This Week in Baseball
| This Week in Baseball | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | TWIB |
| Genre | Family / News / Sport / Baseball / Kids / Non Fiction |
| Created by | Joe Reichler |
| Developed by | Major League Baseball Productions Phoenix Communications Group, The |
| Written by | Mark Durand James Rogal Jeff Scott |
| Presented by | Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Ozzie Smith Cam Brainard |
| Starring | Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Ozzie Smith Cam Brainard Jennie Finch |
| Narrated by | Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Cam Brainard |
| Theme music composer | Mike Vickers |
| Opening theme | "Jet Set" |
| Ending theme | "Gathering Crowds" |
| Composer(s) | Matthew Cang |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Larry Parker Geoff Belinfante |
| Editor(s) | Tony Tocci Michael Kostel Marco Lagana |
| Cinematography | Savas Alatis Richard Wilmot |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | First-run syndication Fox Five (in UK) |
| Original run | April 1, 1977 – 1999 2000 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Major League Baseball Game of the Week |
| External links | |
| Website | |
This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action.[1] TWIB (pronounced phonetically; the acronym is often familiarly used by viewers, and came to be used by the host also) debuted in 1977.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Genesis of the series
When Commissioner Bowie Kuhn first took office in 1969,[3] the only network television series that Major League Baseball had was the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week on NBC. Meanwhile, the National Football League in sharp contrast, blanketed TV syndication with NFL Films produced programs like the NFL Films Game of the Week. Kuhn craved a weekly half-hour show of highlights, lowlights, features, and other fare. So This Week in Baseball was, in a sense, meant to be baseball's answer to NFL Films.
During the heyday of TWIB, the program would air on stations that also had television rights to major league franchises like WTBS in Atlanta or KTTV in Los Angeles or WGN in Chicago. TWIB would also air on owned-and-operated NBC[4] stations as a prelude to the Game of the Week.[5]
According to pages 222-223 of Curt Smith's biography on Mel Allen entitled The Voice: Mel Allen's Untold Story, when NBC lost the rights to the Game of the Week to CBS (who unlike NBC, didn't broadcast regular season games for all 26 weeks of the season) after the 1989 season, TWIB, sans a strong anchor, proceeded to either lose markets or move to weaker (often independent) stations. Even more so, TWIB was now (under the CBS umbrella) averaging a 1-2 rating and in several places, airing at midnight (as opposed to say for example, WNBC New York at 1:30 p.m.).
[edit] End of the Mel Allen era
Veteran sportscaster Mel Allen[6] hosted and narrated the show from its inception until his death[7] in 1996. Warner Fusselle[8][9] filled-in for Allen when needed, and Allen was succeeded for a time by former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith.[10][11]
[edit] From Syndication to Fox
While TWIB was originally syndicated to various stations around the country, the Fox network relaunched the series in 2000 (after a one year absence off of television). It returned as a pregame show for its Saturday afternoon Major League Baseball telecasts, replacing In the Zone, which had a similar format to NBA Inside Stuff and was listed as part of the Fox Kids/4KidsTV line-up.
Although all other children's programs were cancelled by Fox on December 28, 2008, TWIB was retained at least for the 2009 season, airing for the first time in high definition.
As of September 2011, the show continues to air Saturday afternoons on Fox, prior to the start of the Fox Saturday Baseball telecast. TWIB also airs during the week on MLB Network.
[edit] Format
The show also airs on regional sports networks around the country, on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, and is also often played as part of the pre-game entertainment on the TV screens of major league stadiums. Cam "Buzz" Brainard is the current host of TWIB, while a current major league player is profiled each week.
Also, from 2004-2005, segments of the show were hosted by U.S. fast-pitch softball sensation Jennie Finch.
In 2007, TWIB was slated for 26 episodes running from April to the end of September, focusing on stories of various clubs and different baseball themes each week. The segment "Front Row Fan" features celebrities reminiscing about their favorite baseball memories. Guests have included Tom Hanks, Bernie Mac, Alyssa Milano and Kevin James. There is also a play of the week section and TWIBIA, which is where a trivia question is asked before the commercial break.
Highlights of the past week's action are used less frequently, except for a closing highlight reel set to popular songs. The highlight reel is named How 'Bout That?, in reference to Mel Allen's well-known catchphrase. Video is gathered from each of the 30 Clubs' Stadium Loggers, who compile highlights of each game and send them to MLB Productions in Secaucus, NJ.
The program also uses educational segments to help it qualify for E/I status in the United States.
[edit] Music
The opening theme music to TWIB is "Jet Set," composed by Mike Vickers, a former member of the original Manfred Mann band. "Jet Set" was first used as the theme for the original 1974-75 version of the game show Jackpot. It has also been used as introductory music for productions as company training films. When Fox brought TWIB back, a slightly revamped version of "Jet Set" is written.
The closing theme to the show is "Gathering Crowds," composed by Patrick J. O'Hara Scott, a pseudonym for the same Mike Vickers. It is typically played over a montage of baseball's greatest moments, building to a crescendo with a punctuated 3-note chord as the MLB logo slides into view. The piece has also been utilized to similar effect for montages and credits at the end of local TV newscasts and the like. The theme is a fan favorite and is considered one of the greatest sports themes.
[edit] Advertising
During the show's first season on Fox in 2000, there was an advertising campaign that appeared every Friday in USA Today. The ad, titled "This Week, See The Game Through His Eyes" featured a photo of a pair of eyes that belonged to the player hosting the show for that week's episode. In the July 14, 2000 edition of USA Today, the ad did not have a pair of eyes. Instead, it featured the 2000 MLB All Star Game logo and the caption, "This Week, See The All Stars Through The Eyes of a Star" because the host was pop star Marc Anthony.
[edit] References
- ^ This Week in Baseball, the groundbreaking precursor to SportsCenter that helped spawn a deluge of sports-highlight programs, gave Allen his rebirth. The announcer's October tones, which narrated TWIB, endeared him to a new youthful generation of baseball fans.
- ^ In 1977, when a group of young, mostly unknown writers and producers had the idea for this bold highlight program, they took a chance on Allen's voice for legitimacy.
- ^ In 1969, baseball had one network series: NBC's Game of the Week. Worse, pro football blanketed TV syndication. Kuhn craved a weekly half-hour show of highlight, lowlight, feature, and other fare.
- ^ Then, in 1977, "This Week In Baseball" began on syndicated (later, NBC) TV -- ultimately, sport's highest-rated serial. One Saturday a sometime fan entered the living room. My mother could not have heard his crisp-voweled vent since 1964. "I can't believe it. Is that Mel Allen?"
- ^ First, you watched TWIB, then the NBC Game of the Week, then played baseball until the sun went down.
- ^ Joe Reichler, a former sportswriter working in the commissioner's office, gave him the job.
- ^ Without Allen, 'TWIB' no longer meaningful
- ^ Fusselle hosted ‘This Week In Baseball’ after Mel Allen and had a weekly show on ESPN.
- ^ "A lot of people didn't know that Mel was even alive," said Warner Fusselle, Allen's backup voice on the show.
- ^ The New Land Of Oz
- ^ "Ozzie Smith Gets Job in Television". NYTimes.com. 1997-01-15. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07EEDE1E38F936A25752C0A961958260. Retrieved 2008-03-19.[dead link]
[edit] External links
- This Week in Baseball at the Internet Movie Database
- This Week in Baseball at TV.com
- Major League Baseball : Productions : This Week in Baseball
- 80stvthemes.com - This Week in Baseball
- Jump The Shark - This Week in Baseball at the Wayback Machine
- 1977 television series debuts
- 1970s American television series
- 1980s American television series
- 1990s American television series
- 2000s American television series
- 2010s American television series
- First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
- Fox network shows
- Major League Baseball on Fox
- Television series revived after cancellation
