How to Make TV, the NFL Way

Did you think the Super Bowl was exciting? Are you sorry football season is over?
TruTV is hoping your hunger for anything to do with the NFL will translate into viewership for its new series NFL Full Contact. Unfortunately, while many people are fascinated with how television is made, watching guys talk on headsets and walkie talkies for an hour just isn’t as exciting as the blocking, tackling and cheerleaders that make the NFL the king of TV.
The first episode, airing Monday night, shows how the NFL’s Kickoff game in Pittsburgh was put together. There’s music with the Black Eyed Peas and Tim McGraw. There’s football with the Super Bowl Champion Steelers. And there’s plenty of backstage drama.
The stories range from keeping enough people in the park to watch Mr. McGraw sing as the beginning of the game nears to finding a missing kid in a Ben Roethlisberger jersey (they find him—even though it turns out to be a Troy Polamalu jersey).
Among the logistical problems conquered: turns out the dressing room for Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas doesn’t have a roof, which is a problem because lighting engineers are sitting high above the stage, giving them an excellent view. Some extra fabric is found to protect Fergie’s privacy, thank goodness.
There’s also an issue with Tim McGraw impersonator.
In future episodes, Full Contact, produced by NFL Films, will look at the NFL draft, the opening of the Cowboys’ new stadium, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bow.
Along the way, viewers will get to know the folks involved in the TV logistics of NFL events, including stage managers, concert managers, security guards producers and cameramen. They all seem to care about their jobs and do them well. Maybe if they wore jerseys instead of headsets it would be easier to root for them.