Super Bowl Sunday. A time for football and TV ads. Taking advantage of the built in audience, NBC showcased itself with Brotherhood of Man.
A Frank Loesser tune adapted for other uses*. Rob Lowe singing. Anjelica Huston. Is this the 1980s Oscars?
Thankfully no. But it was a flashback in a way.
As a kid, one of my favorite thing about the start of the fall TV seasons (in addition to awaiting the incredibly “cool” shows which in retrospect were just very very bad) was the network promo of the new season. In this, actors from various shows were shown – sometimes in character, sometimes not – smiling and being genial while a peppy tune played in the background.
So, mired in fourth place though possessing some outstanding TV, NBC used the captive audience of Super Bowl TV to highlight its many hit shows.
Was the ad perfect? No. It didn’t feature sub/supertitles naming the shows other than “SMASH”. So if you weren’t familiar with them, you still aren’t. But it did create a “feel good” moment for the network and its talent.
It was a daring move by NBC to use a 50 year old Broadway showtune. Though granted the song has been raised slightly out of obscurity by the current revival of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. During Tony season, “The Brotherhood of Man” was the song which the cast performed on a number of talk shows as well as the Tony Awards.
Obviously NBC’s hopes for a rebirth are resting on “The Voice” (given prime post-Super Bowl placement) and the debut of “SMASH.”
While much has been written about “SMASH” being inspired by “American Idol” and “Glee,” I think it owes a lot more to Julie Taymor and U2.
When is the last time Broadway has inspired episodes of TV shows? The 1960s? But because of the delays and the high-powered fights among the creative team — Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark became such a cultural touchstone, Broadway has become slightly relevant again in popular culture. Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Modern Family, Saturday Night Live as well as Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel have all either directly referenced or had episodes inspired by Spider Man.
Certainly the success of The Book of Mormon has also played a part in helping Broadway put the popular in popular culture. Introducing “South Park” fans to Broadway has been a boon for sure. But the fact that the show has also been used as a reference in the national media to discuss the Mitt Romney campaign has also ensured Broadway is not just kept on the ever-shrinking arts section. Not since Jerry Herman altered the lyrics of Hello, Dolly! for the 1964 LBJ campaign has a Broadway musical intersected with a run for the presidency beyond performances at the convention.
(Side note: Romney really did miss the chance to show he had a sense of humor and was egalitarian when he declined the offer to introduce the musical at the Tony Awards.)
Back to the NBC ad, it featured a Tony winner (Jane Krakowski), three Tony nominees (Christina Applegate, Alec Baldwin and Christian Borle) and other Broadway vets Megan Hilty, Rainn Wilson, Rob Lowe, and Peter Krause. Mariska Hargitay, daughter of Theatre World winner Jayne Mansfield, also had some nice moments. The video could serve as a casting tape for Barry and Fran Weissler for their next round of Chicago vacancies this summer.
*The Frank Loesser tune comment references the opening of the 1986 ceremony which featured Telly Savales, Dom Deluise and Pat Morita “singing” a modified version of “Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls. There is no way to explain why those three or that song were chosen at that time. No video exists. But it is seared into my mind’s eye.
