Inside the NFL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inside the NFL is a weekly sports show that focuses on the National Football League and currently airs on the HBO cable network starting the first week of NFL season until the week after the Super Bowl. It is presently hosted by Bob Costas with former players Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth, and Cris Carter serving as co-hosts. The show features highlights of the past week's games that were captured by NFL Films.
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[edit] History
Inside the NFL first aired in 1977 and it is currently cable television's longest running series. The show was significant for being the first major sports related program to air on the then relatively new HBO network. Perhaps more significant was the fact that it was the first NFL related program to air on cable. The original hosts were Al Metzer and Chuck Bednarik.
In 1978, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson joined the program (replacing Chuck Bednarik) as Merle Harmon subsequently replaced Al Metzer. In 1980, Merle Harmon left as Len Dawson was joined by fellow Hall of Famer and former Miami Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti. In 1990, Cris Collinsworth joined Dawson and Buoniconti as the third host. Several former players and coaches served as co-host throughout this period including Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Glanville.
Beginning with the 2002 NFL season, the network replaced the aging Dawson and Buoniconti with the team it presently consists of today. There was never any official announcement on whether the two former hosts retired or were simply released of their contracts, but the change was an obvious move by HBO to update the nearly quarter-century-old program. However, Bob Costas did acknowledge this change in the season's first episode and paid tribute to the former hosts, saying they paved the way for the show to succeed. In addition to the change in hosts, Inside the NFL has also featured segments featuring comics such as George Lopez and Wanda Sykes.
During the last three weeks of the 2005 NFL season Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel filled in for Bob Costas. Costas was unavailable because he was in Turin, Italy preparing to cover the 2006 Winter Olympics for NBC.
In a special 30th anniversary episode which aired in December 2006, Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti were invited back to co-host the show.
[edit] Format
The show is taped in a New York City studio on Wednesday and aired at various times throughout the week beginning Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. Much like other shows on the HBO network, Inside the NFL has the freedom to stray from the traditional network format for its program. While the basic elements are the same as any other sports recap show by featuring highlights of the weeks games and discussion of events around the league, the fact that there are no commercials allows the panel to discuss subjects at length without the normal network time restrictions.
[edit] Highlights
The highlight segments consist of NFL Films footage of the past week's games with narration by Harry Kalas. This has long been considered a major asset of the show as the game highlights usually exceed the typical 15-30 second token package seen on most major networks. This was the case at least until the NFL Network emerged during the 2003 season and aired shows such as the show Point After that showed extended highlight segments.
In the last few years of Inside the NFL, the show has decreased its highlight segments, eliminating some games near the bottom of the list as far as high profile games go. This has angered some fans as for years the show was a way for out-of-town fans to view extended highlights of their favorite teams.
[edit] Interviews
Aside from the highlights, Inside the NFL has always focused on in depth interview segments with various players, coaches and front office personnel. Among the notable segments over the years was Cris Carter interviewing former coach Buddy Ryan. Ryan was Carter's first head coach when both were with the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ryan released Carter with his explanation being the infamous quote "All he does is catch touchdowns." The interview revealed what some had learned over the years, that Ryan released Carter because of his substance abuse problems that were affecting his performance. Carter admitted that his release was a wake-up call and saved his life as he became a born again Christian soon after, and went onto have a successful NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings in which he became the NFL's second leading receiver of all-time.
