January 26, 1992…First Successful Super Bowl Counter Programming
CLASSIC! Men On Football…’In Living Color’
This is one of my all-time favorite comedy pieces from “In Living Color”! This whole thing is funny, but it heads for the outer limits at about the 4:30 mark, so do not drink anything after that unless you want to blow it out of your nose!
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This was a special live episode (usually it was prerecorded) that aired on Fox, Sunday, January 26, 1992 and was broadcast opposite the Super Bowl XXVI halftime on CBS. It drew about 25 million of those viewers. After the half hour live special, most returned to CBS which had an audience estimated at 79.6 million viewers.
This was the first time that a major television network successfully scheduled Super Bowl counter-programming. The ‘In Living Color’ Super Bowl halftime special was branded by the network as ‘The Doritos Zaptime-In Living Color Super Halftime Party’.
During the “Men on Football” sketch, Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier adlibbed a suggestion that Richard Gere and track and field star Carl Lewis were gay. Lawsuits were filed and the tape was edited for reruns and syndication. This is the original unedited version! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
I remember watching this the first time around. I didn’t know whether to sit with my jaw dropped or laugh my ass off. I watched ‘In Living Color’ every week faithfully. It was one of the funniest shows that crossed many lines. Incidentally, the first time I had heard the word “ass” uttered on network TV was in a “Homey The Clown” skit on this series.
All of the “Men on…” sketches were hilarious. Good memories.
That show was a scream…….So silly….one of my favorites.
Meanwhile, THIS was the Super Bowl halftime show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjChnNS4JZI
“Winter Magic” immediately became a memory afterwards, Michael Jackson was brought in the following year, and the modern-era Super Bowl halftime show was born.
Fortunately, there are some things which will always transcend political correctness!
I was working at Fox on this day… Wow the number of lawyers standing by with buttons to censor both audio and or video was quite impressive. Then there was the whole union issue of non-union members using the button if needed. If I recall correctly we had to have one ‘touch barer’ for each lawyer with a button.
I can still say “Hay-ted IT!” the way they did.
I’m not sure you could get away with that now.
I give it three snaps in a “Z” formation.