Remote Patrol

By Bruce Fretts / Entertainment Weekly / Posted Jan 22, 1999
(Source)

Blame it on Mr. T. In January of 1983, NBC aired an episode of its new series The A-Team after the Super Bowl. Prior to this, networks had stuck to their traditional Sunday programming (60 Minutes; Trapper John, M.D.) following the endless postgame coverage. But NBC realized the Super Bowl would provide a huge lead-in of intoxicated males who might really go for a mindless show with lots of explosions in it.

The A-Team became a huge hit, and ever since then, networks have been trying to figure out how to exploit the high-profile time period. [In 1999], Fox is launching its new animated series Family Guy, followed by a special episode of The Simpsons guest-starring network chieftain Rupert Murdoch. Yet history shows that an after-Bowl bow doesn't always guarantee a ratings touchdown once the show moves to its regular slot.

Borrowing The A-Team's battle plan, CBS detonated another action hour, Airwolf, after the 1984 game. The helicopter drama with Jan-Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine hovered for two and a half seasons before landing on the USA Network. But that's a smash compared with the next three post-Bowl bombs: ABC's husband-and-wife cop show MacGruder and Loud, NBC's Police Academy clone The Last Precinct, and CBS' newsroom drama Hard Copy (costarring ID4 producer Dean Devlin!), none of which lasted a full season. In 1988, just when it looked like networks would give up on the idea, ABC gambled with a little dramedy called The Wonder Years. Laced with baby-boomer nostalgia, it apparently appealed to football fans' sensitive sides -- you know how weepy drunk guys can get -- and kicked off an Emmy-winning six-year run.

NBC took a different approach the next season by airing the first part of the TV movie Brotherhood of the Rose, a Peter Strauss spy thriller that proved too confusing for such an impaired audience. CBS went back to A-Team basics with 1990's Grand Slam, starring John Schneider and Paul Rodriguez as bounty hunters, but the action comedy crashed after seven weeks. Despite the presence of Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters, ABC's 1991 sitcom Davis Rules didn't, even when it jumped to CBS a year later and added future Saving Private Ryan grunt Giovanni Ribisi to its roster.

In 1992, CBS scored with presidential candidate Bill Clinton's confession (''I have [caused] pain in my marriage...'') to Steve Kroft on a special 60 Minutes. The next year, NBC unveiled its acclaimed Homicide: Life on the Street, unaware that the morally complex cop show was far too sophisticated for your average gridiron junkie.

The fast failure of NBC's 1994 farce The Good Life (featuring unknown comic Drew Carey) and ABC's 1995 James Brolin adventure Extreme persuaded NBC it was time to try something else. Instead of offering a new series, in '96 the net ordered an hour-long Friends. Sadly, this was easily the show's worst episode ever, jammed with pointless celebrity cameos (Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme). The next year, Fox aired a special episode of The X-Files. NBC tried again in '98 with a supermodel-infested 3rd Rock From the Sun, but the stunt failed to halt that sitcom's ratings free fall.

Ignoring this spotty record, Fox has tapped Family Guy for [1999]'s post-Bowl slot--and it just might work. Guy is what you'd get if you put Hank Hill, Homer Simpson, and Cartman in a blender. It bursts with crude humor, boasts strong male appeal, and best of all, it's a cartoon--just like The A-Team.

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Super Bowling for big ratings

Posted 2/1/2007 9:08 PM ET

As the Super Bowl has grown, so have the networks' efforts to pass the game's huge audience on to a postgame special. USA TODAY's Robert Bianco looks at after-Bowl highs and lows. (Source)

The First
Lassie (CBS) and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (NBC, 1967)

Hard as it may be to believe, the Super Bowl wasn't always so super. The first game was played in the afternoon. Shared rights put the game on both CBS and NBC — which just followed it with their regular Sunday programming. And who doesn't love Lassie?

The Highest-Rated
60 Minutes (CBS, 1980)

Not only does CBS' newsmagazine hold the record for most post-Bowl appearances with four, but it also holds the mark as the highest-rated — a 33 rating after Super Bowl XIV. Apparently, something about the Steelers beating the Rams put America into a thoughtful mood, probably something Terry Bradshaw said in his MVP speech.

The Game-Changer
The A-Team (NBC, 1983)

NBC was just sticking to its schedule when it aired the second episode of A-Team after Super Bowl XVII. But the show was the perfect, raucous match for the game, grabbing a huge audience that turned A-Team into a a pop-culture phenomenon. Other networks took notice.

The Best Launch
The Wonder Years (ABC, 1988)

Following NBC's macho example, the networks spent the next few years using the game to promote silly, male-oriented shows such as Airwolf. But ABC used the 1988 game to funnel an audience into a "special preview" of a series that both needed and deserved the push: the wonderful, offbeat Wonder Years.

The Worst Launch
Grand Slam (CBS, 1990)

Starring Paul Rodriguez and John Schneider, this instantly forgotten action/buddy comedy is the epitome of the wasted Super Bowl slot: A lot of people learned all at once that Slam was lousy. By March, it was slammed off the air.

The Most-Watched
Friends (NBC, 1996)

Because the population keeps growing, this special Super Friends, though slightly lower rated than 60 Minutes, was seen by far more people: close to 53 million. And what most of them remember is that "The One After the Super Bowl," a guest-packed two-parter with Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Marcel the Monkey, was awful. It represented the show at its overhyped worst.

The Latest and Lowest-Rated
Alias (ABC, 2003)

Using the game to try to bring a bigger audience to this terrific series was a good idea. Unfortunately, the game and the postgame chatter ran notoriously long, and Alias didn't air until after 11 p.m. in the East, the only Super show to start after prime time. Even Jennifer Garner in a bustier wasn't enough to keep people up.

The Best Boost
Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 2006)

So much for assuming the Super slot is best used for male-appeal shows. ABC turned it over to the female-favored Grey's, which was just beginning to emerge as a critical and popular success. This two-part bomb-in-the-stomach episode turned Grey's into the season's breakout hit, and it helped change ABC's ratings fortunes.

The Worst Choice
Criminal Minds (CBS, Sunday, after the game)

Over the years, this slot has come to mean more than just numbers. It is, in a sense, a statement by the network that this is the show that means the most to us this season, the one on which we're stamping our imprimatur. The people at CBS want that show to be Minds? Are they out of theirs?

year  net  program                       hh rtg/share  viewers  18-49/share
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1983  NBC  The A-Team
1984  CBS  Airwolf
1985  ABC  MacGruder and Loud
1986  NBC  The Last Precinct
1987  CBS  Hard Copy
1988  ABC  Wonder Years                    17.9/31      28.98    15.1/35
1989  NBC  Movie: Brotherhood of the Rose  20.9/36      31.97    14.0/34
                  part one 

1990  CBS  Grand Slam                      18.6/30      30.77    13.9
1991  ABC  Davis Rules                     15.5/25      26.69    13.6
1992  CBS  60 Minutes (Clinton interview)  20.9/34      33.96    14.3
1993  NBC  Homicide: Life on the Street    18.0/31      28.12    13.7/35
1994  NBC  The Good Life                   14.2/24      22.83    11.5/29
1995  ABC  Extreme                         14.2/25      22.59    10.8/28
1996  NBC  Friends                         29.6/46      52.93    28.2/60
1997  FOX  The X-Files                     17.2/29      29.10    15.3/36
1998  NBC  3rd Rock From the Sun           19.7/34      33.66    17.1/41
1999  FOX  Family Guy                      12.6/21      22.01    11.5/28

2000  ABC  The Practice                    15.3/27      23.84    10.2/27
2001  CBS  Survivor: Australian Outback    24.5/39      45.37    21.8/48
2002  FOX  Malcolm in the Middle           11.5/21      21.45    10.5/28
2003  ABC  Alias                           10.6/20      17.40     8.3
2004  CBS  Survivor: All-Stars             17.9/32      33.54    14.9/37
2005  FOX  The Simpsons                    13.0/22      23.07    11.3/28
           American Dad                                 15.1      7.5
2006  ABC  Grey's Anatomy                  21.0/34      37.88    16.5/38
2007  CBS  Criminal Minds                  15.1/26      26.31    10.0/25
2008  FOX  House

Great information Douglas!!!!

But, I will be the lone voice in disagreeing that Criminal Minds was the Worse choice. May not have been the better choice for CBS, but not a horrible one either.

CBS feels that CM could be the next CSI (right or wrong), so why not give a boost to a show that is beginning to trend upward.

CM is now reaping the benefits of that post SB airing. Its numbers are up from last spring, and approaching numbers from last fall, which is great considering most shows this season are showing 10-20% declines in viewership.

Obviously, Alias was the worst choice, for a veteran series. I might even go as far as saying the 2005 combination of The Simpsons/American Dad was a bad Idea. As the ratings show, people jumped ship once The Simpsons was done, and its numbers are among the lowest of all time.

Coming from a non-fan of Criminal Minds, there is no denying that the show continues to prosper . If the show was liked by more critics (and that one in particular), he wouldn't have said that.

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:
Great information Douglas!!!!

But, I will be the lone voice in disagreeing that Criminal Minds was the Worse choice. May not have been the better choice for CBS, but not a horrible one either.

CBS feels that CM could be the next CSI (right or wrong), so why not give a boost to a show that is beginning to trend upward.

CM is now reaping the benefits of that post SB airing. Its numbers are up from last spring, and approaching numbers from last fall, which is great considering most shows this season are showing 10-20% declines in viewership.

Obviously, Alias was the worst choice, for a veteran series. I might even go as far as saying the 2005 combination of The Simpsons/American Dad was a bad Idea. As the ratings show, people jumped ship once The Simpsons was done, and its numbers are among the lowest of all time.

Thanks for posting this article, Douglas...quite fascinating how the networks have gotten more strategic in using football to launch primetime series.

Criminal Minds really didn't get any lift from its post Super Bowl airing, so it was a bit of a wasted opportunity.

CBS might have done better in trying to give a boost to a new series that needed the exposure, like How I Met Your Mother / Rules of Engagement, or even Jericho which could have had a much stronger winter season if it had re-launched after the Super Bowl.

quote:

Originally posted by dumont:
Thanks for posting this article, Douglas...quite fascinating how the networks have gotten more strategic in using football to launch primetime series.

Criminal Minds really didn't get any lift from its post Super Bowl airing, so it was a bit of a wasted opportunity.

CBS might have done better in trying to give a boost to a new series that needed the exposure, like How I Met Your Mother / Rules of Engagement, or even Jericho which could have had a much stronger winter season if it had re-launched after the Super Bowl.

I think an hour long HIMYM would have been a better choice for last year, but I would not schedule 2 half hour programs after the Super Bowl.

quote:

Originally posted by Douglas:
The Worst Launch
Grand Slam (CBS, 1990)

Starring Paul Rodriguez and John Schneider, this instantly forgotten action/buddy comedy is the epitome of the wasted Super Bowl slot: A lot of people learned all at once that Slam was lousy. By March, it was slammed off the air.

While this was decidedly not a good show, I not only don't feel it was the worst launch of all time; I don't even feel it was the worst of the decade. ABC's "Extreme" was extremely bad. As you can see, it really paid off in the ratings. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about hopeless ABC was under Ted Harbert if this was what was considered the creme de la creme that year. At least ABC had the excuse of "Extreme" being a series premiere. What on earth was NBC's excuse with "The Good Life" (and "The John Larroquette Show")?

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:

quote:

Originally posted by dumont:
Thanks for posting this article, Douglas...quite fascinating how the networks have gotten more strategic in using football to launch primetime series.

Criminal Minds really didn't get any lift from its post Super Bowl airing, so it was a bit of a wasted opportunity.

CBS might have done better in trying to give a boost to a new series that needed the exposure, like How I Met Your Mother / Rules of Engagement, or even Jericho which could have had a much stronger winter season if it had re-launched after the Super Bowl.

I think an hour long HIMYM would have been a better choice for last year, but I would not schedule 2 half hour programs after the Super Bowl.

How I Met Your Mother has had more "exposure" than any other sitcom on CBS. For the past two summers, it was put directly behind 2.5 Men. In its first season they aired marathons. Plus, its aired hourlong specials on other nights too. Face it. The show is very overrated and will never be a big hit.

At the time, though, when ABC was in its doldrums, Alias was one of the few shows on the network generating buzz, despite anemic ratings. I don't blame the network presidents at the time, Susan Lyne and Lloyd Braun, for putting it on at that prime spot to jump start its numbers although even then, the show's fortunes were doomed when it aired at 11:00pm on the East Coast. (ABC could have refrained from airing a Penn & Teller skit and another Bon Jovi song after the Super Bowl!)

I admit that this show was one of my favorite dramas this decade so have that view in mind for this statement: it was the best scripted episode to ever air after the Super Bowl. Very action-packed, although it took just one episode to destroy an underground spy organization, when it seemed like an impossible task in the many episodes prior.

Now, how could you go wrong when the first thing you saw after Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003 was this scene?!? (Viewer discretion is advised)

quote:

Originally posted by TV-aholic:
Obviously, Alias was the worst choice, for a veteran series.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Douglas,

quote:

The Latest and Lowest-Rated
Alias (ABC, 2003)

Using the game to try to bring a bigger audience to this terrific series was a good idea. Unfortunately, the game and the postgame chatter ran notoriously long, and Alias didn't air until after 11 p.m. in the East, the only Super show to start after prime time. Even Jennifer Garner in a bustier wasn't enough to keep people up.

Sigh. The pissed me off so much. The postgame coverage was so freaking long. And it was, perhaps, the second best episode of television in this decade (behind Alias's pilot which is pretty much the most perfect pilot ever, from script to screen). I'm sure I'm in the minority about this opinion (but remember that it was what happened AFTER this episode that took the series down so many notches on the quality peg).

I'm right with you in this minority as well. The pilot is what led me to love this series at the start - it was commercial-free, remember? And that Super Bowl episode was red-hot!

But the Francie-Sydney fight at the end of Season 2 was some good stuff, no? Then came Season 3 and the beginning of the series' decline...

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
And it was, perhaps, the second best episode of television in this decade (behind Alias's pilot which is pretty much the most perfect pilot ever, from script to screen). I'm sure I'm in the minority about this opinion (but remember that it was what happened AFTER this episode that took the series down so many notches on the quality peg).

"I just remembered...Francie doesn't like coffee ice cream."

I enjoyed every single moment of Alias, even when it descended to preposterous levels.

quote:

Originally posted by Douglas:
I'm right with you in this minority as well. The pilot is what led me to love this series at the start - it was commercial-free, remember? And that Super Bowl episode was red-hot!

But the Francie-Sydney fight at the end of Season 2 was some good stuff, no? Then came Season 3 and the beginning of the series' decline...

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
And it was, perhaps, the second best episode of television in this decade (behind Alias's pilot which is pretty much the most perfect pilot ever, from script to screen). I'm sure I'm in the minority about this opinion (but remember that it was what happened AFTER this episode that took the series down so many notches on the quality peg).

quote:

The Best Boost
Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 2006)

So much for assuming the Super slot is best used for male-appeal shows. ABC turned it over to the female-favored Grey's, which was just beginning to emerge as a critical and popular success. This two-part bomb-in-the-stomach episode turned Grey's into the season's breakout hit, and it helped change ABC's ratings fortunes.

WOW, thats all I can say, that is a really a big number

anyways, dont you think fox is making a really dumb decision by scheduling house after the superbowl, I mean that show already has AI as a lead in, and can gather a huge result on its own, does it really need the superbowl, why cant they use it for one of their new shows, I really think that this is the dumbest moves by any network that I have seen in a while

I'm right there with all of you. That post Superbowl episode really was fantastic! Unfortunately it killed off Francie and SD-6, which may have diminished the show, but I still loved every second after that. The season 2 and 4 finale cliffhangers were definitely jaw droppers.

Alias' pilot was the second best pilot in the history of television. I would only put the pilot of Lost slightly ahead of it.

quote:

Originally posted by dumont:
"I just remembered...Francie doesn't like coffee ice cream."

I enjoyed every single moment of Alias, even when it descended to preposterous levels.

quote:

Originally posted by Douglas:
I'm right with you in this minority as well. The pilot is what led me to love this series at the start - it was commercial-free, remember? And that Super Bowl episode was red-hot!

But the Francie-Sydney fight at the end of Season 2 was some good stuff, no? Then came Season 3 and the beginning of the series' decline...

quote:

Originally posted by TravisYanan:
And it was, perhaps, the second best episode of television in this decade (behind Alias's pilot which is pretty much the most perfect pilot ever, from script to screen). I'm sure I'm in the minority about this opinion (but remember that it was what happened AFTER this episode that took the series down so many notches on the quality peg).

I agree that the Post Super Bowl Alias was a great episode....but I do blame the events that occurred in the episode as a reason for the decline of the show.

The lack of SD-6 was a huge problem for me from then on. Actually I think what made me start to dislike the show was getting Vaughn and Sydney together. I know a lot of people loved them together, but I absolutely hated them as a couple.

Thanks for this post, and I agree with everything said about Alias, this episode was great but came too soon, the series went downhill after that.