Ohio State University's marching band is famous for wowing stadium and web audiences with intricately choreographed routines dedicated to subjects such as Hollywood and Michael Jackson. To kick off the fall football season Saturday, the band stepped up again with a cool tribute to classic television.
During the nine-minute-plus halftime performance, the band cycled through formations honoring beloved TV shows including "Dragnet," "The Simpsons," "M*A*S*H" and "The Brady Bunch." (Relative newcomer "Game of Thrones" got the treatment, too.) Most impressive moments? When Bart Simpson skated away and the Batmobile sped off downfield. And let's not forget that throughout all the fancy footwork, the band was playing the shows' theme songs. Here's the full performance:
TV Land gets a shout-out at the end as the band unfurls the channel's logo, but both sides say the performance was not sponsored. In an email to TODAY, a university spokesperson called the halftime routine an "affectionate tribute" — which came as a touching surprise to TV Land president Larry W. Jones.
“To have The Ohio State University marching band confirm that TV Land is a cultural media landmark the way they did on Saturday literally brought tears to my eyes,” Jones told TODAY. “Plus, the fact that Ohio is my birthplace and The Ohio State University my alma matter takes this recognition to a whole different level of pride."
The video has thus far racked up over 140,000 hits on YouTube.
This was the first time the marching band performed at halftime since a hazing scandal in July led to the firing of band director Jonathan Waters.