| CBS Sports Spectacular | |
|---|---|
 Logo used from 2006 until 2015 | |
| Also known as |
|
| Genre | Sports anthology program |
| Presented by | Seehost section |
| Opening theme | Seetheme music section |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 58 |
| Production | |
| Production location | Varies depending on the event |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | CBS Sports |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | January 3, 1960 (1960-01-03) – present |
CBS Sports Spectacular is a sportsanthology television program produced byCBS Sports, the sports division of theCBS television network in the United States. The series began on January 3, 1960, asThe CBS Sports Spectacular, and has been known under many different names, includingCBS Sports Saturday,[1]CBS Sports Sunday,Eye on Sports[2] andThe CBS Sports Show.[3]The program continues to air on an irregular basis on weekend afternoons, especially during the late spring and summer months. Normally it airs pre-recorded "time-buy" sports events produced by outside companies, such assupercross orskiing competitions, or sponsoreddocumentaries.
Hosts of the program have includedJohn "Bud" Palmer,Jack Whitaker,Brent Musburger,[4]Pat Summerall,Jim Kelly,[5]Dick Stockton,[6]Tim Brant,[7]John Tesh,Jim Nantz,Greg Gumbel,Pat O'Brien,Andrea Joyce, andMichele Tafoya.
Under its current format, the program does not have a regular host.
The earliest survivingtelecast may be of theTwin 100 qualifying races before the secondDaytona 500 atDaytona International Speedway in 1960.NASCAR has akinescope of it. In 1994, CBS had a new series ofboxing bouts on Saturday or Sundays under theEye on Sports[8] banner.Tim Ryan (blow-by-blow) andGil Clancy (color) were the commentators during this period.[9] CBS continued airing boxing on a somewhat regular basis until 1998, by which time they had theNFL (after acquiring theAmerican Football Conference package fromNBC) andcollege football back on their slate. As of early 2020, the series airs mainly on theCBS Sports Network.
Currently[when?], the most frequent sports that have been featured are thePBR Bull Riding series, theLucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series andMajor League Fishing. Other events include the Deer Valley Celebrity Skifest, the Arete Awards for Courage in Sports, Year in Review shows and various documentaries. In 2018, it carried the first and only edition of theGamers' Choice Awards.
By 2008, this was a partial list of the events that were featured:
An original composition byEdd Kalehoff featuring scat vocals was used as the theme forThe CBS Sports Spectacular beginning in 1970.[11] From1976 to1978, theElectric Light Orchestra's "Fire on High" was used as the theme for the program (when it was known asThe CBS Sports Special). In 1979, the program switched to an "in-house" version of American composerAaron Copland's symphonic instrumental "Fanfare for the Common Man", which was used until 1980. The CBS version of "Fanfare" – clocking in at 1 minute and eight seconds – was styled after the 9 minute, 40 second version recorded by UK progressive rock groupEmerson, Lake & Palmer on its 1977 LP,Works Volume 1.
ForCBS'Super Bowl XVI coverage at the end of the1981 NFL season, CBS' theme music would eventually become the theme forCBS Sports Saturday/Sunday. The music itself could be considered a hybrid of the theme used at the time forThe NFL Today and their originalcollege basketball theme.
It was CBS Sports Spectacular until 1981, when Terry O'Neil took over as executive producer and changed it to Sports Saturday and Sports Sunday and made it more of a breaking news program. In the late 1970s, Eddie Einhorn ran it with Dick Stockton as host, and it could be very interesting—they often did it as a travelogue built around the events in one location, which meant Stockton almost outdid Jim McKay in the Frequent Flier department. But they had a lot of trash sports, too, and that's what O'Neil tried to get rid of.[dead link]
Brent also hosted "CBS Sports Saturday/Sunday," the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the National Basketball Association Finals, the Masters Tournament and the Pan American Games
He worked at CBS from 1978–94, calling NFL games and hosting "CBS Sports Spectacular" until 1980
He served as host of "CBS Sports Saturday," "Winter-Fest," the "NCAA Tournament Selection Show" and the Emmy Award-winning Tour de France coverage, again demonstrating his versatility in play-by-play, expert analysis, reporting and studio hosting