Are you ready for some (a lot of) football?
If on Super Bowl Sunday you immediately think of Puppy Bowl or (the new) Kitten Bowl, turn to today’s TV Week insert for a comprehensive preview of those alternative programs.
If you’re not into the game or the funny commercials and wondering if anything worthwhile is airing at the same time as the game (5:25 p.m. to about 9:30 p.m.), you have a choice between reruns and the good stuff on PBS.
On Masterpiece Classic on PBS and AETN, last week’s Downton Abbey episode airs at 7 p.m., followed by a new episode at 8.
I’ve already seen all the episodes for Season 4 (the perks of the job) and tonight’s is an especially good one.
A fresh serving of Sherlock, Series III follows at 9.
Meanwhile, the Big 3 broadcast networks aren’t going to waste new episodes on a night when most viewers are elsewhere.
ABC kills the evening with reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank.
CBS will air episodes from last fall for The Good Wife, The Mentalist and NCIS.
And NBC has a new episode of Dateline NBC, followed by the 2010 movie Little Fockers starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.
Tonight may be a good time to troll the TV hinterlands.
At 7 p.m. you can watch Apocalypto with Spanish subtitles on Telemundo (the dialogue is in Yucatec Mayan), or dip into The Walking Dead marathon that’s running on AMC.
BBC America is airing a Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon, and BET has a marathon of Second Generation Wayans on the card.
Other marathons: The Real Housewives of Atlanta on Bravo; Tosh.0 on Comedy Central; Alaska: The Last Frontier on Discovery; Farm Kings on GAC; The Newlywed Game on GSN; Swamp People on History; and SpongeBob SquarePants on Nicktoons.
There are others. The point is, most of TV puts the programming on autopilot and turns out the lights. I can’t blame them when upward of 100 million will be tuning in to chilly MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands of New Jersey for the Super Bowl.
Fox has the afternoon planned for football fans who want to warm up slowly.
Super Bowl XLVIII Pregame covers 1 to 5 p.m. with enough special features to satisfy the most demanding viewer.
Co-hosts Terry Bradshaw and Curt Menefee will be joined by analysts Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson, along with NFL expert Jay Glazer and others to set the stage with a number of features.
The features include a tribute to Pat Summerall, who died in April at the age of 82. Summerall was not only one of America’s best known broadcasters, he was a former Razorback, playing his college ball on the hill from 1949 to 1951.
The pregame will also include coverage of the red carpet arrival of celebrities by Michael Strahan and Charissa Thompson, and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly interviewing President Barack Obama live at the White House. Look for the interview at 3:30 p.m.
About 5 p.m. things will get serious. You can safely join the show then and skip all the football fluff.
Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and analyst Troy Aikman - their fourth Super Bowl together. Reporting from the sidelines will be Pam Oliver (her sixth) and Erin Andrews (her first).
Also in the booth will be rules and officiating expert Mike Pereira to explain stuff when things get confusing.
At halftime, the pregame crew will cover highlights before turning things over to Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I expect no wardrobe malfunctions.
After the game, Bradshaw and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will present the Lombardi Trophy to the winning team. Stay tuned for a brand new episode of New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel and featuring Prince.
Trivia: Scoring the post-Super Bowl slot is considered quite the coup for a TV series.
Many recall the 13-minute edition of 60 Minutes that aired Jan. 26, 1992, on CBS following Super Bowl XXVI. Bill Clinton denied any affair with Gennifer Flowers, and Hillary Clinton gave us the famous line, “You know, I’m not sittin’ here like some little woman standin’ by my man like Tammy Wynette.”
The rest of the quote (seldom cited) is, “I’m sitting here because I love him, and I respect him, and I honor what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together.And you know, if that’s not enough for people, then heck, don’t vote for him.”
More trivia: A 30-second ad for the Super Bowl will go for about $4 million this year. There will be about 50 commercials.
Jaguar has spent about $8 million for 60 seconds of commercial time and about $5 million to promote its Super Bowl ad.
Opera singer Renee Fleming, 54, has been chosen to sing the national anthem. That’s a first for a classical artist.
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Style, Pages 46 on 02/02/2014