Coming Next: Pastels on the Set of ‘NFL Today’

What’s this, a return of “Miami Vice”? Are Dan Marino and Greg Gumbel of CBS’ “The NFL Today” really starring as detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs?

It may look that way from one of nine commemorative covers TV Guide is coming out with this week to mark the end of its digest-sized format. The idea is to connect television of the past with present-day TV.

The cover with Marino and Gumbel has them posing as the two detectives. It is similar to one “Miami Vice” stars Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas did when the 1980s show was one the most popular on television.

There is one noticeable difference. Johnson and Thomas posed with guns. Marino and Gumbel posed with microphones.

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Trivia time: Who was on deck when Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants hit his pennant-winning “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” against the Brooklyn Dodgers on this day in 1951?

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This wouldn’t sit well: A topic on Fox’s NFL pregame show Sunday was whether Green Bay Packer Coach Mike Sherman should replace quarterback Brett Favre with rookie Aaron Rodgers.

“If the Packers should lose two more games and go to 0-5, I think you sit him down and bring the young kid in and let Brett go into the Hall of Fame and retire,” Terry Bradshaw said.

Said Jimmy Johnson: “I’d hate to be the coach that sits him down.”

Bradshaw: “Would you sit him down?”

Johnson: “No. And if Sherman sits him down, they’ll sit Sherman down.”

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One minor detail: Bradshaw, during an interview with Philadelphia Eagle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, said, “Tell me about the last pair of shoes you bought.”

“A $700 pair of Gators,” Trotter said.

Bradshaw: “What?”

Trotter: “Hey, you’ve got your own pilot. I don’t have my own pilot.”

Bradshaw: “Yeah, but I don’t have a plane.”

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Homonymic reasoning: “The University of North Dakota has been ordered to ditch its nickname, the Fighting Sioux,” wrote Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle. “The school says it wants to keep the nickname, so it will fight ‘n’ sue.”

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An up-and-down season: “The Chicago White Sox didn’t lead their division wire-to-wire,” said reader Bill Littlejohn in an e-mail. “More like bungee cord-to-bungee cord.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1981, USC’s Marcus Allen rushed for 223 yards against Oregon State, his fourth consecutive 200-plus rushing game.

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Trivia answer: Willie Mays.

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And finally: At halftime of Saturday’s USC-Arizona State game, when the Trojans were trailing, 21-3, ABC’s John Saunders said, “Someone should put in a call to Norm Chow.”

Maybe Karl Dorrell, when his Bruins were trailing Washington, 10-0, at halftime, put in a call to Pete Carroll.

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.