Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It’s really hard to blame a broadcast crew for not being prepared for an event like the blackout in Super Bowl XLVII, especially when that crew did a six-hour pre-game show and a longer-than-usual halftime show right before the lights went out in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in downtown New Orleans. However, the extremely evident awkwardness that went on with CBS’ broadcast crew during the 34-minute power outage was laughable at best and that’s exactly the way the crew on Saturday Night Live took it the following weekend.
Most of the jokes and punchlines in the video were very predictable, but they were also right on the money. I’ve never heard more “back to you, [insert name]” segues in one half-hour period and more “all right, let’s…” pickups from any show host than all the ones James Brown fumbled through during the blackout. He did a decent job of keeping it together, but the sheer awkwardness of it all– especially right after all the moments during Beyonce’s halftime show, which can also be described by that word–was enough to make people at Super Bowl parties stop watching altogether.
The commentators next to Brown were all former players and coaches, so the fact they couldn’t run through the X’s and O’s of every major play in the first half is inexcusable, but the fact the lights were out at the Super Bowl for half an hour is also inexcusable. Oh well, at least we all got a good kick out of SNL’s skit.
Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
