UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Life Detective looks at the Super Bowl in the context of American culture and proposes that this sporting/entertainment event may be the only survivor from the pre-1980 era when living in the United States seemed to be a shared, homogenous experience.
Over 100 million Americans were tuned in to Super Bowl LVI to watch the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Cincinnati Bengals, a halftime concert from multiple rap artists, and the release of the nation’s best new commercials (well, at least in theory) on February 13. As such, the Super Bowl will likely be the most commonly viewed event among Americans in 2022. The Super Bowl was still pure Americana: a violent sport played almost nowhere else on the planet (OK, maybe in the honorary 51st state of Canada); our capitalist “gaudy” commercialism donning it’s Sunday best; and an unhealthy hyper-glorification of athletes and entertainers. It is the classic expression of American bravado and “just f*ck it”: players risking long-term brain injury to play a game in a $5 billion stadium in our most populous State (largely desert/arid and running out of water); and 70,000 fans paying exorbitant sums to share air with strangers during a pandemic.
MAGA – the good old days
The Super Bowl may be the last vestige of America from the days when America was great. “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) means many different things to different people, and not all of them good. I consider the time America was great to be the period from roughly 1950-1980, when we shared a common experience. This was before we started hating on each other as a standalone sport and, even if we did fight or disrespect others, we all started with a common understanding of the universe from a purely American perspective. To me, this “MAGA-period” is not a political slogan but is the time up to the early 1980s before the shared American experience splintered into multiple, siloed experiences such that our common ground could no longer be found.
In 1980 America, much of our commonality was defined by the media we accessed: three television networks; radio stations playing top 40 music, rock, or country; one or two local newspapers; and no virtual interactions, except perhaps for the occasional phone call or “snail mail” letter. Cable TV was new: subscribers could add 3-5 stations and HBO. There were no 200-channel cable TV services, no satellite, no internet, and no streaming TV services. Today, we have all of that plus we can stream radio or any music genre from anywhere, watch programs on YouTube, and listen to podcasts up the wazoo. On top of that, everyone is making their own programming on TikTok. While I love the opportunity to have broader choices when it comes to communications, media, and entertainment, it is overwhelming . . . and it may contribute to making Americans more stressed today and perhaps more divided.
Searching for the common ground
The media we consume is central to the lack of a shared American experience. All the way back to the 1970’s, the Super Bowl has been a leader in TV ratings, often garnering viewership from over 40% of American households. Today that translates to over 100 million viewers to a single Super Bowl. Up until the early 1980’s, network television could sometimes rival the Super Bowl. The greatest share of households tuning into any single program was the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983, with 60% of all American households tuning in. Up until 1980, it was common for the highest rated television series to regularly reach 30% of American households according to data compiled on Wikipedia. In the past 10 years, the leading television series has reached less than 15% of households, and several times the leading series was NBC Sunday Night Football. With all the options available, there would seem to be far less commonality in what Americans watch.
To further beat this dead horse, a show called “Ted Lasso” won Television Academy’s Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2021. My initial old-man reaction was “who the hell is Ted the ass-hoe?” Turns out it is a popular show only available thru Apple TV streaming service – I have cable and 3 streaming services, but no access to that show. Compare that to 1980 when the Emmy’s Outstanding Comedy Series nominees were Barney Miller, M*A*S*H, Taxi, Soap and WKRP in Cincinnati – I watched every one of them. I am guessing almost everyone 50 years-plus knows the name of every one of those shows and might even have a favorite quote from each!
“Do you believe in miracles”?
In February 1980, the end of the MAGA-period (at least how I define it), it seemed like every American knew that the extreme underdog U.S. Olympic Hockey team defeated our arch enemy Soviet Union to win the Olympic gold medal. It felt like a shared American experience – many of you may recall the words broadcaster Al Michaels uttered in the final moments of the game: “Do you believe in miracles?”
In February 2022, the early returns for NBC indicate some of the lowest television ratings of all time for the Olympics. Just like watching the very same shows on one of three television networks, watching the Olympics is no longer a shared American experience. However, we Americans still have the biggest football game of the year in common, just like we did in 1980 . . . that and Super Bowl LVI broadcaster Al “do you believe in miracles” Michaels, both still going strong.