This is an annual post. "The Lost CHEERS" scene. Season one of
CHEERS and my partner David Isaacs and I were asked to write a scene to
be aired during the pre-game of the 1983 Super Bowl (carried that year
on NBC). We wrote it, they filmed it, and it aired right before the
game. 80,000,000 people saw it. Nothing I've ever written has been
seen by that many people at one time. (And now 131,000 more have seen it on YouTube.)
The scene was never re-run and never showed up in any DVD package. I did not have a copy and I thought it was lost forever. But the late sportswriter, Joe Resnick, had recorded every Super Bowl. I asked if I could see that one. Sure enough the scene was aired close enough to kick-off that it was included in his tape. I managed to digitize it, and every Super Bowl weekend I feature it.
So enjoy. Good luck to the Rams AND Bengals.
20 comments :
"That Theismann person..." I didn't notice that when I watched last year, which was the first time I saw it. I may be late to the annual tradition here, but it's something to look forward to ahead of each Super Bowl. Next year will mark 40 years since the scene you and David wrote aired.
Also last year, in the comment thread, Jeff Boice linked to an SI profile of Pete Axthelm that I read the heck out of. It was enlightening to me as my only exposure to Ax was in a blooper from one of Howard Cosell's radio commentaries, found at the top of this page. Incidentally, I know Bill Mozer, the engineer who Gil Saffien (Howard called him "Gilly") was filling in for.
Hi Ken - I left this for you several years ago, and since you mentioned Joe, I thought it beared repeating. Have a good weekend.
I spent 1991 - 2003 as a stringer for various national sports radio networks covering LA/San Diego teams.
A while back, I ran across your tribute to Joe Resnick, who I am happy to say, was one of my favorite people in the business. You may or may not know that beat writers were not too kind to us in radio row and as a cub reporter, I was thrown out of the BBWAA row more than once back in the day before Anaheim Stadium had its Disney makeover.
Joe was just a regular guy, in all his years freelancing for the AP he rarely received a byline - and never complained about it. He was unquestionably happy covering all the teams in relative anonymity and as it turns out, without health insurance.
Randy Kerdoon posted a link to an article detailing Joe's health and a week or so later, Plashske wrote about his death. It made me very sad - one, because I lost track of him after I left SoCal, and two, because of the overwhelming amount of people that passed away while working in the press box.
As a young radio reporter, it was difficult to be taken seriously by some of the older hands. Not only did I make friends with Joe, but also Biff Elliott of CBS (Biff was 150 when I met him…) and my absolute favorite person, Liz Shanov of ABC Radio Sports. I don't know how or why, but she took a shine to me and started giving me her back-up gigs. She must have started losing her marbles because she invited me to her Christmas party - I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was that she invited me.
Because Liz was strictly a network reporter, she wasn't at every game and no one was concerned so much when she didn't appear for a while. Eating dinner with Joe, I asked if he had heard from her. He looked at me for a moment and asked if I had spoken with Liz. When I said no, he said I should call her. I'm not sure if you knew, but she had several bouts with cancer and eventually, lost her battle. The irony of course, was that Joe was the one to tell me to contact her.
I remember when the Rangers won the NHL championship in 1994. Joe and I were talking, and he said he could die happy. I even have the small media guide they printed afterward. I may have received it from him.
Just wanted to let you know that I miss hanging out with Joe at Anaheim Stadium. I wish I had kept in touch.
Regards
Thanks for sharing the video! I fixed the aspect ratio, if you're interested.
https://hunter.goatley.com/misc/Cheers%20Super%20Bowl%20Special,%20Jan%2030%201983.mp4
The squashed picture was slightly irritating, but I accepted it as it was. Thanks, Hunter, for going the extra mile.
Very cool
Why does California always get home field advantage?
My favorite line is "It all starts with the SuperBowl Mass"
I'm not a football fan. I'm just looking forward to the halftime show with Eminem and Dr Dre.
Blogger Andrew said...
Why does California always get home field advantage?
...because you can't play every Superbowl in Dallas!
MTM had a great Superbowl episode but the best joke (over the end credits) didn't make it into syndication. Another great end credits reveal (for Rockne O'Bannon's Twilight Zone segment "Personal Demons") also didn't make it into syndication. Have you sneaked a gag into the opening or end credits? If so, did it make it into the syndication package?
Decades TV shows CHEERS every weeknight, and during one of the commercial breaks, they have a quick insight or fact or something related to the show, and one of the ones they have is about your Super Bowl scene.
My favorite part is Diane questioning the Miami pick. Not only is it funny that she would do that in the first place, but she was correct as Washington won. (I was curious and looked up the result.)
What about CHEERS' Payroll Savings Bonds episode? 1983 or 1984? About 15 minutes, screened at corporate employee gatherings to promote the govt. savings plan.
Years ago it was reported that my primary care physician at the time was being investigated for filling drug prescriptions, presented by patients, that were written by other doctors...one of whom was "Dr. Dre." Obviously being unfamiliar with Dr. Dre, sadly, his poor judgement led my physician to commit suicide. A word to the wise...far too late for him.
Lori, I was intrigued by this, so I did a Google search. Was the physician Marc Abrams?
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-24-la-me-0724-abrams-20100724-story.html
The article says that the other fake names were Dr Pepper and Dr Kevorkian.
Nice one!
You'd think after the debacle with the early Carson shows being taped over/erased/tossed out, NBC would have kept anything they've shown locked up in a fireproof/earthquake/nuclear armageddon vault forever. Did you ever attempt to contact NBC to see if they had this somewhere or would their response have been a "Get the fuck out and leave us alone!"? Or was this a case of this clip not being an "official" part of the Cheers canon and something the NFL asked for?
Darwin, yes. Iirc, it came to the attention of the authorities because a mother reported her son overdosed on drugs prescribed by Dr. Abrams, presumably based on the other fake doctors' prescriptions. (It was a little weird that he kept late office hours, which I liked because I didn't have to take time off work, and referred patients to a small independent pharmacy to fill prescriptions.) I arrived for a standing appointment and found the door locked and a terse note taped to it. I guess they were raiding the office and confiscating evidence. Ultimately, Dr. Abrams saw no other way out. Although I don't think she bore any responsibility, I felt bad for his wife who worked in the office. She was a very nice lady, and I believe she found him in the hot tub with the cover pulled closed.
Was it 1976, when MGM basically buried their archives, sold the land, and condos were built on top? Or is that an urban legend? Too lazy to Google right now. In the 60s/70s/80s, Hollywood didn't care about its history. So much was destroyed.
(Googled - truth to much of it.)
Cheers - “Uncle Sam Malone” [11 minute savings bonds episode of Cheers]
https://vimeo.com/35709277
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