The Pregame Show, They Say, Will Be Different This Time

The kickoff for Sunday’s Super Bowl is scheduled for 2:17 p.m. PST. Before that, there will be a two-hour-plus pregame show.

You know what that means, right? The script goes something like this: First, a feature on one of the star players, followed by a remote from a bar jammed with a bunch of crazies trying to get on camera, a little X and O stuff, then a meaningless prediction from a celebrity who just happens to be on a show carried by the network covering the Super Bowl.

The process is repeated until the two hours are up.

But that won’t be the case this year. At least, that’s what Michael Weisman, NBC Sports executive producer, and John Filippelli, the pregame show producer, have been saying.

They noticed the sameness of previous Super Bowl pregame shows after viewing tapes of many of them, and now they’re trying to be different.

“For 19 years, Super Bowl pregame shows have been the same,” said Filippelli from New Orleans. “We’re getting rid of the cliches.

“We could have played it safe. You know, here’s The Refrigerator, and run a predictable feature. But we really wanted to do something different.

“Sure, we have a feature on The Refrigerator. But we have a fresh angle.”

And that is?

“We’ll point out that The Refrigerator isn’t the first big man to become such a celebrity, then have Bill Cosby talking about Fat Albert,” Filippelli said.

The pregame show, with the capable Bob Costas as host, will be called “Super Sunday: an American Celebration.” It will open with a five-minute video produced by Bob Giraldi and called, “A Nation United.”

Giraldi was also scheduled to provide a three-minute video promoting Ken Kragen’s “Hands Across America” project. But that tape, filmed in Taft, Calif., last Saturday, will not be ready in time, according to an NBC spokesman.

At about 1:30, Tom Brokaw will spend five to seven minutes interviewing the President. This, it is hoped, will replace coverage of the President’s call to the winning locker room after the game.

The rest of the show? Filippelli promises some surprises. “About 60% of our audience will be casual fans, and that’s who we’re gearing much of the show toward,” he said. “We’ll try to make you laugh, maybe even make you cry, still give you some X’s and O’s, and most importantly, entertain you.”

Silence, please: At 1 p.m., there will be an intermission--one minute of nothing. You may have already heard about it.

“It started as the most innocuous idea, something Weisman thought of one day, and it’s snowballed beyond belief,” Filippelli said.

“It was supposed to be a fun idea to give people a break, to take a minute or two to go change the kid’s diaper or to go make a sandwich. But newspapers have vilified us, saying we’re Big Brother telling everyone when to go to the bathroom. And the response from advertisers looking to sponsor the minute has been incredible. All this over nothing.”

Said Weisman: “If I had realized it would get this big, I’d be P.T. Barnum. I expected to get a note.”

They’re everywhere: NBC’s pregame show may be the “official” one, but it is hardly the only one.

A half-hour show called “Gameplan to the Super Bowl,” with Tom Brookshier and Dick Vermeil, is scheduled tonight at 7:30 on Channel 2.

Saturday night at 7 on Channel 2 (8 o’clock on San Diego’s Channel 51), there will be “John Madden’s Super Bowl Special.”

Of course. What would a football game be without John Madden? And naturally, Jimmy the Greek will be one of Madden’s guests. The show will be repeated by Channel 2 at 11:30.

Saturday night at 7 on Channel 4 and San Diego’s Channel 8, there will be “Road to the Super Bowl.” This show, produced by NFL Films, is one hard-core fans won’t want to miss. It will be repeated on Channel 4 Sunday at 8 a.m. and on Channel 8 Saturday night at 11:30.

A videotape of “Road to the Super Bowl” arrived at our desk Wednesday. The one-hour show is excellent. Besides tracing the paths of the Bears and Patriots to the Super Bowl, it also provides an overview of the season, including record-setting performances and spectacular plays.

Of course, Bob Hope gets into the act. His “All-Star Super Bowl Party” will be televised by NBC Saturday night at 8. Hope’s guests include Don Rickles, Donna Mills and Diahann Carroll.

ESPN gets the prize for longest pregame show--11 hours. That’s right, 11 hours.

On Saturday night at 1 a.m., ESPN will begin televising NFL Films’ half-hour highlights of previous Super Bowls. At 9 a.m. Sunday, there will be a one-hour report, “SportsCenter--Super Bowl Gameday,” followed by more past Super Bowl highlights, and then a Super Bowl preview at 11:30 a.m.

Playtime: ESPN will wrap up its Super Bowl programming Sunday night at 6 with a two-man play, “Lombardi: I Am Not a Legend.”

The show is similar to “Babe,” which was televised by ESPN last fall. “Lombardi” gets off to a rather slow start, but if you stick with it, you should find it an enlightening experience.

Robert Knuckle, a former high school football coach who is now a vice principal of a Canadian high school in Hamilton, Ontario, is a believable Lombardi.

Don Penrose plays a multitude of characters.

Knuckle says the role of Vince Lombardi was easy for him. “I coached like Lombardi. I tried hard not to be tentative and I wasn’t. I may have been tough on the kids, but it all worked out. I yelled a lot and I pretty much modeled myself after Lombardi.”

Notes The L.A. Open golf tournament, set for Feb. 20-23, will be on television after all. The event was close to going untelevised until a deal was struck with ESPN this week. ESPN will televise two hours live all four days, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. . . . Channel 13 has announced that it will offer complete coverage of the Los Angeles Marathon March 9. . . . Channel 5 sportscaster Keith Olberman has been hired by radio station KNX to do sports reports weekdays at 5:45, 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. Olberman will continue working for Channel 5. . . . NBC’s Merlin Olsen will star in a family comedy series, “Fathers and Sons,” which will begin production the day after the Super Bowl. . . . Is anybody else getting tired of seeing Dick Butkus’ face? His commercials seem to be televised at least 100 times a day. Soon, you will be able to see Butkus in the movies, too. He stars in “Hamburger--the Motion Picture,” which will open next Friday.

How meticulous is Patriot Coach Raymond Berry? When he was playing with the Baltimore Colts, he would spend about a week during the off-season at the NFL Films headquarters in Mount Laurel, N.J., studying tapes. “He was the only player who ever asked us to look at our films,” said Steve Sabol, executive vice president of NFL Films. . . . Can you guess Jim McMahon’s favorite movie? According to what he says in “Road to the Super Bowl,” it’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” . . . There will be more sports on TV Sunday than just the Super Bowl. CBS will have the Boston Celtics vs. the Philadelphia 76ers at 9 a.m., NBC will televise Notre Dame-North Carolina basketball at 10 a.m., CBS will show the Phoenix Open at 11:30 a.m. and ESPN will offer a women’s golf tournament at noon.