9 Shows That Got Their Starts As Super Bowl Lead-Outs
For the first time in fifteen years*, the Super Bowl-carrying network will introduce a new series in its lead-out time slot. On the heels of the most-watched television event of the year, the coveted post-game position is usually reserved for the network's most popular show (Friends, The Simpsons, Survivor in past years) or in rare years like this one, a new series that the network just about guarantees to be a hit. This Sunday, CBS is forgoing an episode of established hits like Criminal Minds or NCIS in favor of Undercover Boss, a reality venture in which the executive of a major company goes undercover as an entry-level worker. In honor of the Tiffany network's big gamble on Sunday, let's look back on nine other series that got their successful (and unsuccessful) starts as Super Bowl lead-outs.
*Movieline is not counting Fox's American Dad as a lead-out to the 2005 Super Bowl, since it aired after The Simpsons.
9. Extreme (ABC), Super Bowl XXIX (1995)
Stars: James Brolin, Tom Wright, Julie Bowen
Concept: A search and rescue team in the Rockies struggles with love, romance and danger as they work under extreme conditions. Described by fans as "Baywatch Meets the Mountains".
Duration: 1 season
8. The Good Life (NBC), Super Bowl XXVIII (1994)
Stars: John Caponera and Drew Carey
Concept: A couple of guys living and working in Chicago.
Duration: 1 season
7. Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC), Super Bowl XXVII (1993)
Stars: Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer
Concept: A police procedure centering on the work of a fictional Baltimore Police Department homicide unit.
Duration: 7 seasons
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Comments
MacGruder and Loud is my favorite in this category, from 1984. Cop partners who had to pretend they weren't married--with a secret door between their apartments for covert conjugal visits.
MacGruder and Loud is my favorite in this category, from 1985. Cop partners who had to pretend they weren't married--with a secret door between their apartments for covert conjugal visits.
(corrected date)
Wow, this list doesn't bode well for Undercover Boss. But what a varied list. The Wonder Years, one of the best shows of the 1980s, and Homicide, the start of the best drama franchise in history. Apart from those, did any of these shows even make it to reruns or DVD? Even Sanford and Son is on DVD, and it is a classicaly awful show.
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"Even Sanford and Son is on DVD, and it is a classicaly awful show."
Well, the difference there is that Sanford and Son was a HIT show, and most of the ones listed here were not (most only lasting a season).
I know "Homicide" and "Airwolf" are on DVD and have aired in syndication. "Wonder Years" only had a best-of release that is OOP (though I think it did go into reruns on cable at some point). The reason it's not on DVD isn't lack of demand, though, it's music licencing issues.
Wow, the boss at Waste Management has to do his underlings job. I'll watch when the boss has to live on his underlings' wages.
Worst. Show. Idea. Ever.