This year there's more than the Bowl on the boob tube.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Sometimes the big game's just a bust.

And the Super Bowl's reputation as a too-often-lopsided game is even truer off the field, where no matter how many Danielle Steel movies other networks throw at the Big Broadcast, the one with the ball always mows down the competition.

"It's the worst night of the year" for the rest of the networks, says NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker, whose network has nevertheless decided not to just lie down and take it, possibly because this year the Super Bowl happens to fall during February sweeps.

So while Fox may have the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots, Zucker's proud as, well, a peacock over NBC's offensive lineup: Six Playboy Playmates.