NFL Net Developing Three New NFL Films Series To Debut This Fall

NFL Films is "developing three new series that will air on Thursday nights this fall" on NFL Network, according to David Barron of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. "Starting 11" will be a weekly "top-10" show that lists 11 points of interest for the coming week, such as "strangest play, biggest blooper or greatest catch." That will be followed by "Sounds of the Game," which will "match the best sideline sound of the week with excerpts from players miked during games and classic sound bites from the NFL Films library." NFL Films President Steve Sabol said of the two shows, "It's going to be like building an airplane in flight. We have footage, and we will use it to make an observation about the week in the NFL." Also, the net's "America's Game" series will return September 3 with an episode on the Super Bowl XLII champion Giants. A five-episode miniseries titled, "Missing Rings," gives the "'America's Game' treatment to five teams from franchises that have never won a Super Bowl." Sabol said of the "Missing Rings" episodes, "What is great about those shows is the Shakespearean arc, which makes them even more dramatic, emotional and compelling." Sabol: "We're doing one totally contemporary show ('Starting 11'), 'Sounds of the Game' uses our archives, and 'America's Game' is right in our wheelhouse." Barron notes the shows are "in keeping with the tradition of NFL Films," which one league exec said "isn't necessarily in keeping with the tradition" of NFL Net. However, NFL Network VP/Programming Charles Coplin said NFL Films "was never designed to be a news and information outlet. That is not their core competency." Meanwhile, Sabol said that NFL Films also will "have a beefed-up presence at nfl.com" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/3).