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Though there was plenty of the usual hype that accompanies the Super Bowl, NBC's broadcast benefited from its stable of respected personalities, all of whom are generally pomp-resistant. Costas and Patrick keep perspective tempered in their own way: Costas, earnestly journalistic; Patrick, sardonically skeptical. Their presences were needed in the pregame, an annual bit of programming excess that does little more than give Super Bowl parties a background image and supply TV critics with something to bemoan. Costas earned the Nostradamus award for his interview with Brady, in which he asked the quarterback if he'd rather be up with a few minutes to go and be in the sideline, or be down with the ball. Brady answered the latter, but after seeing his Hail Mary fall the ground, he might want to reconsider. While NBC kept the festivities closer to the game than some, it still offered the cringe-inducing "Super Suite" red carpet show. Singer and actor Nick Cannon awkwardly and superficially interviewed celebrities such as Adam Sandler and Katharine McPhee, the star of "Smash." McPhee hit a low point by trying to force a comparison of her character to a young Brady. Few of NBC's stars didn't make cameos of some kind, from Brian Williams to "30 Rock" sketches. NBC also hyped its new NBC Sports Network, as well as its coming coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London. Sometimes, the feature profiles felt very much like an NBC Olympics broadcast. One highlight was Peter King's heart-rending report on former New Orleans Saint Steve Gleason, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Thankfully, King didn't shy away from considering the link between brain disease and football, a topic that didn't come up in the game broadcast. Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward and Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers joined regular NBC analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, but it was the former Patriot, Harrison, who stood out. Harrison is an odd combination of candid and cocky that improves on often too-soft studio vibe. The nearing of the game (finally!) was also matched by a deeper dive into commercialism as the primetime ads geared up. Aside from the normal animal tricks and male chauvinism, the spots struck a tone of recession-minded nostalgia. Budweiser reflected on the end of prohibition, General Electric touted its old-fashioned manufacturing with its "G.E. works" campaign, and even "Star Wars" returned in a Volkswagen ad and a trailer for a new 3-D release. When Eastwood gravely intoned about America's second half for Chrysler, some wondered if he was hocking cars or running for president. There were touches of reminiscing, too, in the seemingly lip-synced halftime performance of Madonna, pop royalty at 53. It was during moments like those that it was clear that no number of NBC commentators could match those on Twitter. The social media stream of real-time conversation is now as much a part of Super Sunday as nachos and chicken wings.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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