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Battle of the Network Stars | |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
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Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | November 13, 1976 – December 10, 1988 |
Release | June 29 – September 7, 2017 |
Battle of the Network Stars is a series of competitions in which television stars from ABC, CBS and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of 19 of these competitions were held between 1976 and 1988, all of which were aired by ABC.
In 2003, NBC attempted to revive Battle of the Network Stars with a two-hour special.
In 2005, Bravo premiered a revived version of the show named Battle of the Network Reality Stars . Also in 2005, ESPN premiered a sports-themed spinoff version of Battle of the Network Stars as Battle of the Gridiron Stars featuring twenty players from the AFC and NFC competing in a variety of tasks that had nothing to do with football.
In 2017, ABC revived the series as a summer series, which ran from June 29 to September 7, 2017.
The first Battle was broadcast on ABC starting in November 1976. The program proved popular and continued for an additional eight and a half years, with subsequent episodes airing approximately every six months until May 1985. One final competition aired in December 1988. NBC tried to revive the competition in August 2003 with Tony Potts as host, but with an intra-network contest consisting of personalities from the NBC family of networks. Typically, episodes were aired twice per calendar year, once during the spring and once during the fall during Nielsen Ratings sweeps weeks.
Sports broadcaster Howard Cosell hosted or co-hosted all but one of the first nineteen competitions (he did not host the 1985 edition due to a falling-out with ABC, but he returned for the final edition in 1988), and commented on the action with a semi-serious version of the style for which he was famous.
When ABC revived the program as a weekly series in 2017, Mike Greenberg and Joe Tessitore took over the hosting duties. Furthermore, each episode began with a remake of the opening sequence of ABC's Wide World of Sports .
All but one of the competitions took place at the sports facilities of Pepperdine University near Malibu, California, the exception being XVIII which was held in Ixtapa, Mexico.
Each network was represented by eight or ten of its stars from various series, and one of those people from each team would be elected to serve as the network's team captain.
Some of the events were modeled after those used on The Superstars, another Trans World-ABC production that featured athletes from all sports competing against each other for an overall title. Regular events included swimming, kayaking, volleyball, golf, tennis, bowling (on custom-made outdoor lanes), cycling, 3-on-3 football, the baseball dunk, running, and the obstacle course. Also featured as a regular event was a game of "Simon Says", directed by Catskill hotel Grossinger's entertainer Lou Goldstein. [1] Each network received points based on how it performed in the event.
After the regular events were over, the lowest scoring network was eliminated from further competition and the two remaining networks determined the day's winner with the final event, the Tug of War.
Two teams of five celebrities compete each week with a professional athlete as their coach (The coaches return throughout the season). The teams are typically assigned based on the genre or role of the celebrities' notable TV credits. For example, one episode pitted prime-time soap opera stars against actors associated with comedies, while another had had actors who played lawyers vs. those who played White House employees. Teams often include at least one veteran actor or actress who previously competed in the original Battle of the Network Stars and archive footage of their previous appearance(s) is shown. The venue remains Pepperdine University, as was the original.
This edition aired under the title Challenge of the Network Stars.
Hosts | ABC | CBS | NBC (winner) |
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Howard Cosell Frank Gifford | Gabe Kaplan (captain) Debby Boone Billy Crystal Joyce DeWitt Richard Hatch Maren Jensen Robert Urich Robin Williams | McLean Stevenson (captain) Valerie Bertinelli LeVar Burton Lou Ferrigno Pat Klous David Letterman Tim Reid Charlene Tilton | Robert Conrad (captain) Joseph Bottoms William Devane Pamela Hensley Brianne Leary Wendy Rastatter William Shatner Caskey Swaim |
Hosts | ABC | CBS | NBC (winner) |
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Howard Cosell Billy Crystal | Dick Van Patten (captain) Willie Aames Diana Canova Joanna Cassidy Robert Hays Max Gail Kristy McNichol Shelley Smith | Ed Asner (captain) Valerie Bertinelli Gregory Harrison Howard Hesseman Kathryn Leigh Scott Judy Norton Taylor Jan Smithers Allen Williams | Robert Conrad (captain) Greg Evigan Gil Gerard Melissa Gilbert Erin Gray Randi Oakes Sarah Purcell Patrick Wayne |
Hosts | ABC | CBS (winner) | NBC |
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Howard Cosell Cathy Lee Crosby | John Davidson (captain) Willie Aames Scott Baio Phyllis Davis Donna Dixon Max Gail Ann Jillian Susan Richardson | Jamie Farr (captain) Gregory Harrison Diane Ladd Donna Mills Judy Norton Taylor Tom Selleck Joan Van Ark Robert Walden | Arte Johnson (captain) Byron Allen John Beck Greg Evigan Erin Gray Judy Landers Sarah Purcell Cristina Raines |
Hosts | ABC (winner) | CBS | NBC |
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Howard Cosell Debbie Allen | William Shatner (captain) Stephen Collins Helen Hunt John James Heather Locklear Kathy Maisnik Heather Thomas Demond Wilson | Kevin Dobson (captain) Bruce Boxleitner Delta Burke Byron Cherry Christopher Norris Jameson Parker Penny Peyser Joan Van Ark | Daniel J. Travanti (captain) Dean Butler Tina Gayle Melissa Gilbert Ricky Schroder Leigh Taylor-Young Betty Thomas Michael Warren |
Hosts | ABC Team (Winner) | CBS Team | NBC Team |
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Howard Cosell Shari Belafonte | John Davidson (captain) Rebeca Arthur Allyce Beasley Olivia d'Abo Brian Robbins Rob Stone JoAnn Willette Brian Wimmer | Lorenzo Lamas (captain) Kristian Alfonso Steve Kanaly Daphne Reid William Sanderson Jack Scalia Nicollette Sheridan Charlene Tilton | Greg Evigan (captain) Teri Copley Clifton Davis Deidre Hall Dawnn Lewis Blair Underwood Malcolm-Jamal Warner Tina Yothers |
Total overall wins – ABC: 7, CBS: 6, NBC: 6
For this edition, rather than the standard network vs. network format, fielding of the teams is based on the TV characters attributed to each celebrity—cops vs. TV sitcoms, White House vs. lawyers, TV moms & dads vs. TV kids, etc. [2]