It could have been a career ender for Brian Collins.
One bad night, one bad catch phrase, and the nation knew about it.
More than three years since it happened, the writers from "Family Guy" decided to allude to the Ball State University alumnus' nationally known TV choke-up in the show's season premiere this Sunday.
It's not hard to find Collins' legacy. YouTube or any search engine will yield hundreds of results by typing in his name or the quip he's best known for: "Boom goes the dynamite."
From fiasco to 'Family Guy'
When the former telecommunications major made his on-air debut as a Ball State freshman in March 2005, he didn't know that his stumbling on the locally broadcast student production would thrust him into the national spotlight.
More than 1.68 million YouTube hits later, the creators of FOX Broadcasting Company's "Family Guy" have deemed Collins' catchphrase worthy of their show.
In the episode, the character Cleveland Brown (ironically, Collins is a Cleveland Browns fan) uses the phrase - twice - during sexual climax.
"I hadn't heard anything about it. It's kind of neat being featured like that," Collins said. "It's one of those things I think few people get the honor of getting mentioned on 'Family Guy.'"
Outside of the animated allusions and appearances on shows such as CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Early Show," Collins has established his own TV career.
After graduating with a telecommunications degree in May, he moved to Waco, Texas, where he works as a field reporter for ABC affiliate KXXV.
Collins worked at PetSmart as he hunted around the country for a job, interviewing with media outlets as far away as Wilmington, N.C.
After finding the Waco station, he discovered his reputation preceded him.
"Actually, they knew [about 'Boom goes the dynamite']," he said. "The boss brought everybody in and asked 'What do you think about this guy?' A few of the younger people said, 'I don't know if we should be dabbling with hiring this guy. What is it going to do for the reputation of the station?'"
Despite some of the staff members' protests, Collins said, the station's managers decided to give him a chance.
"They said, 'What does it matter how he looked four years ago?'" he said.
'Boom's' beginning
Brian Collins' famous quotation began in spring 2005 when he was a freshman telecommunications major at Ball State living on the fourth floor of Clevenger residence hall.
That year, passersby could hear interjections and expletives hurtling out of the rooms of Collins and his friends. They routinely sat in front of the incandescent glow of their TVs playing their favorite game - Mario Kart 64. The students used phrases, such as Collins', to make their opponents laugh as a way to throw them off.
At this time, Collins was also getting his feet wet in news broadcasting by chipping in at NewsWatch, then NewsLink@9.
"What was happening was ... I was helping with shooting video at the time," Collins said. "I can't remember if I was shooting sports or sitting around waiting for something to happen, but the person who was doing sports came in late and said he was sick. They were going to call someone in but saw I was there, and I said 'Sure.' I came home, got changed and ran back.
"When I went on, I didn't know where to look or anything, but I knew to look at the prompter. Whoever was working the prompter made it go faster than I was reading."
The quick pace of the prompter caused Collins to lose track of the script a few minutes into his segment.
After first losing his place while giving a play-by-play of a Ball State women's softball game, he tells his audience "The women's team was shut down, and ended up doing poorly," which was followed by a panicked "Oh no."
Collins continued the downhill battle through his broadcast, throwing in lines such as "Tomorrow's game will be a meeting between the two," followed by a sigh of consternation and a muted lipping of "I'm so sorry" during a play-by-play of Ball State men's tennis.
Collins' quips reached their climax during a play-by-play of an Indiana Pacers vs. New Jersey Nets game when he once again lost his place but tried to redeem himself by catching up with "Later he gets the rebound. Passes to the man. He shoots. And boom goes the dynamite."
Joe Thomas, who was the newscast's meteorologist the night of Collins' filming, said the performance left the newsroom speechless.
"I was working on my weather forecast and just happened to notice some awkwardness," Thomas said. "I wasn't watching the show originally. It seems to me like he just froze on camera and started stuttering and stuttering. I've done that before. From my point of view, everything was working technically. And it was his first time on.
"We all just kind of were stunned to be honest. ... I thought maybe we should cut to commercial or cut it off. No one really knew what to say. We all felt really bad for what happened."
And Collins felt just as bad.
"That night," Collins said, "I came back [home]. I remember it was raining, and it was horrible."
Collins thought his broadcast woes were behind him, but a few weeks later, that changed.
Fight against fame
Brian Collins' on-air performance, which left the entire newsroom stunned, began to drift into the back of his mind.
But that luxury was cut short a few weeks later.
On April 1 of that year, Collins woke up to find one of his co-workers had sent in the video clip to the Web site eBaumsworld.
To his dismay, "Boom goes the dynamite" exploded with popularity.
In order to get through the ordeal, Collins said, he contacted NewsLink@9 adviser Phil Bremen and then-telecommunications department chairwoman Nancy Carlson.
"He was a young man with his first night on television," Bremen said. "He thought he was going to make his career in television. He thought he had destroyed his future. ... He was completely embarrassed."
Bremen and Carlson offered Collins words of encouragement to keep him going through his unwanted fame.
"I told him you can move from this and soldier on," Bremen said. "Everybody saw the video around here. He was a bit of a campus celebrity for something he didn't want to be.
"He got a lot of phone calls - internationally even. Brian was astute enough to know to stay away from the guys who just wanted to get him to use 'Boom goes the dynamite' as a sound bite and embarrass him further."
Positive publicity
Despite the unwanted attention Brian Collins attracted with "Boom goes the dynamite," he was able to start turning the situation around when someone from the office of Ball State's most famous alumnus contacted him.
David Letterman invited Collins to appear on the "Late Show" in June 2005 as part of the program's Audience Show and Tell segment.
During the show, Letterman showed Collins' video, as well as outtakes from TV shows around the country that began using the phrase.
That same week, CBS invited Collins back to New York City to appear on "The Early Show," where he told co-anchor Hannah Storm about the origins of the phrase and its roots connected to Mario Kart; however, CBS reported on its Web site that Collins coined the phrase while playing "Mario cards."
Media outlets continue to pepper "Boom goes the dynamite" into their programming. ESPN's "Sports Center" anchor Scott Van Pelt adopted the phrase and continues to occasionally use it.
Life in Waco
When Brian Collins move to central Texas, it was a lifestyle change for the Milan, Ohio, native.
One of the biggest adjustments - coping with Texas' summer heat waves.
"When I moved down here, the average temperature that week was 100 degrees," he said. "For a week, it was at least 105 every day."
Despite acclimating to sweltering temperatures, he said, Waco's been enjoyable, especially the people.
"Everyone down here is friendly," he said. "A lot of culture comes with living in Texas in general. I'm pretty close to Mexico, so if I ever want to leave the country, it's right there."
Geographical advantages aside, the work load at KXXV has kept him busy.
"I've covered everything from hurricanes to shootings," Collins said. "... It's a nice day when I get to cover a meeting. That means it's a nice, simple story. Most nights I'm doing breaking news or you name it."
Despite what he once considered a career-ending move, he said, he has found happiness with his line of work.
"I'm living the dream," he said. "There's nothing else I'd rather be doing."
Collins' quips: - "The women's team was shut down and ended up doing poorly - Oh, no."
- "Tomorrow's game will be the meeting between the two."
- "I'm so sorry."
- "Hoosiers are on the four on, on the year, and they have won six of its last seven games tomorrow."
- "Bogut, who is an Austrian (pronounced Awe-stoor-ian) native..."
TV appearances and references:
- "Late Show with David Letterman" (CBS) - "The Early Show" (CBS) - "Best Week Ever" (VH1) - "Sports Center" (ESPN) - "Family Guy" (FOX)
"Family Guy" 9 p.m. Sunday on FOX
In the episode, Brian meets Carolyn, his dream girl, but Stewie advises him to take it slow. Out of frustration, Carolyn moves on to another man, who Brian later discovers is Cleveland. In order to win back the woman he loves, Brian tries to break them up by trying to reunite Cleveland with his ex-wife Loretta. The episode will air as part of FOX Animation Domination's night of season premieres.
(source: FOX Broadcasting Company news release)
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