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How Michael Jackson and 'In Living Color' changed Super Bowl halftime shows forever

The idea that forever changed Super Bowl halftimes struck Jay Coleman while watching Snoopy conduct a marching band and Charlie Brown twirl a baton.

Inside the Louisiana Superdome, bored out of his mind, Coleman refused to accept that an ode to New Orleans and the Peanuts comic strip was the best America’s biggest sporting spectacle could do for halftime entertainment.

The January 1990 show’s lack of sizzle and star power was hardly unusual in those days. Most Super Bowl halftimes of that era were a chance to make a beer run or load up on snacks.