For Minnesota State fans, all this controversy over who should win college football's national championship is moot.
Don't the folks at Nebraska, West Virginia and Florida State know that the Screaming Eagles have already claimed the title with their Pioneer Bowl victory over West Texas?OK, it was a mythical national championship won by a mythical team in last week's episode of "Coach" - but is that title any more mythical than the one that will be claimed by whoever is ranked No. 1 after the real bowls?
Not much.
In a surreal twist in the episode two weeks ago, Minnesota State got its chance to play for the national championship only when Notre Dame was upset by Boston College - exactly what happened to several teams in real life. And the "Coach" script was written weeks before the actual events.
(And, while it doesn't get the attention that's lavished on "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement," "Coach" is quietly one of the funniest shows on TV.)
VIDBITS: "The Jane Whitney Show," which KJZZ found offensive enough to move later and later on its schedule, is leaving syndication for NBC's daytime schedule. It's going to air locally on KUTV-Ch. 2 at 9 a.m. beginning Jan. 17.
- Although "seaQuest DSV" is bombing on Sunday nights, USA Today reports that NBC has committed to 22 episodes of another sci-fi series from Steven Speilberg next season. Reportedly, "Earth 2" will deal with the colonization of another planet.
- CNBC is set to offer Mario Cuomo his own talk show if the New York governor doesn't run for a fourth term in 1994.
- In an apparent attempt to create the single most annoying broadcast team on television, ABC is pairing Brent Musburger and Dick Vitale for its broadcasts of college basketball games.