Iconic college football play-by-play man Keith Jackson plans to return to TV again this fall -- coming out of retirement again and serving as host of "Big Ten Icons" on the Big Ten Network.The three-year old network announced the series and its host Thursday.
The BTN heralds the 20-episode series as the "most ambitious project" in its history, and that's a fair assessment -- especially if the network truly makes the multi-platform aspects of the program work. Along with the 20 shows hosted by Jackson, the project to count down the top 20 icons in the conference's history includes a dedicated Web site and Facebook page with interactive elements, video and more.
The shows will begin Sept. 18, 2010, after a football game on BTN, and end in early 2011, just before the start of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament. The site, set to launch in early September, will count down icons 50 to 21.
Still, Jackson's presence makes the TV series as noteworthy than its content. At 81, and off East Coast college football games for several years, he's a good pick to host a show that might have a bit more historical content and require some context. He told USA Today: "I'll just try to stay out of the way. They needed an old-timer to wobble around in front of it to get it going."
Expect the show itself to be similar to exclusive programs on any number of cable channels, as those outlets attempt to develop shows of their own. Because of that, the true success of "Icon" will be found in whether it feels and looks more like the "America's Game" series on the NFL Network (a good thing) or some top-10 beaches list on the Travel Channel (an average thing that just eats TV time).
Having Jackson on the job might help the show lean more toward the latter. According to BTN officials, he embraced the idea of the show and even wanted to have some editorial control.
According to the BTN, the list of 50 icons is being determined by a panel of on-air talent, network executives, conference officials and long-time conference observers.