Published: January 17, 2003
preview / download Varied Super Bowl Sunday Lineup Also Includes 90-Minute Fear Factor, Dateline NBC and Law & Order: Criminal Intent
BURBANK, Calif. — January 17, 2003 — NBC has recruited an all-star team of programs to compete with the Super Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 26 (7-11 p.m. ET) with a special live halftime edition of Saturday Night Live – showcasing an extended Weekend Update – as well as a 90-minute Fear Factor, Dateline NBC and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, it was announced today by Jeff Zucker, President, NBC Entertainment.
From 7-8 p.m. (ET; times approximate), NBC will telecast the first hour of a 90-minute Fear Factor.
Then from approximately 8-8:30 p.m. (ET), NBC will present a special version of Saturday Night Live that will feature an extended edition of Weekend Update with SNL regulars Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon. The special will be timed to coincide with the mid-point of the Super Bowl. This special marks the first time Saturday Night Live has been broadcast LIVE in all time zones around the country.
At 8:30-9 p.m. (ET), the conclusive half-hour of the 90-minute Fear Factor episode will follow.
A new episode of Dateline NBC will be broadcast from 9-10 p.m. (ET).
The night will be capped off with Law & Order Criminal Intent (10-11 p.m. ET) with the episode The Third Horseman. The episode centers around, a pro-life loner (guest star Robert Stanton) who stalks and shoots a doctor. Detectives Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) begin tracking him through his contacts and when they find a second gun, they reach a chilling conclusion — their suspect has not acquired his final target. But while prosecuting attorney Carver (Courtney B. Vance) worries about turning a murder case into a litmus test on abortion before a jury, Goren tries to find out the real reason for the gunman’s rage. Jamey Sheridan also stars.
On Feb. 1 and Feb. 8, 2002, NBC aired two successful “Saturday Night Live Extras” following “super-sized” episodes of “Friends.” The two specials averaged a 9.5 rating, 21 share among adults 18-49 and 19.0 million viewers overall with the 17- and 18-minute telecasts.
The Emmy Award-winning Saturday Night Live, which premiered on October 11, 1975, is from SNL Studios in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels. Steve Higgins produces. Beth McCarthy Miller directs. Fey and Dennis McNicholas are head writers.
Hosted by Joe Rogan, Fear Factor pits six contestants (three women and three men) recruited from across the nation against one another to take home a cash prize of up to $50,000 at the end of the 90 minutes. One of the many challenges in this episode will require contestants to lie in a pit with more than 2,000 scorpions. John de Mol (“Big Brother”) and Matt Kunitz (“Dog Eat Dog”) are the executive producers of this series from Endemol Entertainment USA.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Bob Meyer (Fear Factor), 818/840-3563
Marc Liepis (Saturday Night Live), 212/664-5424
Megan Kopf (Dateline NBC), 212/664-6205
Joanna Giddon (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), 212/664-2511
