The Shows After the Show: Great Moments in Post-Super Bowl TV
The NFL spends six months playing up the import of the Super Bowl, but that’s nothing compared to the ad execs on Madison Avenue – to them, hyping the Big Game is a year-long endeavor.
And understandably so. After all, the cost of a 30-second commercial during Super Bowl XLVIII was $4 million. During Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIX, it’ll be $4.5 million. But it’s not just big business for advertisers – the networks themselves now use the Big Game as launching pad for their programming, debuting new shows or airing blockbuster episodes of old favorites, hoping against hope that the majority of TV sets won’t be shut off once the Lombardi Trophy is handed out.
On Sunday, NBC will bring back The Blacklist as soon as the Patriots and Seahawks are finished battling, proving once again that the lead-out program is as much an American tradition as the Big Game itself. Here’s a look back at some memorable moments in post-Super Bowl programming.
All in the Family, Super Bowl XII
Prior to this, Super Bowl lead-outs were mostly episodes of Lassie and the occasional Wonderful World of Disney special (“The Mystery in Dracula’s Castle”). But in 1978, the Big Game made its debut in prime time, and CBS brought out the big guns with a special Super Bowl-themed ep of All in the Family. Archie plans big things for his bar during the game – like charging a buck fifty for a ham sandwich – only to be foiled by a pair of robbers, who abscond with patrons’ cash and ensure a clean getaway by making everyone drop trou. There’s a lesson to be learned here: If you want to rob a bar, make sure everyone’s pants are down when you initiate your escape.
The A-Team, Super Bowl XVII
I pity the fool that doesn’t know that Mr. T never actually said “I pity the fool” on The A-Team. I don’t pity running back and Super Bowl MVP John Riggins, who led the Washington Redskins to victory over the Miami Dolphins and rushed for a (then) record 166 yards. NBC used the game to debut its brand-new action series, the first Super Bowl lead-out to become an established hit. The network even had Mr T. show up at the Big Game to hype the premiere. It was the beginning of an era.
The Wonder Years, Super Bowl XXII
The game itself was a clunker – the Redskins routed the Denver Broncos 42-10 – but afterwards, viewers (those still watching, at least) witnessed the debut of The Wonder Years, which ran for six seasons, becoming the second successful show to bow after the Big Game. In the pilot, precocious Kevin Arnold is forced to confront his own mortality when he learns that Winnie Cooper’s older brother has been killed in the Vietnam War. Sufficed to say, Super Bowl lead-outs would get substantially sunnier from here.
60 Minutes, Super Bowl XXVI
The 1992 clash between the Redskins and the Buffalo Bills also featured a battle between networks, as upstart Fox successfully launched a halftime counterstrike featuring a football-themed episode of In Living Color. Immediately following the Super Bowl, CBS struck back with legendary edition of 60 Minutes, where then-candidate Bill Clinton addressed the rumors of his affair with Gennifer Flowers. With some 50 million people watching (and Hillary by his side), Clinton denied the affair, but by stepping up and admitting to difficulties in his marriage, he managed to humanize himself to the public, not to mention turn his campaign around.
Homicide: Life on the Street, Super Bowl XXVII
The Bills got routed by the Dallas Cowboys 52-17 (their third of four consecutive Super Bowl losses), but that was the only disappointment of the night. The game was followed by the premiere of the lauded cop drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Based on David Simon’s book, it chronicled dealings within the Baltimore Police Department’s Homicide Division, won three Peabody Awards in seven seasons, gave us the gift that is Detective John Munch and would lead (inadvertently or otherwise) to Simon’s The Wire, only the greatest TV show of all time. Who cares about the Cowboys?