Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for October 26, 2024

Ah, the infamous ‘68 Heidi Game.

No more Heidi Heidi

Woke Janis up!

Well, that’s a deep cut. Cutting off the end of a game to show a scheduled movie would NEVER happen these days. They’ll even schedule stuff (like local news) that they know will have to be pushed back or cancelled when a game runs long, as they always seem to do.

As usual I had to come to the comments to find out what this joke meant

Heidi and the Embraceable Ewes.

He remembers the Heidi game?

How come Janis keeps gradually aging, but Arlo looks about the same as he did 30 years ago??

(Maybe he’s put on 10 or 20 pounds?)

I watched Heidi when it came on. I was glad when they cut away from the silly game.

The NFL added a clause in TV contracts that guaranteed all games would be broadcast in their entirety in home markets as a result of the Jets-Raiders game. That is the “Heidi Rule” that stands today

I asked ChatGPT to read the strip and explain: The punchline comes when the character in the teal sweater sarcastically asks, “Where is Heidi when you need her?” This is a humorous reference to the infamous 1968 “Heidi Game” incident. During this event, NBC cut away from the final minutes of a dramatic football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets to air the children’s movie Heidi. Football fans missed a thrilling ending where the Raiders scored two touchdowns in the final minute to win. The incident became legendary, symbolizing bad programming decisions.

In that context, the joke is actually funny!

Thank you, AI.

I understood the reference, but still don’t get what Arlo means.

I don’t get sports or follow it but I know what this meant. That is how famous it was. The edict came down that no game would be cut short in broadcasting ever again.

It’s just about proving how old the readers now?

And NBC installed special Heidi lines that could ALWAYS get through when needed.

“Hello, Network? Jesus just came back but the game is still going! What do we do?”

“Keep showing the game until it ends!”

I thought Arlo was a bit younger than that

No need for Heidi. You have a remote…

Heidi Ho.