The GREATEST BROADCAST DECISION in Super Bowl HISTORY

[TMC]

At the conclusion of Super Bowl XXII between the Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins, ABC was originally set to air a completely different Super Bowl lead-out program, and was ready to air the pilot episode to China Beach. However, at the last minute, ABC called an audible, and decided to air something completely different with The Wonder Years. And this decision paid off in a big way. This is the story behind the gamble that ABC took at Super Bowl 22, which might have turned out to be the greatest broadcasting decision in the history of the Super Bowl.

[TJ]

I've become a fan of this YouTube channel. He comes up with some interesting ideas for videos. They are very well researched. I wonder where he gets all of his footage.

It wouldn't have made much sense to air the two-hour pilot of China Beach after the Super Bowl. It didn't seem like that big of a gamble at the time.

He doesn't mention Arye Gross being the original narrator in the promos and pilot. I read that Daniel Stern originally recorded the narration for the pilot, but he thought he would be unavailable to do the rest of the first season. He then recorded the rest of the season when he came back from overseas. It's good they got him as their original choice. He was the much better fit.