Resistance is futile. Only the most hard-headed of contrarians will be able to resist the Super Bowl (6:25 p.m. Fox 13-WTVT). This year's model is definitely exciting on paper, as the teams with the best records in their respective conferences, the NFC's Seattle Seahawks and the AFC's Denver Broncos, battle it out in the championship game of America's most favorite pastime (The Broncos are a two-point favorite).
For those who aren't hardcore football fans, there's certainly other things that should capture your interest, such as the mini-film festival of various commercials, all major productions that will be airing throughout the 3.5 hour broadcast. Or there's the halftime show, which this year features the too strange to contemplate musical mixture of Bruno Mars with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Recent articles have focused on how the NFL is now creeping back to presenting more contemporary artists after a series of safe classic rock performances by artists on the backside of their careers (i.e., the Who, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna). This trend all began after the infamous Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" that occurred at the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston.
But that changed last year in New Orleans with Beyonce performing at halftime, and now comes 28-year-old Bruno Mars. But the question of whether he is a big enough star to pull of an entertaining 12-minute set seemed to be undermined when long time punk-funk rockers the Red Hot Chilli Peppers were added to the bill. That should happen sometime between 8:00-8:15 p.m.
If you don't already have plans to watch the game with friends but don't want to stay at home and watch the game, go to a bar - any bar. Many of your local watering holes will be pulling out all the stops for the single biggest televised event of the year.
Of course, if you're really not into the game, you do have some alternatives on television: PBS will be airing the 5th episode of this season's edition of Downton Abbey. But alas, True Detective fans, HBO will not be airing the 4th episode of this truly revolutionary murder-mystery program, one of the darkest meditations on the human condition ever aired on American broadcast television.
But all of that happens later tonight. The weather in the Tampa Bay area is expected to be good, so enjoy your Super Sunday all day long.