Another Super Bowl has come and gone, and while I was hoping for the Colts to win, I think the Saints winning will help give the beleaguered city the morale boost it needs.
As for the rest of the game:
- The opening ceremonies featured Queen Latifah singing "America the Beautiful," and Carrie Underwood singing the national anthem. Nice singing by both, and either would've been far preferable as halftime entertainment over...
- The Who. While the networks are apparently determined to never have another "wardrobe malfunction" incident happen ever again, their way of going about this---by picking old music acts that haven't had a major hit in years, if not decades---doesn't work. There's plenty of talent that's contemporary *and* aren't trying to expose themselves on cue (to Bible thumpers' panic everywhere)... such as their opening acts, for instance. On the remote chance the networks/NFL had an inkling of creativity, an even better answer might be to use a musician with some connection to the location of the game or either teams' hometowns/home states. Just think---last night we could've had jazz or blues music (for New Orleans), Latin music (for Miami), or, well, something from Indiana besides the Jacksons (John Cougar Mellencamp?).
- The Puppy Bowl: Fortunately, instead of the halftime show, I tuned into this now-traditional Animal Planet telecast. Very cute, moreso this year with the addition of bunny "cheerleaders" and hamsters "flying" the "blimp."
- The commercials: I suspect the economy as bad as it is (and the automakers' problems) are why this year's ads weren't very good, and lacked in diversity. Yes, CBS sold its ad time, but apparently to fewer companies, given the heavy amount of ads for Doritos or Bud Light. Also might be why they dropped their rule against advocacy ads and aired that Focus on the Family ad.
The best ads:
The worst ads:
As for the rest of the game:
- The opening ceremonies featured Queen Latifah singing "America the Beautiful," and Carrie Underwood singing the national anthem. Nice singing by both, and either would've been far preferable as halftime entertainment over...
- The Who. While the networks are apparently determined to never have another "wardrobe malfunction" incident happen ever again, their way of going about this---by picking old music acts that haven't had a major hit in years, if not decades---doesn't work. There's plenty of talent that's contemporary *and* aren't trying to expose themselves on cue (to Bible thumpers' panic everywhere)... such as their opening acts, for instance. On the remote chance the networks/NFL had an inkling of creativity, an even better answer might be to use a musician with some connection to the location of the game or either teams' hometowns/home states. Just think---last night we could've had jazz or blues music (for New Orleans), Latin music (for Miami), or, well, something from Indiana besides the Jacksons (John Cougar Mellencamp?).
- The Puppy Bowl: Fortunately, instead of the halftime show, I tuned into this now-traditional Animal Planet telecast. Very cute, moreso this year with the addition of bunny "cheerleaders" and hamsters "flying" the "blimp."
- The commercials: I suspect the economy as bad as it is (and the automakers' problems) are why this year's ads weren't very good, and lacked in diversity. Yes, CBS sold its ad time, but apparently to fewer companies, given the heavy amount of ads for Doritos or Bud Light. Also might be why they dropped their rule against advocacy ads and aired that Focus on the Family ad.
The best ads:
- The Denny's chickens.
- The beaver playing a fiddle for Monster.com.
- The Honda ad with Brett Favre in 2020, still not retired.
- The Budweiser Clydesdale ad.
The worst ads:
- GoDaddy, as usual.
- That Motorola ad with various people's reactions toward some woman in a tub sending photos of herself via her cell phone. Reactions including a mother pounding on her teenage son's door (yes, masturbation references are OK, but *not* Janet Jackson's nipple flashing for a zillionth of a second!) and two stereotypical-looking gay guys slapping each other in a wimpy manner (huh?).
- Any of the Doritos or Bud Light ads.
- Those stupid eTrade (or whatever) talking babies.
- Last but not least, the controversial Focus on the Family ad, which shows the guy tackling his mom (?!) and then directing viewers to its homophobia-laden website. Hope the cash was worth it, CBS...
