Show, primarily as a voice actor.