During last night’s halftime show, the mini-concert by U2 managed to strike
the right mood of patriotism, pride and solemnity in this first Super Bowl
since the Sept. 11 tragedy.

As Bono began to sing the group’s second number, a scrim was hoisted from
the stage floor to the top of the stadium. It projected to the entire
stadium audience, and to viewers around the world, the names of the
thousands of victims < passengers, pilots, firefighters, police and other
rescue personnel and civilians.

At the end of the song, the Irish rocker Bono pulled open his coat to reveal
its colorful lining: an American flag.

It was theater, yes < but on a grand scale. Given the occasion, it was grand
indeed.

During the lengthy pregame show on Fox, nonfootball content ranged from
humorous pieces by Bernie Mac and Jimmy Kimmel to presidentially patriotic
segments featuring former First Lady Nancy Reagan and former Presidents Bill
Clinton and George Bush.

Mariah Carey sang the national anthem just before the game, doing more to
rehabilitate her career, and before a larger audience, than any other move
she could have made. And Paul McCartney, running to the stage like a rugby
player with a guitar, sang one song < his newest, "Freedom" < as a giant
hand-painted banner of the Statue of Liberty unfurled behind him.

There was even a re-creation of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, which didn’t resonate as fully as might have been hoped.

One image that did work, unquestionably: an overhead shot of Ground Zero. No
commentary accompanied it, and none was needed.

In addition to the official midgame show put on by Fox, there was the one
counterprogrammed by NBC, a special “Playboy Playmates” edition of “Fear
Factor.” (Part one, actually: NBC was so greedy it asked viewers to return
after the game for the conclusion.)

With a countdown to the second half, and more gratuitous shots of scantily
clad women posing and posturing than on ABC’s recent “Victoria’s Secret”
special, NBC’s “Fear Factor” episode was a wall-to-wall, coast-to-coast
embarrassment.

Its alleged highlight, the much-promoted, bug-infested-strawberry-eating
sequence, didn’t even occur on the “Fear Factor” halftime show, but was
saved by the network until its postgame concluding ripoff.

This was a bait-and-switch tactic on so many reprehensible levels, it’s
astounding. Not only did it try to lure viewers away from the patriotic
Super Bowl halftime show with the crassest content imaginable, it didn’t
even deliver what it promised until some two hours later.

Good for Fox. Shame on NBC.

By DAVID BIANCULLI
Daily News TV Critic

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