Over the holiday weekend, I practiced a little TiVo catharsis (which I know have to rename DVR catharsis since it's not an TiVo product). Yes, I checked out my list of shows piled up on the DVR and started watching some of them. There was one that I have to tell you about because you have a chance to watch it this week.

Showtime ran a five-part documentary series about the history of the American Football League called Full Color Football. On Wednesday, December 30, Showtime is running the episodes as a Full Color marathon starting at 7 p.m.

Well, this is a twist: first we had the NBA start its own network, then the NFL did the same. But now, in the latest twist of broadcaster-product synergy, ESPN has bought a minority stake in the Arena Football League.

As part of the deal, ESPN2 will also broadcast 26 games per year, including 17 regular-season prime-time games. Disney sibling ABC will air two games, including the season opener Arena Bowl championship game. National broadcast rights had been held by NBC, whose broadcasts of weekend games generated miniscule ratings. There are other national and regional packages that the AFL needs to negotiate, but this is the bigger deal.