Memories of Michigan Replay

Submitted by Seth on

I've been presented with an opportunity to meet one of the people involved with this show spanning three decades. I remember the Lloyd years with the confetti-ish pictures but much of the run of Michigan Replay came before I had control of the remote.

Share your memories, favorite eps, favorite moments, and questions here and I'll see if I can ask about them.

 

stephenrjking

May 7th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^

I grew up with Michigan Replay, taped and watched every Sunday. I guess there's not a huge amount that sticks out to ask.



Though, I've always wondered: When did they film, and how much prep did the coach and Brandstatter put in? Some of the games were played late and on the road. It always struck me that they must have filmed on no sleep. West coast road games, for example, or night games in places like Illinois.



Three games that I'm not sure about: Were there episodes after the Hawaii games and the UCLA night game? That must've been murder.

M-Wolverine

May 7th, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^

But as the other poster was referring to, if it was a late game that could make for a late night, with filming early Monday morning. Even a 3:30 road game, which if it ended after 7, add some hours for getting dressed, press conference, going to the airport, flying back, or the long bus ride, then getting back to AA....it might not be till late you get back in and have time to film it.

Then up the next morning for film review.  This is probably why we'll never see it again. That other stuff can be filmed and added any week. I imagine there aren't too many coaches anymore who would want to do that schedule. Rich didn't want to. And I doubt Hoke does either. Heck, I bet Bo and Mo and Lloyd hated it, but back in Bo's day where all the games weren't on and that was a lot of promotion for the program, it was a bigger deal. Now that most of the stuff is online 10 minutes after the show is broadcast, not as big a deal.  Lloyd probably only did it because it was kinda a tradition leftover from Bo.

M-Wolverine

May 7th, 2012 at 2:09 PM ^

Yesterday isn't soon enough. These are 24/7 jobs. Monday is already took late, because it's game prep week at that point.  I've heard of games where the video coordinator will leave South Bend at halftime to drive back and get a headstart on breaking down the film before the team gets back.  Pretty soon, tech-wise, they'll be breaking down the early film breakdowns on the flight home.

Let's just say if you're filming the program well after midinight, you're not getting much sleep. What order you do things changes (remember the quote-unquote HORROR that Rich had them practice on Sunday...instead of, Monday, or whenever) but there are no days off during the season. And very few during the off-season. Usually there's a quite period week there in July which is basically NCAA mandated "family time", but I would guess most of them find ways to work then, too.

jmblue

May 7th, 2012 at 4:04 PM ^

I can definitely understand why a coach wouldn't want to do it Saturday night.  That would be very annoying.  It'd be nice if they could find some time during the week (not necessarily Saturday - I'd be okay waiting a day or two for Michigan Replay) to film it but maybe it's just not practical anymore.

Bluegoose

May 7th, 2012 at 2:53 PM ^

after the game. So for night and away games, sometimes the taping was at 3:30 AM. It was always hard on the coaches, but really hard on Brandstatter when the Lions were away on Sunday. There are many stories of Brandy starting the color commentary from a taxi cab on his way to the stadium on Sunday because the flight ran so close to game time.

The crew began the editing of plays even during the game. The whole thing was frantically but systematically scheduled and put together almost as the game was progressing.

When Bo did the show it was easier because nearly all the games started at 1 PM. Toward the end, U-M had its own studio in Ann Arbor which eliminated driving to Detroit to tape and made it easier.

I'm pretty sure the producer and his company owned the rights to the name, "Michigan Replay" and the association of the theme song with the show. He refused to allow their use when RR came because RR wanted to and did change the format and broadcast time, etc. Also the usual issue of payment was involved.

M-Wolverine

May 7th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^

I remember Rich did NOT want to do any show the night after a game. But I'd still guess it had more to do with signing a deal with IMG to produce everything that pushed them out, much like MDen got pushed out for a little while to produce Michigan stuff.

M-Wolverine

May 7th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^

If the Athletic Department ever came to it's senses and realized the IMG program is far inferior, would they be willing to bring it back? (Not that it's going to happen...but if product was any concern, it would).

MichGoBlue858

May 7th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^

Loved watching Michigan Replay every Sunday morning. The sad thing that sticks with me is Lloyd Carr telling Jim to "keep this replay going" at the end of the last episode before the Capital One bowl. Also, the intro music brings back great memories. 

uminks

May 7th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^

In the 70s most Big10 games were not televised and you had to listen to them on the radio. It was great to see the plays on Michigan Replay every Sunday morning. Through 1980, most of the big 10 game film was the film the coaches used from the press box and I remember watching this on Michigan Replay in the early years.

I remember Larry Aderlie was the first host, then Don Shane hosted for while before Jimbo took it over in '79?  I haven't watch it since I moved away from Michigan in the early 90s...but it was one of my favorite shows. The theme song was very catchy!

M-Wolverine

May 7th, 2012 at 1:02 PM ^

Brandy took over in 1980, I think, and back in 77-79 Shane was just working the sports desk at WDIV.  I can't remember back that far, but since they were both there, that might have been a transition.  Shane was tight with them and did a lot of those Big Ten preview shows with Bo later on. So it would make sense.

uminks

May 7th, 2012 at 2:41 PM ^

Michigan Replay was on WXYZ Ch.7 on Sunday mornings with Larry Adderley, then moved to WWJ Ch.4 in '79. That's where I remember Don Shane hosting a few shows in '79? In '80 an anti-trust law came out that major newspapers could not own both the radio and t.v. stations in the same city, so WDIV was formed when the Philadelphia station took control of WWJ in'80 (The det news and Philadelphia news paper exchanged tv stations to be in compliance with the new law). It may have been for a few shows that I remember Don Shane hosting Michigan Replay, then Brandy was named the host.

Butterfield

May 7th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^

How about filling some late night time on BTN with old episodes of the show?  That would be FANTASTIC.  I'd be excited to see Bo after a 50 point whoopin' of Minnesota and Lloyd after his first game, the comeback win vs. UVA. 

EDIT:  I guess the question would be who owns the rights and would they release them, or make them available on DVD at the very least?

MGoShoe

May 7th, 2012 at 12:44 PM ^

...Michigan Replay over Inside Michigan Football is that in its heyday, Michigan Replay was one of the few sources of information about Michigan games and the program in general. The explosion of media outlets and coverage has made the show much less vital than its earlier iterations.

Other thoughts:

  • No Michigan coach has come close to matching Bo's authority and magnetism.
  • If you didn't live or can't remember what it was like during the period when sports news was anything but instant, it's hard to understand how palpable the excitement was as the show's opening credits rolled and Bobby Womack's incredible Across 110th Street played. The show was the definition of appointment television for Michigan fans.

jmblue

May 7th, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^

Also, in general, retrospectives are more insightful than previews of the next week.  My favorite part of the show was the first 10-15 minutes, when they went over the previous day's game, and the coach could talk about what happened.  The rest of the show (with the "human interest" segments) wasn't nearly as interesting.

M-Dog

May 9th, 2012 at 2:50 AM ^

Yes, it was the "what happened?" aspect that made it compelling, especially after a loss. 

Back then, the game was played, maybe it was on TV, there were a few paragraphs in the paper, and that was it.  There was no other information.  Michigan Replay was the final word.

I lived in Ohio for several years and I really missed seeing Michigan Replay.  One night I was flipping through the TV channels and I stumbled on it at 12:30 on a Sunday night.  I was so excited that I wrote a letter to the station thanking them for putting it on, even at 12:30 AM.  I watched it every week without fail, 5:30 alarm clock the next day be damned.

It was like a lifeline back to Ann Arbor.

uminks

May 7th, 2012 at 12:58 PM ^

I was surprised the original show's opening theme song was changed from what I remember from the 70s and 80s. What year did MIchigan Replay dicontinue that great opening theme song?

Wave83

May 7th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^

I loved Michigan Replay in the late 70s and early 80s.  I agree with the comments that it gave most of us the rare opportunity to see parts of the game since few games were televised.

What I remember the most, however, were my freshman and sophomore years living in MoJo.  After grabbing lunch at Markley, a group of us would rush back to one of the TV lounges (no one had their own TV) and watch what everyone called "The Bo Show."  No one called it Michigan Replay then.

LB

May 7th, 2012 at 2:25 PM ^

My daughter grew up with "The Bo Show". She would crawl up next to me on the couch, bottle in hand, and watch. Bo isn't an abstract to her, despite her youth. She grew up to love Michigan Football, and is a Michigan Engineer. Coincidence? I think not.

Blueroller

May 7th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^

Amazing… I lived in MoJo 78-80, so I must've been in the same TV lounges with you! The most memorable was Anthony Carter's catch against Indiana in 79. I was at the game and missed arguably the greatest play in the history of Michigan football… because I was stuffing empties back into the 12 pack so we could get the deposit. I wasn't thinking too clearly, perhaps because half the empties had gone into me. I just remember that the play was headed for the opposite end zone so I couldn't see real well anyway, and $1.20 worth of empties were seconds away from being lost in a stampede for the exits. I did see the ball in the air but looked down and then the place exploded. Never saw the play until the next morning in the MoJo TV lounge.

Wave83

May 7th, 2012 at 11:25 PM ^

We probably were in the same lounge.  I also have vivid memories of Carter's catch.  I actually left the stadium briefly (highly unusual -- it involved a tiff with a girl), and I walked back in and watched the last few plays of that game from the entrance to section 35.  I'll never forget it.

Carter's catch against Indiana is also my favorite Michigan Replay highlight.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEF6edfexco 

My email is [email protected].  Contact me and let's catch up.

imafreak1

May 7th, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^

My favorite exchange, and the only time I ever say Brandy disagree with Lloyd, was after the 2003 Minnesota game. They showed a play where the Minnesota QB does a QB sneak from around midfield on 3rd and short. He stumbles through the line and then there is nobody and he runs for what looked at the time like a dagger TD. There was CLEARLY a horrible mess up in the secondary.

Brandy says "what's up with the defense on this play? There's no safeties?" Which is exactly what everyone was thinking.

Lloyd in his typical tight angry voice lamely asserts that there are safeties. They're just... where? He never says.

Brandy just laughed and was like "I don't see any safeties."

CRISPed in the DIAG

May 7th, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^

Anyone remember a bit on the "JJ and the Morning Crew" (WRIF or WLLZ?) called "Michigan Foreplay" in the late '80s??  One of the guys filled in as "Bo" and JJ would talk about the upcoming game.  Good times.

RowoneEndzone

May 7th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^

Living in and growing up in the Rochester, NY area made catching UM games a little tricky in the 90's.  M-Replay was awesome for me b/c before the internet and 24 hour sports TV I could always watch it with my dad.  That way we could speak with some knowledge to my relatives back in MI.  What simple days.  

WolverineHistorian

May 7th, 2012 at 5:10 PM ^

To my knowledge, there has been 4 different theme songs to Michigan Replay.  The beginning of each of these videos has at least portions of them all.  I personally loved the short lived theme they used to end out the Schembechler years.  It sounds like a song you would hear during a dramatic moment in an 80's sport movie.  But the theme from the Gary Moeller years sounds bad.  It sounds like something you would hear in a nintendo game.

 

rob f

May 8th, 2012 at 12:00 AM ^

watching those Michigan Replay videos above (although so far I've only watched the first one with Bo all the way thru).  They each bring back great memories!

I like the original theme the best, too, but even the worst of those various themes is OK with me because it signaled the start of my favorite fall TV Show, Michigan Replay!!!

I have to stray just slightly OT here, though---Bo was great every week on Michigan Replay, but he was at his best on the shows following games against certain teams---it was very obvious on this particular episode how much disdain he had for Illinois.  In particular, I loved his reasoning behind piling up the points on the Illini: he said he never "felt safe" in this game until he had 70 points on the scoreboard.  Ha!  Revenge!!!  Easy to read "between the lines" throughout this particular post-game episode!

He also made sure to credit Gary Moeller for drawing up the QB draw that gave Michigan the lead TD right before the half.  As much as Bo loved the ohio rivalry, as much as the MSU rivalry mattered to him, I don't think their was any win  he got more satisfaction from than he did from beating up the Illini.