While a final scene special effect had a definite wow factor, there’s a distinct lack of humour throughout, and two and a half hours of earnest striving was ultimately a hard slog.
Michael Jackson with 3,500 children and an inflatable globe during his Super Bowl XXVII halftime performance.
Before the King of Pop took the stage at the Rose Bowl for Super Bowl XXVII, the halftime show was mostly an afterthought where fading celebs and Up With People tended to be the main entertainment.
The modern communal pop extravaganza known as the Super Bowl halftime show can trace its roots to Jan. 31, 1993, when Michael Jackson took the stage at the Rose Bowl for Super Bowl XXVII, where the Dallas Cowboys would trample the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.
Before that, the halftime show was mostly an afterthought, occupied by college marching bands, Up With People and fading acts like Mickey Rooney (XXI) and Chubby Checker (XXII).