The Big Game XXVIII: Road Runner vs. Coyote

The Big Game XXVIII: Road Runner Vs. Coyote was a four-hour marathon of Looney Tunes cartoons that aired on Cartoon Network from 6 to 10 PM on 29 January 2000, and again from 1 PM to 5 PM the very next day. It was the third installment in the "Big Game" series of marathon specials parodying the Super Bowl.
As with the previous year's "Big Game" marathon special, the majority of the special was devoted to a three-hour "pregame show" consisting of various shorts starring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, interspersed with Inside the NFL-style analysis segments hosted by Jerry Glanville, Nick Buoniconti, Len Dawson, and newcomer Cris Collinsworth.
A running gag throughout the special is the build-up to the game's overly-hyped halftime show, produced by Helmüt Spassmacher (played by Michael Kohler) and sponsored by Spacely Sprockets from The Jetsons. (It is noted during the pregame show that the ACME Corporation, who had sponsored the previous year's halftime show, pulled their sponsorship due to possible negative press thanks to Wile E.'s constant mishaps with their products.) However, when it finally comes time to show the halftime show, the viewers ultimately never actually see it, as the camera instead cuts to the control room, where Moltar from Space Ghost and Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo are having a conversation, not realizing the snafu until the show is just about over.
The game itself, which makes up the last hour of the special, was set at the fictional Chuck Jones Stadium, and featured football-style color commentary by John Madden and Pat Summerall. Bubba Smith and Scott Hamilton also appeared as sideline reporters. Footage from the following Road Runner shorts were utilized for the game:
* 1st quarter: "Hopalong Casualty"
* 2nd quarter: "Zoom at the Top"
* 3rd quarter: "Fastest with the Mostest"
* 4th quarter: "To Beep or Not to Beep"
For some reason, Wile E. Coyote's points are constantly deducted after the first quarter, resulting in the Road Runner winning 59 to -12.
== Notes ==
* This is the only one of the Cartoon Network "Big Game" specials to feature sideline reporters, and also the only one in which Madden and Summerall appear onscreen.
* Wile E.'s biography treats him and Ralph Wolf as being one and the same.
* Madden mentions that they "started televising [Road Runner and Coyote]'s games in early October", which is referring to the fact that October 1999 was when Cartoon Network obtained the broadcast rights to the majority of the Road Runner cartoons.
* Summerall describes Wile E.'s bear trap as being "fresh out of Acme University", not the similarly-named Acme Looniversity from Tiny Toon Adventures.
== External Links ==
* Cartoon Network Wiki: The Big Game XXVIII: Roadrunner vs. Coyote
Category:2000
Category:Looney Tunes TV specials