A Battle Royale Revisited: An Oral History of Battle Of The Network Stars

[TMC]

http://www.avclub.com/a-battle-royal...-of-1797835884

Once upon a time in a seacoast town, three fearless leaders of great renown summoned the men, the women, and the young to do battle for glory, for honor, and pride. The lines were drawn, the intent was clear: those that gathered would clash without fear. Their soldiers came not on foot nor horseback but by jet and limousine, as befitted their station. They came girding for battle to hurl themselves against each other in mortal combat, all lusting for victory at any cost. And when they met, it was called… the Battle Of The Network Stars!


The preceding paragraph was taken word for word from the opening minutes of the very first installment of Battle Of The Network Stars. The program, which made its debut on November 13, 1976, offered an athletic competition between the prime-time stars of the three existing networks at the time: ABC, CBS, and NBC. As you can probably tell from the tone of the introductory narration—which was intoned by William Conrad, no less—the idea of actors turning athletes was being treated as something so completely absurd that it could only be introduced to viewers with a wink and a smirk. That’s how the majority of the participants in the first year of Battle approached their participation in the competition, but it didn’t take long for them to start taking it seriously.

With the return of Battle Of The Network Stars to ABC after a nearly 30-year absence, The A.V. Club reached out to a number of participants from the original installments of the program, including both the actors-turned-athletes as well as the supervising producer on every Battle between 1976 and 1985. Prepare yourself for a story featuring the thrills of victory, the agonies of defeat, and the financial incentives that drove these actors to push themselves beyond common sense and make their way into the winner’s circle whenever possible.