The NFL vs. WILLY WONKA | The REVERSE Heidi Game

After a 1975 NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins went into overtime, NBC was scheduled to show Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. What NBC decided to do after was an incredibly questionable and controversial decision that backfired in spectacular fashion, and upset kids and families everywhere. This is the story behind the reverse Heidi Game, and the feud between the NFL, NBC, and Willy Wonka
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NOTE: There is a minor error in the video. For some reason, when I was reading the script, I thought that "1975" looked like "1973." Because of this, I accidentally said that Washington was the defending conference champions. While that would have been true for 1973, that is nowhere near true for 1975. Apologies for the oversight there

[@tedkijeski339]

"Wonka ended up producing only 100 kg of chocolate, which is less than if Uncle Charlie had simply spiked the ball on every down"

[@ecembrew]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CTubeMan]

Uncle Charlie? This ain’t My Three Sons!

[@stevensmith7439]

“But first, let’s put Varuca’s demand for golden egg-laying chickens into context…”

[@tedkijeski339]

@@CTubeMan #MyThreeWonkas

[@davidlafleche1142]

"We get up at 12, and off to work at 1, take an hour lunch and then at 2 we're done." Well, what "work" DID they do?

[@woodalldoesgames1774]

NBCs passer rating must have been worse than if you spiked the ball on every single play

[@jsivco3sivco785]

Are you as tired of hearing him say that as I am?🙄

[@geoffreyhooker9005]

Spiking the ball every single play would get you a passer rating of 39.6 -- due to an interception rate lower than Aaron Rodgers

[@chrisuncleahmad]

"Oompa loompa doompety dee- trouble would be brewing for NBC"

[@mjwatts1983]

Emmys Sometime in the mid 2000s Conan O’Brien sings “Trouble at NBC” in the style of The Music Man kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXnZaXx3eLyGpq8si=_tI6fxfbqOYHbyLj

[@levikatriel]

Speaking of networks having problems with filming things, in a 1983 game between the jets and chargers, the network was too late from a commercial to show a kickoff, but rather than showing the replay of the kickoff or doing nothing, the ref blew the whistle after the ball was caught, and only about half the players stopped playing. The jets were only able to bring the kickoff out to the 15, but the officials decided to redo the play. The jets then got a big return. Official Jaguar Gator 9 made a video about that play.

[@DolFan316]

The next week the Raiders won another OT game VS the Falcons and the R E D S K I N S knocked off the 10-0 Vikings.

[@ethrabeast]

“Go on buds, drink my suds, ‘til you’ve reached, that pure inebriation”

[@brianb.8295]

"Though the beer may be free... you're just renting it from meeeeeee...."

[@dionr1168]

What a strange coincidence that both controversies involved the most controversial franchise at the time; the Raiders.

[@culdeestudios1725]

Still controversial many years later

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Heidi I, Heidi II and Reverse Heidi all involved either the Raiders or the Redskins. Fitting that the last one had them playing each other.

[@denisceballos9745]

The night of the Heidi Game, the network showed the missing last plays of the game on the late news. That just made it worse, for Jets fans, who were furious. The whole city was outraged - the phone lines to the network office in Rockefeller Center were jammed for hours.

[@WaltGekko]

The problem was back then, had NBC delayed "Heidi" until the end of Jets-Raiders, Timex, which sponsored the show would have almost certainly taken NBC to court and people would have been fired for staying with Jets-Raiders. Some execs at Timex likely would have demanded those deciding to stay with the game to conclusion also be blacklisted and barred from working at other networks for years afterwards. It also was a time Churches had far greater influence and they likely would have complained to the FCC about it, especially those that associated pro sports with gambling as opposed to the "pure" version of college football. NBC would likely have faced fines from the FCC for delaying "Heidi" even by 20-25 minutes. Ironically, during the Super Bowl, NFL Network now airs "Heidi" I believe.

[@stephaniegormley9982]

I've always been skeptical of the idea that the fans were so LIVID. I think that's been embellished by historians. The only time zone where the game was shut off early was in the eastern time zone..........Y'know the time zone the Jets, LOSING team occupied. Why would those fans be angry? I'd think they'd be glad they were spared that ending. I can see fans in OAKLAND being angry, but the game wasn't cut off there.

[@denisceballos9745]

Stephanie Gormley; You had to be there at the time, sounds incredible today, but that’s how it happened in the Big Apple.

[@pronkb000]

@@stephaniegormley9982 The switchboards actually jammed BEFORE the switch, with anxious fans calling NBC to try and find out if they were going to play the full game or switch over. This is what prevented the NBC honchos from being able to reach master control with instructions. The Wikipedia article on this incident is fantastic and worth reading. It explains the multitude of things that went wrong that led to the decision.

[@2themoon863]

It was eastern AND central time zones; no one east of Denver-and, believe it or not, anyone within 90 miles of Oakland (who saw none of the game!)-saw the end, as the game was blacked out despite a sellout!

[@vdubproductions2646]

I love football and I also view the original Willy Wanka as a classic. However NBC botched this one just as badly as they did with Heidi.

[@giantsr1eva]

@Vdub Productions They were contractually obligated to show the movie Heidi at 7 and they didn’t want tired kids back in school the next day staying up past their bed time. I agree that NBC probably should have aired Willy Wonka in an earlier time slot, especially if the game goes into overtime and the game runs long. You wouldn’t want NBC to be sued right?

[@Xix1326]

One of my early childhood memory: "Mom! The game's not over yet. What are they switching to stupid Heidi?!" The trials of a lifelong Jets fan.

[@giantsr1eva]

@Xix1326 They switched to Heidi because they were contractually obligated to show Heidi at 7, they couldn’t delay the program for any reason.

[@ECG3485]

"NBC gets NOTHING! THEY LOSE! GOOD DAY, FANS!" -Willy Wonka, if he watched this game 🤣

[@jamiewiesner135]

To think that a football game would end in three hours is just pure imagination is what Willy Wonka would say.

[@ericradford2142]

The game played in its entirety unlike the Heidi game between the Jets and Raiders in 1968. Tough, kids

[@kurttoy5035]

Whoever wrote the newspaper story was wrong. Willy Wonka was NEVER a Disney film.

[@davidozab2753]

My favorite team lost and my favorite movie got cut up. I was one pissed off nine year old that day 😆

[@davidcobb2693]

My favorite team won, screw the movie, it can always be reran, I was an ecstatic nine year old that day!

[@davidozab2753]

@@davidcobb2693 Fair enough

[@davidcobb2693]

@@davidozab2753 It was the first overtime game I ever watched and it's when I learned more about the Heidi game because I heard my dad say to my mom, " They better not pull another G-D Heidi ". My mom saw the game going into overtime and she thought about the Christmas Day 1971 playoff game between the Chiefs and Dolphins that went into double overtime, thinking the game could go on well into the night.

[@robertkeefer1552]

NBC Football v. Family Movies: NBC goes 0-2.

[@dionr1168]

Ironically, the NFL would end up with the same time slot as Heidi and Willy Wonka on NBC starting in 2006.

[@juniusadams9346]

YOU LOSE!!! GOOD DAY SIR!!! 😆😆😆😆

[@mgb4692]

And have had a couple of four hour games involving the Seahawks: A lightning delay against SF in 2013, and just a long-ass game against the Cardinals in 2015 (which I believe actually went longer than the 6-6 tie the next year

[@ELSTrainTuber501]

The Heidi Game is before I was born

[@luv2sail66]

NBC would’ve had a better rating if they had spiked the ball on every snap.

[@Bruce12867]

After the Heidi Game, the NFL made it so that the networks would be contractually obligated to air the games in their entireties. NBC still found themselves in a pickle because they had the choice of joining the movie in progress (as they did) or air the movie in its entirety, forcing kids who wanted to watch the whole movie to stay up past their bedtimes. Either way, they would have been raked over the coals. NBC probably would have been better off scheduling the movie on a Friday or Saturday night when kids could stay up a little later.

[@WaltGekko]

Actually, airing the movie until 9:40 was not the issue, no matter how upset parents got that would have been minor. I believe NBC had another movie AFTER Willy Wonka (this was the "November Sweeps") at 9:00 and delaying Willy Wonka would have either seen the second movie joined in progress or starting at 9:40 and delaying late local news until 11:40 PM/10:40 CT, which would have infuriated the station managers of MANY NBC affilaites in the eastern and central time zones, many of which back then often only did an 11:00 PM newscast on Sunday nights to fulfill local broadcasting requirements (most network affiliates did not do a real morning local news on weekends until the 1990's) and could have been in trouble because such newscasts would have run past Midnight and technically into Monday morning. Also, such would have delayed local programming after late local news (which usually then was a movie though prior to the fall of 1975, some NBC Stations aired "Tonight Show" repeats on Sunday nights as opposed to Saturday nights that most did and which ironically was why Saturday Night Live, originally "NBC's Saturday Night" was created in the first place). Also, many stations in those days had to be off the air between 2:00-5:00 AM or so to do transmitter maintenance, which also played into it.

[@evancortez2]

there was never a more surreal announcement on television than "We now join our regularly scheduled programming already in progress"

[@squealingsalamander6546]

8-1, 8-1, 7-2, and 7-2 in a conference wow that is a rare sight

[@bjtgaming]

That's tense, it's like the 2020 NFC East!! Expect not only is every team in it, THERE GOOD.

[@zigwald]

my third grade teacher, mrs easterling (a MEAN old woman) read us charlie and the chocolate factory. i think the 75 Raiders were more entertaining!

[@jacktorrance2633]

It's ok brother, you can say Redskins when it comes to past games. Great video as usual,you really bring back memories for a kid that grew up in the 70s.

[@LukeL007]

How many times have I heard "We now join our regularly scheduled programing already in progress" It usually meant missing most of the Simpsons or another FOX animation show.

[@fromthehaven94]

Is that when it's the single game? The last time I checked, Fox merely extends the postgame report to 8pm on doubleheader weeks.

[@LukeL007]

@@fromthehaven94 This was years ago. I have not watched Fox primetime in close to a decade.

[@mgb4692]

They had a couple shows they stuck at 7 that never made it cause the overrun killed their ratings, Space: Above and Beyond being one

[@danielanderson4726]

When i watched NFL telecasts then, it seemed to me that NBC always did the "We now join our regularly scheduled programing already in progress" whereas CBS let the shows "slide" most of the time.

[@DolFan316]

The original Heidi game is the only reason why I know who Preston Ridlehuber even is.

[@jamiebigelow526]

The game wasn't interrupted in the entire company when Heidi was played , only the east coast broke away from the game.

[@dodge96neon]

it would be funny beyond relief if a new heidi movie is made and joe namath plays the grandfather

[@Marylandbrony]

I recall a similar thing happening after an overtime Saints v.s Buccaneers games that cut into the American dad episode. "Lost in Space". That when the game ended the episode, which takes places mostly in a science fiction setting instead of suburban Virginia and then only main character from the series is Jeff. It was really weird to go from the game to an alien singing right into the face of some random guy. Thankfully it was just a re-run.

[@emilmana9917]

I didn't know about the ""Heidi game" until now but in "1990 FIFA World Cup" something similar happened in Israel. There was a game which went to overtime in the knockout phase and later to Penalty shootout. Unfortunately Israeli television decided to stop broadcasting right before the penalty shootout and instead broadcast the news in Arabic. Nobody know what was the result until the News in Arabic ended 30 minutes later and they told the audience who won.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about the Jets-Giants overtime game in 1974. He will also remind everyone you made a similar comment in your previous “Heidi Game” video about how the NFL almost screwed Raiders fans later on in 1968, and how Raiders fans might have burned down NBC if they cut away from this 1975 game early. Given the fact that there were Raiders fans in the Eastern time zones and you otherwise said in this video it only affected viewers in the Eastern time zone I feel compelled to deliver this rant in response to this video. “The Raiders played in the Pacific time zone so their fans would have seen both the game and movie in their entirety! So you were wrong twice! You don’t get a like from me! In fact you get nothing! Good Day Sir!”

[@leogetz3570]

What exactly is your rant? He did say only the Eastern Time Zone was affected. And all the Raiders fans living on the east coast would have been mad, as well as all of the Washington fans. The Heidi game featured the Jets, so all the Jets fans (and Raiders fans) on the east coast were mad

[@CTubeMan]

@@leogetz3570 I said Good Day! I also said that JG9 said all that you said about the fact that only the Eastern time zones were affected and that Raiders fans are in the Eastern time zones. I just had to set up the line.

[@CTubeMan]

Let’s just say if you’ve never seen the movie you won’t get my rant, which I caveated.

[@leogetz3570]

@@CTubeMan I've seen both movies.... I still have no idea what you're babbling about.

[@WaltGekko]

@@leogetz3570 Yep. The Heidi Game wasn't even shown in Oakland, home games were blacked out until 1973 I believe. Unlike the Heidi Game, this was also being shown in DC and you would have had a ton of elected officials angry with NBC had they cut away.

[@ronaldwayne7092]

One thing to note: this was at the start of the era where NBC was completely incapable of making a good decision. So of course they made the decision they did.

[@colderbeer]

So true....same dumb network that cancelled the wildly popular show known as ........Star Trek.

[@mgb4692]

And of course the series finale was pre-empted for a special report on the death of Ike--then they move it to like the beginning of June Not that Turnabout Intruder was one of my favorite episodes but considering how NBC effectively wrote the bleh that was the Seinfeld finale along with Jerry, was it really that bad?

[@CTubeMan]

@@mgb4692 Almost like how the series finale of Welcome Back, Kotter was preempted by a speech by President Carter.

[@davidlafleche1142]

Have you ever seen "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise"? Greatest sketch in SNL history!

[@daleeloph6888]

And then they cancled my name Earl and the last show was a cliffhanger so there is a long history of NBC doing stupid things

[@jewsco]

Remember this is before VCR’s were a thing so this was the only time you got to see a movie like this once it was out of the theater

[@jewsco]

@@matthewdaley746 yep and the young won’t remember that . I remember for a few summers after the first Star Wars was released local drive ins would play it

[@jewsco]

@@matthewdaley746 I was only 4 when the original movie was released but because drive ins would replay it every summer by the time empire came out and I was 7 I was all caught up

[@rog9601]

Of all the networks NBC has always been the laughingstock more of the blooper network if you know what I mean. Countless times especially during the 1980s I always felt they were out to get me with cancellations or delays of shows. I've seen them do errors a lot during football games, I haven't seen on other networks do in 50 years of watching. Out of nowhere strange things happen and NBC just is that Network that just gets picked on for the blunders, this one started it off. Everytime I see an error during a football game specifically, I always tell myself, this must be NBC we are watching, and it is every time. This is a ghost that never has escaped NBC since the Heidi Bowl. It is a curse that will never go away.

[@davidlafleche1142]

They more than made up for it during the 80s.

[@mrmoose6619]

I would believe that this is why baseball games when on the general broadcast networks have filler shows (eg. Reruns of popular shows or "awesome sports highlights" type) on after the day games. 99% of the time people don't care if a filler show is joined in progress. Night is usually news then filler, so one night the filler is avoided and the news is shown to fill to the next time slot.

[@someperson8151]

I had to double tap back to hear "the eight and one Bengals..." I had to make sure I heard it right.

[@nasetvideos]

I believe I have seen every one of your videos....and this may have been the best one yet. You nailed this one. I remember this game, this night, and the entire controversy. Amazing football and Willy Wonka footage, too. When the game was over, we thought we'd watch Willy Wonka from the start...but it literally dropped us 1/3 of the way into the movie. Great job with the research on this. Outstanding video!

[@DolFan316]

Parents were a lot less permissive back then and I highly doubt more than 20% of them would've been willing to let their preteen kids stay up until 9:40 on a school night.

[@gordons-alive4940]

And back then there was no streaming, there wasn't even home video for most people. If you missed something when it showed on TV, you wouldn't get another chance to see it unless they showed it on TV again, and that might mean years of waiting. I'm not surprised people were upset.

[@WaltGekko]

@@DolFan316 Especially given back then schools were looked at as more authoritarian, though I don't think staying up until 9:40 would have been an issue for most unless their kids had to be on a bus by 7:00 AM with school starting at 8:00 or 8:30. The real problem was I believe NBC had another movie AFTER Willy Wonka at 9:00 and delaying Willy Wonka would have either seen the second movie joined in progress or starting at 9:40 and delaying late local news until 11:40 PM/10:40 CT, which would have infuriated the station managers of MANY NBC affilaites in the eastern and central time zones, many of which back then often only did an 11:00 PM newscast on Sunday nights to fulfill local broadcasting requirements (most network affiliates did not do a real morning local news on weekends until the 1990's) and could have been in trouble because such newscasts would have run past Midnight and technically into Monday morning. Also, such would have delayed local programming after late local news (which usually then was a movie). Also, many stations in those days had to be off the air between 2:00-5:00 AM or so to do transmitter maintenance, which also played into it.

[@charismatic9904]

I remember falcons vs broncos superbowl. They damn near missed the 75yd TD. They came back mid play from a commercial.

[@intsoccersuperstar1]

One thing I think you didn’t mention that my dad reminds me of all the time - there was no way to watch these movies at home yet. VHS didn’t come around until 1977

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Beta first came out in '72, though not very commercially available until '76 or so. VHS came out in '79.

[@chrishollister80]

Yeah, the 1st forty minutes of Willy Wonka was a complete snore fest, so kids didn't miss anything. Lol

[@chrisuncleahmad]

Welcome to Dumb (Network) Decisions

[@drewzuhosky6826]

NBC wound up cutting off the tail-end of the 2011 USF at Notre Dame game (one that was suspended twice by lightning delays) so they could show a movie on-time and on-schedule. They ended up airing the rest of that game on cable.

[@tygrkhat4087]

NBC cut away from a Sabres-Senators playoff game to go to pre-race coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

[@drewzuhosky6826]

@@tygrkhat4087 In the case of the football game in 2011, there wasn’t a new _SNL_ they had to protect that night as it was still in reruns for the summer.

[@jamesklatt]

Last year NBC broke into the clemson - notre dame game to air (then) president-elect bidens speech.

[@mgb4692]

Also cut away from Niners/Patriots in 2012 for Obama's post-Sandy Hook address

[@hrose756]

What movie was it.?

[@MartinMcCauslin]

I remember this broadcast - Wonka was shown from the I got a golden ticket song and I remember not caring because I watched the previous airing a year earlier and I thought the first part before the factory tour boring...

[@jsl151850b]

Thanks! I was wondering at what point they started the movie "already in progress". Good thing it wasn't the boat ride.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

I would RATHER WATCH a QUARTERBACK SPIKE the football into the ground on EVERY single OFFENSIVE play than EVER watch "Heidi" or "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory" ANY DAY of the WEEK.

[@d0nKsTaH]

Willy Wonka is y0ur daddy. Heidi is your mother. *throws a chocolate bar at Chadwick

[@chadwickwhite6107]

​@@d0nKsTaHRetard

[@badbooking3221]

The setup for that punchline at the end is pure chef's kiss.

[@DolFan316]

NBC could've easily avoided this whole mess by showing the Willy Wonka movie at some point during the summer. You know, when there's no football on to possibly cause problems and kids can stay up later since there's no school. But I guess even back then common sense was becoming extinct.

[@DolFan316]

@Matt Joseph I remember watching Wizard Of Oz every year on Tv as a kid! I loved it, but my mom hated it for some reason.

[@americangiant1003]

Or since this Raiders-Washington Football Club formerly known as the "Redskins" was on Thanksgiving Week in 1975, maybe show it on the Wednesday Night before the Thanksgiving Holiday as well.

[@BrianRetro]

@Matt Joseph Actually, when they first started the annual viewing of Wizard of Oz, it was shown during the holiday season around Thanksgiving. When networks started airing more and more holiday specials, they moved the annual Oz viewing to the late winter/early Spring (I remember it mostly being shown in late February or early March). 1991 was the first time in years that it was shown during the holiday season (week of Thanksgiving) and the first time CBS aired it more than once a year. Nowadays, cable networks will go so far as to showing it simultaneously on three different networks (Turner did that by showing it on TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network all at the same time one year).

[@BrianRetro]

Did you not hear in the video where he said they re-aired the movie the following May?

[@americangiant1003]

@@BrianRetro Now I think remember now as late as the early 1980s the Wizard of Oz being on Thanksgiving weekend before the switch to the Easter/Passover Spring Break season. Even now here in 2021, you don’t see as many Christmas season movies and other entertainment specials as before at least on the now Big 4 Networks ie NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

[@jsivco3sivco785]

Games were typically less than 3 hours back then because today the games are LOADED with commercials, which add an extra half hour to most games! Al those multi-million dollar salaries have to be paid for... by excessive commercial time!

[@mgb4692]

Some even had 2.5 hour windows. The preceding Chargers/Bills game (before Jets/Raiders) was a 1:30 start, and went over. So NBC humorously cut away from that to go to Oakland, that obviously went well😂😂😂😂😂

[@charismatic9904]

NBC also had an issue with the XFL. They had a game that ran so long it affected SNL and JLO had to wait like an hour or 2 to perform if I recall.

[@leogetz3570]

About 45 minutes, and I think that was more of an issue with the XFL losing power, delaying the kickoff, and a bunch of unnecessary clock stoppages. But, yes, NBC should have never allowed such a late start time for a game knowing that SNL was a "new" episode and not a rerun

[@mgb4692]

And then a couple weeks later they had it in reverse, cutting off an end-of-game TD (both games involved the Enforcers, who.lost both) Of course why NBC and Vince decided on prime time, it'd be like all the sudden ABC started having FCS and DII games on in PT. What's even worse is NBC could have had games on Sat afternoon which is the more acceptable spot, as ABC and FOX did with XFL2.0, this wouldn't be the last time the Ebersols would ruin an alt league

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

You left out the most important legacy of this incident. The next day, in backyard football games across the country, three year olds spiked the ball into the ground on every play. And yet they still have better quarterback ratings than some NFL quarterbacks.

[@DolFan316]

Nah, kids don't achieve the necessary level of coordination to do that until at least age 5.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

@@DolFan316 Oh yeah, my little brother is going to crawl and bite you in the shin. But he's got nap time now. Don't go far.

[@rowdycmoore]

And then in 2001 NBC and the XFL found a way to make it even WORSE when their Week 2 telecast went into overtime and pre-empted Saturday Night Live - with Jennifer Lopez as the guest host (trust me, J-Lo was a big deal back then) - and NBC decided to start SNL on time, telling the cast they were live, only to actually air it on delay. Needless to say Lorne Michaels was NOT happy.

[@mgb4692]

And the problem is? SNL's been garbage ever since they fired Norm MacDonald (RIP)

[@BrianRetro]

@@mgb4692 Completely your opinion.

[@BrianRetro]

I read on their Wikipedia page about that incident. Apparently, to avoid it happening in the future, the XFL promised to speed up games and, if a new episode of SNL was airing the same night as a game, they were allowed to cut away to SNL. Literally the exact opposite of what was enforced as a result of the Heidi game. There's also an incident in 1986 when an episode of SNL was delayed due to Game 6 of 1986 World Series going into extra innings. Yes, that is the infamous, "Buckner Game." Rather than just repeat what was on Wikipedia, I will simply post the entry in its entirety. The episode scheduled for October 25, 1986, hosted by Rosanna Arquette, was not aired until November 8 due to NBC broadcasting Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox; the game entered extra innings, causing that night's broadcast of SNL to be canceled. The show was recorded for the studio audience starting at 1:30 AM Eastern Time, and broadcast two weeks later with an "apology" by Mets pitcher Ron Darling.

[@mgb4692]

Too bad Don Ohlmeyer had already retired (and come back to do MNF) by then. If Vince had a good relationship with him he could have told Lorne Michaels to fuck off.

[@bobloblaw2958]

Wow, I would gladly go back to this time in history if this was the worst thing to happen.

[@DolFan316]

IKR? Kids missing the first third of a TV movie! OMG, the horror!!! Now kids today have the same reaction or worse when anybody says the word "no" to them.

[@BrianRetro]

Well, in the context of network TV it may have been but what was going on in the country and even the world, it definitely wasn't.

[@brianarbenz1329]

In 1976 when a Republican president lost an election he accepted the reality graciously and put the needs of the nation first. Since then the Republicans have become fascists, liars and overtly racist.

[@jamespgray6928]

HEY! Willy Wonka was a classic! : ) It deserves respect.

[@bronxsportsfan]

Wished NBC could have heard you.

[@ClassicJukeboxBand]

I actually remember this game. I think they had a problem with the game clock, if I recall correctly. They chopped time off the game.

[@williamcoolidge9884]

NBC ran Willy Wonka against Super Bowl 12 (CBS). I would know. 7 year old me stupidly chose Willy Wonka over the Cowboys win over the Broncos 27-10. But thanks to KZbin some 40 years later I was able to watch the game in its entirety.

[@americangiant1003]

William are you serious? NBC running Willy Wonka against Super Bowl 12 on CBS? Oh that is right, it's the Late 70's NBC era. In which arguable some of the worst shows of all time such as "Hello Larry" and "Supertrain." PS I was 6 years old in Jan. 1978 so probably too busy playing with my Cookie Monster doll lol.

[@mgb4692]

These days the NFL puts the kibosh on SB counterprogramming, although there was on overrun in 2009 (NBC did the Super Bowl appropriately enough) when Kenny Perry and Charley Hoffman went to a playoff at the Phoenix Open, while the Cardinals were kicking off against the Steelers in Tampa The only other one I can think of is Vijay Singh winning it just seconds before the Raiders/Bucs kickoff in 2003, and CBS cut right away IIRC UPDATED: Scottie Scheffler/Patrick Cantlay playoff in 2022, which went almost the whole first quarter of Bengals/Rams

[@americangiant1003]

@@mgb4692 Or going back about 30 years in Jan 1992. At that point, the then brand new fledgling Fox Network putting on the Classic Black Centric SNL type sketch comedy show “In Living Color” with a live halftime show during Bills vs the now former Washington Redskins club. After that 1 time event, the NFL counter the next super bowl in ‘93 (first Cowboys vs Bills matchup at the Rose Bowl) with Micheal Jackson as the main halftime performer. From 93 onwards, usually “ A” list Internationally known Music Stars that would perform SB Halftime shows instead of America’s top college musical bands.

[@mgb4692]

Same reason that CBS and NBC flipped the last two Super Bowls, with this one now being in the middle of the Beijing games (although with it being around 7:30 in the morning local when SB LVI kicks off there won't be any live action)

[@NosferatusCoffin]

@@americangiant1003 And we are far, far worse for that genius decision.

[@markbrian7179]

Children TV movies and the NFL don't mix.

[@DolFan316]

These days children and the NFL don't mix, period. Unless as a parent you want your child to be a rioter.

[@mgb4692]

Unless it's Cordarrelle Patterson dropping F-bombs then it's LEGEND

[@66edoug]

More than once I've heard a local tv channel station announce that "We Now Join our Regularly Scheduled Program already in Progress" and ended only seeing the end credits. But those were local stations covering local teams. But those weren't NFL games.

[@66edoug]

@daniel anderson It's nice to know who was in a TV show that you couldn't watch.

[@gregsells8549]

3:28 Scoreboard shots at the Astrodome, Kezar Stadium, Orange Bowl, Busch Stadium, Cotton Bowl, Kezar again, Tiger Stadium, and Kezar once again.

[@danmount9462]

I think regardless of where you stood, Grandpa Joe is an awful human being.

[@danmount9462]

@@matthewdaley746 Charlie's mom was too.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

And in those days you couldn't just buy the VHS/DVD of the movie nor could you just record it on your VCR so the kids could watch it later.

[@americangiant1003]

Exactly Mr. Smith. VHS/DVD home video players would not be widely available in almost every household in America until maybe 10-15 years starting around 1985 or so.

[@jeremycrandall2899]

If you don’t want to say the name Redskins in any videos about Washington’s games before 2020, fine, but then I suggest that you don’t say the other team’s nickname either. Saying “Oakland vs Washington” is totally fine. Saying “Oakland Raiders vs. Washington” is kind of insulting to the viewer’s intelligence. Other possible options would be to have a disclaimer at the beginning of each pre-2020 Washington video stating that you will not say Redskins, or maybe have a disclaimer at the beginning saying that you will be using the name Redskins in the video only because it was the official team name at the time the game was played, and that your use of that name in no way reflects your personal opinion (and that you agree with the team changing its name). I understand you possibly not wanting to risk offending anyone by using the name Redskins, but there’s got be a better way than what you’re currently doing.

[@americangiant1003]

Agreed Jeremy. Or the Narrator here could just for the purposes of this video I will only say "Washington Football Club." And that in 1975, the team nickname was R-DS-K_S with the disclaimer you detailed.

[@jeremycrandall2899]

@@americangiant1003 Yeah, that would be acceptable too. I probably wouldn’t have said anything, but this is at least the third or fourth Washington video I’ve seen where he does this. Otherwise, I love his videos.

[@americangiant1003]

@@jeremycrandall2899 Jag has done a great job here. Be nice if the NFL Network and even the Big 2 full time Sports channels i.e ESPN and Fox Sports would be also produce these topics.

[@jeremycrandall2899]

@@americangiant1003 yeah, he definitely does a great job. For various reasons, I don’t really watch a lot of actual games anymore, but I watch a lot of Jag’s football videos and Jomboy’s baseball breakdowns, and they’re both super entertaining and informative! And yes, I agree it would also be cool the big networks to do similar stuff, as long as they don’t put Jag and Jomboy out of business!😊

[@SAVEAMERICA-cf6kf]

Great Headline: NFL vs Disney: Series tied.

[@retrogaminggenesis6102]

I'll count this as one of my birthday gifts lol. Love the channel.

[@scottconner7930]

46 Years Ago

[@VinnyXwolf]

How would the Redskins be looking to repeat as Conference Champions in 1974 when Minnesota won the NFC in 1973.

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Jag was off by two years. Skins won the NFC in 1972.

[@Bobbanana6760]

I enjoy your videos JG9, but as your oldest subscriber (maybe), I remember that 1974 Steelers-Broncos game as a 10 year old starting at 2:00PM Pittsburgh time. This was normal time for Denver home games during that Era. So OT wasnt close to ending at 7PM, let alone after 7PM(Although Joe Gilliam did try with his number of passes thrown)

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Pro Football Reference lists that as a 4:00 start time: www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197409220den.htm

[@troyturner173]

@@OfficialJaguarGator9 Can concur-I lived in Denver then (as I do now) and regular-season Sunday afternoon home games have ALWAYS started in the 4 PM ET window. The Steelers weren't the national TV juggernaut YET-and the Broncos were coming off of their first winning season ever in 73. Even the announcing team on the game that day (Jay Randolph and Paul Maguire)-showed how low of a game this was on NBC's totem pole

[@fromthehaven94]

Pittsburgh and Denver aren't in the same time zone.

[@mgb4692]

Question: What did they do in 1994 when the Steelers played the Seahawks at Husky Stadium (a 6:00 E start)? For those who don't remember or know, freshman orientation at UW was that weekend and they needed extra time to clear the field--the Hawks played three games at Husky Stadium cause the Kingdome was unusable

[@troyturner173]

@@mgb4692 As I recall-it was an NBC doubleheader day, but the game you're recalling was like #6 on the list-so whatever adjustment needed only affected PNW/PA/WV markets. NBC's early primetime Sunday schedule was filler back in 94-so it could easily be pre-empted/moved etc

[@michaeljones155]

He should do early NFL moments, like the 1925 NFL championship controversy, or the 1921 Championship Controversy, or the 1932 Championship Controversy...sensing a theme... Anyways, he should do more videos of the really early NFL. He only has one video done of a moment before 1943, which was 1922. He should have more. Even in the mid-40s, like the Phil-Pitt Steagles, Card-Pitt Carpets, The Yanks, or early 50s. Dallas Texans.

[@eddiejc1]

I know that @JaguarGator9 keeps saying "If you want to see the video I made on that subject, click on the card on the upper right", but what if there ISN'T a card? I'm *trying* to find the video he made about the brief period between 1970 and 1974 where home field advantage in the new AFC & NFC conference championships was determined on a rotational basis, but I CAN'T FIND IT. What's the name of the video????

[@calennon3]

Please tell me the refs called offsides at 2:04

[@chrispress2818]

Raiders fans in California wouldn’t have cared. West coast affiliates would’ve stayed with the game just like they did in the Heidi game

[@DolFan316]

10:46, I'm sorry, but anybody as old as 14 and still crying over missing a third of a kid's movie needed to get a life ASAP.

[@j.p.pelzman7481]

Agreed. I was 11 and I didn't give a flying you-know-what about Wonka. At the time, I would audiotape the NFL Films' weekly highlights. I remember watching that game. Didn't watch the movie, didn't care.

[@NosferatusCoffin]

@@j.p.pelzman7481 I also audiotaped the NFL Films' weekly highlights back in the 70's. The only way to go in those days.

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

The days before VCRs and VHS releases of movies were terrible for stuff like this. I feel so bad for parents and kids who watched WW for the first time on that airing

[@TheDan14]

8-1 Bengals in 75? I want to hear that story, for people who weren't alive at the time the Bengals only come up in the 80s

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Bengals went 11-3 in '75, but were still the wildcard because the Steelers were 12-2. Bengals also went 10-4 in '73 and won the AFC Central. Neither of those teams won a playoff game, though.

[@MikeTeaveeJr]

What about the time Portugal's RTP experienced a bench-clearing brawl at a top flight soccer match, causing it to finish 20 minutes into the Grand Final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest? Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands won it that year with Arcade, but the Carnation Pickers missed Germany's girl group entrant.

[@drewzuhosky6826]

Every time I think of _Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,_ I think of the clip on _The Jim Rome Show_ where _I've Got a Golden Ticket_ was played *backwards.*

[@vdubproductions2646]

@@matthewdaley746 so true

[@Carson_TK]

I guess you can say this video BLUE my mind up! It drowned me in knowledge and made me feel smarter!

[@jameswilson7790]

NBC-TV had a HORRIBLE history with Sunday afternoon football games. There were two AFL games in 1968 that' had their conclusions cut off television, with the Heidi game being cut off everywhere east of Denver. Then this game between Oakland and Washington ran late. And in that era, Hollywood movies took a long time to make it to network television. Later, in 1986, the Chiefs and Broncos battled for first place in the AFC West. The 38-17 Broncos win ended at 7:55 Eastern time. NBC-TV never had any television series on Sundays at 7 p.m. that could compete with 60 Minutes on CBS-TV.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

Oompa loompa doompety dee, because trouble would be brewing for NBC!

[@coryshannon3815]

Kids watching the this version of Willy Wonka as the first time and never again would never know how much of a freeloader Grandpa Joe was.😂

[@Sacto1654]

I think that's why CBS and FOX, which carries the late games, now have special "buffer" programming to prevent debacles like this on Sunday nights. In fact, games running way beyond the 7:00 pm ET time was what killed the initial success of _Futurama_ , a show that only got revived when it was rerun on the _Adult Swim_ block of Cartoon Network.

[@filanfyretracker]

Similarly along with being shown out of order was Firefly, Which its pilot and only season often got pushed around by MLB post season games.

[@KittyPurrfect100]

They could have crossflexed the game to CBS if the rule would have existed back then. CBS had games with NFC teams as the road team; NBC had games if AFC was road team. NBC could have got a game with NFC team on the road later on, even an all NFC game.

[@kevinthb498]

There are so many comments, that it's likely someone brought it up. JG9's historical attention to detail is incredible. But a rare mistake in that he forgot about Time Zones. When discussing the Heidi game he said "NBC with the outrage of every football fan in America, cut to show the movie", then says "the Raiders scored 2 TDs in final minute which no one saw". Pacific & also likely Mountain Time Zone did see end of Heidi game. But massive populations of Central & Eastern Time Zones were the story, especially in an era where NYC, DC, etc. controlled national media. Then he seemed to make same mistake about potentially outraged Raider fans if had cut away from Oak Wash game. AGAIN, JG9 is brilliant on these stories. I've learned so much

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Nobody East of Denver saw the last two minutes of the game.

[@DanMeyer80]

Football will always supercede some stupid kids movie, and NBC should have known that back in 68 when they cut the Raiders game for some dumb Heidi movie

[@richsheer4905]

Fascinating. I had no idea this happened. I love these videos that focus on televising controversies.

[@DolFan316]

R E D S K I N S

[@thomasn3882]

First World Problems. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. I've been having my TV viewing plans wrecked by Major League Baseball games that lasted four and five hours since the late 1970s. So what....

[@mxmxpr]

What was true for the Wonka incident is also true for the 1968 game... it only affected the eastern time zone, and not Boston, which wasn't even airing the game. All other time zones got the end of the game.

[@RalphReagan]

Talk about tone deaf.

[@jeffrapier947]

No game is more important than Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

[@notoriouseagle1074]

Another reason why programming starts at 8 now. Just imagine if Fox always put the Simpsons on at 7, how disastrous that would be.

[@billslocum9819]

8:34 Veruca Salt's poor decision making that day resulted in such a resounding mess, she would have better off if she had just spiked the ball on every play...

[@jamesklatt]

She was a bad egg

[@oneblankspace4919]

Coke had a commercial where Mean Joe Greene gave a kid his jersey in exchange for a coke. They turned that into a Sunday night movie where the kid tried to give him his jersey back. That movie was joined in progress after football, missing the iconic scene.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

I spent many a Sunday evening watching Trapper John, MD approaching midnight.

[@lsmftymf]

Clearly remember watching both the overtime and Willy Wonka. As a fourth-grader back then, didn't seem to mind because I was a huge Baltimore Colts fan who had yet to embrace movies. Fun times.

[@HectorHustles]

NBC loves upsetting the raider nation people because every time they got a problem with what comes after the game is always with the Raiders

[@eddiejc1]

It's laughable to me that NBC was worried about parents complaining about their kids staying up too late to watch "Willy Wonka", because they DON'T worry about kids staying up too late on the East Coast to watch the Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, and World Series, all of whose games routinely end either close to midnight or at least after 11 PM.

[@stevieg7672]

Wasn't the World Series broadcast in the afternoon until the 1980s?

[@ericradford2142]

@@stevieg7672The World Series broadcasted weekend afternoon games until 1985 although ABC aired Game 6 of the 1987 World Series on Saturday afternoon.

[@altfactor]

NBC should have run "Willie Wonka" in it's entirety, even if it ended at 9:40 P.M. EST, pushing back late newscasts on the East Coast to 11:40 EST.

[@altfactor]

On the other hand, local affiliates probably don't want their Sunday late evening local newscasts starting later than usual. That's why Fox runs postgame shows until 8 P.M. ET. I'm surprised CBS still runs a full four hour prime-time schedule on Sundays during football season. What CBS should do during the fall is run an NFL postgame show until 8 P.M. ET, "60 Minutes" from 8 to 9 P.M. ET, then two hours of entertainment programming from 9 to 11 ET, so late local newscasts on CBS affiliates would start on time.

[@JayTemple]

Knowing about playoff games that went to OT, I just assumed it had been there in the regular season all the time. You learn something new every day, especially if you watch this channel!

[@Nonsense1986]

What else could they do? Show a split screen? lol

[@MelBrewer]

How would the Redskins be repeating as conference champs in 75? Wasn't their only previous Super Bowl appearance in the 72 season?

[@leogetz3570]

I've tried to post that very thing twice and my comment has been deleted. Weird

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Error on my part. For whatever reason at some point while I was writing the script I saw 1973 instead of 1975. Gonna put the correction in the description

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Filter might’ve gotten that one. KZbin’s been filtering more and more comments lately and I’m not entirely sure why. Unless it’s spam, I don’t delete any comments

[@MelBrewer]

@@OfficialJaguarGator9 Thanks, I love these videos, especially the stuff from the 70's and 80's.

[@fromthehaven94]

*Except on the West Coast* Words that imply everything goes as planned *on the west coast.*

[@mgb4692]

There have actually been two pre-emptions by CBS that made it to the West Coast (although it was a CBS 'one/all' decision): 2013: Brady vs Roethlisberger goes long, CBS bumps The Mentalist 2017: Sergio Garcia wins the Masters in a playoff, CBS bumps Elementary (think the same night have happened the next year when Brooks Koepka won the PGA)

[@leogetz3570]

"Washington was trying to repeat as conference champions".... They weren't conference champs the year before

[@phoggknight6714]

The Redskins were conference champs in 1972. The Vikings were conference champs in '73 and '74, and would have returned to the Super Bowl again if not for the Dallas Hail Mary.

[@guiseppe8032]

By the time this incident happened, the NFL had it written into their contracts that they had to air the games to their conclusion thanks to the Heidi Game, so cutting away from the game wasn't an option in any event.

[@camoss3724]

I was never quite clear as to when the NFL scrapped the pre-determined seeding system in favor of one which awarded teams with the best record. (It did seem rather silly, after all, to have the 1972 Miami Dolphins go on the road for the AFC championship.) What I couldn't quite figure out, though, was why the Baltimore Colts, who won the AFC East in 1975 at 10-4, had to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished No. 1 at 12-2, in the first round of the playoffs. Turns out the rules of that time stated that two teams from the same division could not meet in the divisional round of the playoffs. Thus, the 11-3 wildcard Bengals, instead of facing the top-seeded Steelers as they would today, instead traveled to Oakland to play the No. 2 seed Raiders. In the NFC, it was 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 since wildcard Dallas and top-seeded Minnesota were from different divisions. Interesting stuff. While I had certainly heard all about the Heidi Game in 1968, I have to confess I wasn't aware that a "reverse" Heidi situation occurred almost seven years to the day afterward. Thanks for posting.

[@mjwatts1983]

1975 was when they started seeding teams for the playoffs The “No Divisional Match Ups” in the Divisional Round was in place from 1970-1989 with exception in 1982 when the playoffs was a 16-team tournament & teams seeded 1-8 in each conference based on record. That rule was scrapped when the playoffs were expanded in 1990 to the 12-team format. A similar rule was in place for MLB when they realigned to 3 divisions per league and added Wild Cards starting with 1994, not realized until 1995 due to the strike that canceled the World Series. And they too rotated who had home field in each series based on division instead of team records. That was replaced with seeding starting with 1998. The no divisional matchups in division round was scraped in 2012 with expanded Wild Card While the NFL implements reseeding, every other sports league (MLB, NBA, NHL, college football playoff) is a fixed bracket. I can understand for March Madness (logistics), but I think every other sport should follow that model.

[@d0nKsTaH]

Is there a full version of the Jets Raiders "Heidi game"? Lot of points scored in that sucker... I'd love to watch it... someone out there is bound to have the full version I mean my God man.. 43-32.....

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Unfortunately not