Sunday, February 03, 2013

The "Lost" CHEERS Super Bowl scene


For several years I've been talking about the "Lost" CHEERS scene. David and I wrote it for the 1983 Super Bowl Pre-game show to promote our fledgling series. They ran it just before game time and it was seen by 80,000,000 people. Nothing we've ever written before or since has been seen by that many eyeballs at one time. But the scene was never repeated. It never appeared on any DVD's. It just disappeared.

Until a couple of years ago.

Sportswriter supreme, Joe Resnick has taped every Super Bowl including that one. And since the scene aired so close to the game, it was on the tape. Thanks to friend of the blog, Howard Hoffman, he was able to digitize it and post it on YouTube.  Here's the text of the scene.

So here it is. The Super Bowl is next.

17 comments :

Carol said...

Hard to believe that's actually 30 years ago. (round numbers are always fun)

And that 'Theisman fellow' is now hawking prostate drugs.

Bill Jones said...

So I guess the question is, did it work, in terms of giving a big bump to the show? Or was it only temporary?

That breaking of the fourth wall at the end is really something... networks still pump their shows these days, of course, but I don't think I've seen anything that blatant!

Jokesfb said...

I like that video, Thanks so much

Corey said...

Ken, Wanna feel even older??? Just think, most of the players in today's weren't even alive then...

Corey said...

...in today's Superbowl...

Mike McCann said...

Great to see Pete Axthelm... Just the right mix of erudite and earthy. This segment reminded me of how good he was on NBC's studio show.

Mike Botula said...

That's a classic moment from a classic show. Thanks, Ken.

John said...

The networks by the late 70s were really using the Super Bowl to either promote or to debut shows. At least in the case of Cheers NBC was pushing a show that deserved (in January 1983) a wider audience than it was getting -- I remember four years earlier after the Super Bowl, CBS used the time slot to promote their version of the then-trendy "Animal House" knock offs, called "Co-Ed Fever". The worst Super Bowl blowout in NFL history was only 10 percent as unwatchable as this stinker, and there have been several other bombs inflicted on the viewing public over the years as their punishment for not changing the channel fast enough after the game was over.

Don K. said...

Every time I try to watch it, right after Norm says "the only reason for living not found in a mug", the screen goes dark and says "video not available".

Will Fitzgerald said...

Wow, thanks! Not every day you get to watch 'new' Cheers!

Chris said...

Sounds like Cliff was looped by another actor...

Tom Garrett said...

This is so good.

Paul Duca said...

Don't forget John...CHEERS got front-loaded, but NBC cleaned up immediately afterward with the debut of THE A-TEAM.

David said...

Can't believe this isn't in a vault somewhere at Paramount, but maybe in those days this kind of thing was considered disposable. It had no future value anyone could see in those pre-DVD days, so why not just throw it out?

chuckcd said...

Thanks for that Ken.
I have never seen it before.

VP81955 said...

Let's not forget the Super Bowl-related episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore" show from January 1975, where the characters were rooting for Pittsburgh...against the hometown Minnesota Vikings! (Obviously, the episode was filmed several weeks in advance.) No wonder WJM always trailed in the Twin Cities ratings.

Brian said...

"Superbowl mass" is the best line.