American motorsports television program
American Sports Cavalcade
was an American motorsports television show produced by Diamond P Sports in Hollywood, California
[1]
that aired on
The Nashville Network
(TNN)
[2]
from 1983 to 1995.
American Sports Cavalcade
was a winner of the cable television
ACE Award
for their motorsports coverage.
Format
[
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]
The first contracted season of the show produced 26 installments (episodes).
[1]
At the opening of each episode, a narrator (usually Dave McClelland) would say, "Diamond P Sports presents... the
American Sports Cavalcade
. A panorama of speed, color, drama, and excitement!" Over the years,
American Sports Cavalcade
televised such sports as
NASCAR
and
ASA
stock car racing,
NHRA
drag racing,
CART
Indycar racing,
IMSA
and
SCCA
sports car racing,
AMA
supercross and superbike racing,
USAC
and
World of Outlaws
sprint car racing, monster truck racing and truck and tractor pulling from
TNT Motorsports
,
APBA
offshore power boat racing,
Swamp Buggy
racing from Naples, Florida, and even a couple of rodeo events during their first few seasons.
This show usually aired during racing season on Saturdays and once or twice on Sundays, with the same episode airing each time during that weekend. The episodes were almost always taped, edited, and broadcast a week or two after the event had taken place (known in broadcasting as
tape delay
). The episodes were usually 90 minutes in length.
In the mid-1980s, Diamond P and TNN were the first group to televise racing from
Road America
in
Elkhart Lake
,
Wisconsin
.
Personnel
[
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]
The show was originally hosted by singer-songwriter and actor
Ed Bruce
, along with expert commentary by
Steve Evans
and
Brock Yates
.
[2]
Executive producer Harvey M. Palash and producer/director John B. Mullin oversaw the show.
[1]
[2]
Bruce was himself a high school football and baseball player and for a time held a
Sports Car Club of America
competition racing license.
[1]
Bruce eventually left
Cavalcade
to host a different TNN program called
Truckin' USA
. Throughout the years,
Cavalcade
would employ other announcers as well, including
Paul Page
,
Gary Gerould
,
Ralph Sheheen
, and "Big Daddy"
Don Garlits
for NHRA telecasts.
Production company Diamond P Sports and Opryland Productions (parent entity of TNN) had cooperated on numerous programs since 1975.
[1]
Highlight VHS
[
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]
In 1989, Diamond P Sports and TNN collaborated and released a video entitled
And They Walked Away
. This VHS video featured a compilation of footage from the first six years of
American Sports Cavalcade
, and it featured a plethora of auto racing and motor sports accidents, crashes, and fires in which the driver(s) beat the odds to survive the incident. Fatal accidents, as the title alludes to, were not included in this production. Seven additional videos were later released in the series, the last three under the
And They Walked Away Extreme
banner, with last release in 1997, all of them featuring crash footages from TNN motorsports' coverage, accompanied with driver interviews on each accident.
References
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Broadcast television partners
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Secondary broadcast television partners
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Cable television partners
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Secondary cable television partners
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Radio partners
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Current regular season
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NASCAR playoffs
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Non-points events
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Previous
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News television series
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Prerace television series
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Postrace television series
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Race rebroadcasts
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Broadcast technology
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Reality television series
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Anthology television series
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TV history by decade
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