This Week in Baseball

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This Week in Baseball
Also known as	TWIB
Genre	Family / News / Sport / Baseball / Kids / Non Fiction
Created by	Joe Reichler
Developed by	Major League Baseball Productions Phoenix Communications Group, The
Written by	Mark Durand James Rogal Jeff Scott
Presented by	Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Ozzie Smith Buzz Brainard
Starring	Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Ozzie Smith Buzz Brainard Jennie Finch
Narrated by	Mel Allen Warner Fusselle Buzz Brainard
Theme music composer	Mike Vickers
Opening theme	"Jet Set"
Ending theme	"Gathering Crowds"
Composer(s)	Matthew Cang
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Larry Parker Geoff Belinfante
Co-executive producer(s)	Jennifer Dee
Supervising producer(s)	Michael Kostel
Editor(s)	Tony Tocci Michael Kostel Marco Lagana
Cinematography	Savas Alatis Richard Wilmot
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	First-run syndication FOX
Original airing	April 1, 1977
Chronology
Related shows	Major League Baseball Game of the Week
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action.^[1]

TWIB (pronounced phonetically; the acronym is often familiarly used by viewers, and came to be used by the host also) debuted in 1977.^[2]

[edit] History

[edit] Genesis of the series

When Commissioner Bowie Kuhn first took office in 1969,^[3] the only network television series that Major League Baseball had was the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week on NBC. Meanwhile, the National Football League on sharp contrast blanketed TV syndication with NFL Films produced programs like the NFL Films Game of the Week. Kuhn craved a weekly half-hour show of highlights, lowlights, features, and other fare. So This Week in Baseball was, in a sense, meant to be baseball's answer to NFL Films.

[edit] End of the Mel Allen era

Veteran sportscaster Mel Allen^[4] hosted and narrated the show from its inception until his death^[5] in 1996. Warner Fusselle filled-in for Allen when needed, and Allen was succeeded for a time by former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith.

[edit] From Syndication to FOX

While TWIB was originally syndicated to various stations around the country, the FOX network relaunched the series in 2000 (after a one year absence off of television). It returned as a pregame show for its Saturday afternoon Major League Baseball telecasts, replacing In the Zone, which had a similar format to NBA Inside Stuff and was listed as part of the Fox Kids line-up.

During the heyday of TWIB, the program would air on stations that also had television rights to major league franchises like WTBS in Atlanta or KTTV in Los Angeles. TWIB would also air on owned and operated NBC^[6] stations as a prelude to the Game of the Week.^[7]

[edit] Format

The show also airs on regional sports networks around the country, on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, and is also often played as part of the pre-game entertainment on the TV screens of major league stadiums. Buzz Brainard is the current host of TWIB, while a current major league player is profiled each week. Also, in 2004-2005, segments of the show were hosted by U.S. fast-pitch softball sensation Jennie Finch. In 2007, TWIB was slated for 26 episodes running from April to the end of September, focusing on stories of various clubs and different baseball themes each week. The segment "Front Row Fan" features celebrities reminiscing about their favorite baseball memories. Guests have included Tom Hanks, Bernie Mac, Alyssa Milano and Kevin James.

Highlights of the past week's action are used less frequently, except for a closing highlight reel set to popular songs. The highlight reel is named How 'Bout That?, in reference to Mel Allen's well-known catchphrase. Video is gathered from each of the 30 Clubs' Stadium Loggers, who compile highlights of each game and send them to MLB Productions in New York City.

The program also uses educational segments to help it qualify for E/I status in the United States.

[edit] Music

The opening theme music to TWIB is called "Jet Set" composed by Mike Vickers, a former member of the original Manfred Mann band. "Jet Set" was first used as the theme for the original 1974-75 version of the game show Jackpot. It has also been used as introductory music for productions as company training films. When FOX brought TWIB back, a slightly revamped version of "Jet Set" is written.

The closing theme "Gathering Crowds", composed by Patrick J. O'Hara Scott, a pseudonym for the same Mike Vickers. It is typically played over a montage of baseball's greatest moments, building to a crescendo with a punctuated 3-note chord as the MLB logo slides into view. This tune, which replaced "Jet Set" as the theme of the 1974-75 Jackpot, has also been known to be used to similar effect for montages and credits at the end of local TV newscasts and the like.

[edit] Additional uses of "Gathering Crowds"

• The music was also used by ABC News for their ABC Evening News sometime during the 1970s.
• In at least the late 1970s and early 1980s, KLCS, the TV station owned by the Los Angeles Unified School District, used the full version of this song (not a 30-second edit used by this show) during the station's sign-off.

[edit] Advertising

During the show's first season on FOX in 2000, there was an advertising campaign that appeared every Friday in USA Today. The ad featured a photo of a pair of eyes that belonged to the player hosting the show for that week's episode.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• This Week in Baseball at the Internet Movie Database
• This Week in Baseball at TV.com
• Major League Baseball : Productions : This Week in Baseball
• TV.com Complete Episode Guide - This Week in Baseball
• 80stvthemes.com - This Week in Baseball
• Jump The Shark - This Week in Baseball