The Super Bowl was all right to watch. This year was pretty intense, and the game was well played on both sides. I've never actually sit down to watch a whole game before (and paid attention), so this is new for me.
The thing I have noticed about the Super Bowl this year is an overwhelming change in music and format. So, I decided to quickly research the history of the Super Bowl performances.
1960s: For the first few Super Bowl halftime shows, we see only performances by college marching bands-- which is typical of a football game. Sometimes the spectators get a treat, like military drum corps or the navy band.
By the 1970s, there are special guest hosts, celebrity personalities, etc. Still, however, we see a marching band as the main event. We even see some international bands with different world music.
By the early 80s, there are more regular celebrity performers, but again-- marching bands are the main event. However-- by the late 80s, the celebrities are taking over the show. We see Disney characters, TV personalities, pop singers, and maybe a drill team if we are lucky.
By 1991 we see the headliners as Disney characters and New Kids on the Block. No band.
By the mid 90s there could be as many as 6 celebrity performers.
You also see, starting in the 80s, that these shows begun to have big companies as their producers, unlike before. The Walt Disney Company had become a regular supporter and producer of the Super Bowl shows. Radio City Music Hall also had a pretty big hand in the halftime shows.
As we head toward the 2000s, she list of people involved gets longer and longer. Now, every show has not only a headliner, but a producer, and a sponsoring company (usually something colossal like soft drink names, banks, or cellular phone companies).
I researched two recurring producers from the 2000s and 2010s: Hamish Hamilton and Don Mischer. These are concert directors/producers who are responsible for some of the most successful TV events, such as the Grammys and the Academy Awards, and even social functions for the President.
Between the classic marching bands era (60s - 70s) and the pop singers (2000s - 2010s) we had world-famous, legendary performers (such as Ella Fitzgerald, Chubby Checker, Michael Jackson) combined with incredible stunts, and the occasional marching extravaganza.
It seems that we're slowly dumbing down even our sports entertainment, which was already fairly simplified junk food of the masses.
I'm not trashing "junk food" tv, because everyone needs time to relax and unwind, to not think.
I'm saying that it's not even edible anymore.
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