The logical progression, according to former ABC executive Don Ohlmeyer, was to use the Superstars format and take advantage of the deep bench of attractive primetime stars appearing on television at the time. An ABC executive named Dick Button proposed a show called Superstars, where well-known athletes would step outside of their comfort zones and try out a new sport.ĪBC was elated when Superstars wound up outdrawing CBS’s NBA games in the ratings. In the mid-1970s, ABC had lost the rights to broadcast National Basketball Association games to CBS, creating a hole in the network's Sunday afternoon programming schedule. While ABC’s motivation was clearly ratings, and viewers were compelled by both male and female stars sporting gym shorts, the participants were recruited based on a dual reward tier: Their egos would be challenged, and they could win a lot of money.īattle’s origins can be traced back to the NBA-specifically, a lack of it. Fox, Ron Howard, Tom Selleck, Scott Baio, and other TV Guide cover subjects making very earnest attempts to outdo one another. That was the year ABC broadcast the inaugural edition of Battle of the Network Stars, a competition pitting small-screen talent from the three major networks against one another in relay races, kayaking, swimming, golf, and tug of war.Īt any given time during the show’s semi-annual airings, viewers could expect to see Gabe Kaplan, Tony Danza, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, O.J. Just three months later, Jenner would be present-this time as an eyewitness-to a multi-discipline competition that was no less compelling, despite the fact that some of its participants were prone to smoking between events. Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner proved to be the most impressive decathlete in the world at 14, Romanian Nadia Comaneci earned a perfect 10 score on the uneven bars. The 1976 Olympic Games, held in Montreal over a two-week period in July, represented the absolute pinnacle of athletic competition.

Battle of network stars dunk tank