One of the most famous “lost” pieces of television history was a videotape of the broadcast of the first Super Bowl, on 1 Jan. 1967, in which the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys.
I read in a film and television journal many years ago that a videotape of first Super Bowl had surfaced briefly, and was even broadcast “pirate”-style (without NFL permission) unannounced on an independent station somewhere.
I find this entirely plausible for two reasons.
The game was broadcast simultaneously on two networks, CBS and NBC, and in two countries, the U.S. and Canada. The combined number of local affiliates handling that feed numbers into the hundreds. And every one of those local affiliates had the capability to tape the broadcast if they wanted.
The first home VTRs from Ampex had gone on sale in 1965, and hundreds had been sold by 1967. A special event like the Super Bowl is entirely the kind of thing a VTR owner, especially one who was a football gan, would like to tape.
Has anyone else heard of this tape of the first Super Bowl surfacing?
The first Super Bowl was played on January 15th between the Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. And the film was never lost, as anyone who watches TV in the days leading up to the Super Bowl can attest. They always have an NFL-films dealie on Super Bowl I a few days before, complete with film clips and such.
You must be referring to the 1967 NFL (soon to be NFC) championship game between the Pack and 'Boys. The NFL Championship in 1967 was not the same as the Super Bowl, as the Super Bowl was between the NFL champion and the AFL champion. They didn’t become the NFC and the AFC until 1970.
As for what happened with the film of the game, I have no idea.
You’re right, I was wrong, the Packers beat the Chiefs, not the Cowboys, and the date was Jan. 15, 1967, not Jan. 1.
But I am NOT talking about film of the Super Bowl. Certainly 16mm film is available of the plays. I am talking about any videotape of the network broadcast, which shows the entire game uninterrupted from start through finish. Plus half time, pre-game, post-game, etc.
The Museum of TV and Radio has Super Bowl I at the top of its “Most Wanted List” of television shows.
I believe the oldest intact Super Bowl they own is Super Bowl III. And it’s pretty amazing to watch that. You can’t believe who cheesey the Super Bowl was back then.
The halftime show was pretty much just the Florida A&M marching band (a damn good band) and there was some sort of “Tribute to American Freedoms” thing that was really hokey.
The commercials were just regular commercials that you would see during sporting events of the time, such as for cars or razors.
As for NFL Films, there is a straightforward documentary about Super Bowl I, but Super Bowl II is more or less a half-hour proganda piece about Vince Lombardi.
Cheesy it might have been, but it’s not the over-hyped bullshit that we have today, and I’d wager you could scam on a set of tickets for under 3 grand, too.
BobT, we’re still waiting for elaboration about your “cheesy” comment. My aunt works in a cheese factory, I’ll have you know! My dad grew up in a former, refurbished cheese factory! I have 5 pounds of 6 year old cheddar in the back of the fridge right now, slowly turning into 12 year old cheddar (at the rate of a year per year)!
[pedantic cap on] Actually, cheese was a word that originally meant “the height of style; the fashion.” To be The Cheese in 1818 was similar to being the bomb in the US in the year 2000. UNfortunately, things can age and they can also spoil. So, by the 1860’s cheese started to be used in a derogatory manner. Why, we may never know.[/cap off]
Actually, I have. I was covering a Raiders-Dolphins game a couple of years ago when the halftime show unexpected turned from being garbage to the height of hilarity.
The high concept of this halftime show was that one of the big beer companies (Miller, maybe) was supposedly putting together a cheerleading unit made of regular Joes. So each of the Raiderettes walked on the field escorted by people in street clothes wearing these massive balloon wigs. The Raiderettes were going to conduct a pretend-cheerleading clinic, show them a few moves, etc.
The fans HATED it. HATED it! I was surprised at how lustily the crowd booed.
Then, all of a sudden, this dude with no shirt on started running around on the field. The fans LOVED him. After having his fun, he exited the formation of Raiderettes and their sidekicks and headed for the end zone. But a cop emerged from the end zone, so he headed BACK into the formation. The fans, meanwhile, were enthralled. Eventually, the guy was tackled by one of the cops … taking with him a Raiderette and her sidekick down in a big heap. He was led off in handcuffs to wild cheers.
The second he stepped off the field, the boos started up again.