Great Bad TV (Turturro as Cosell?)

[Nolan Dalla]

My eyes nearly popped out of my freakin' head tonight. I thought I was seeing one of those ridiculous Saturday Night Live skits. My God, this can't really be true, can it?

Tonight during the Houston-Los Angeles Lakers game TNT did a 30-second promo for a Made-For-TV movie about an upcoming show on the life of the legendary Howard Cosell. They cast actor John Turturro in the role of Cosell, which is about like chosing Dustin Hoffman to play Patton. Who will play Muhammed Ali -- Johnny Depp? Turturro is one of my favorite actors. But to say Turturro is an ODD choice would be the understatement of the century. At least they could toupee his hair and make him look more than 35 years old.

This schlop has the look of "GREAT BAD," you know, one of those shit movies that's so bad it's absolutely riveting to watch.....like The Born Losers or any of those Billy Jack movies.

I'm going to lay off the sports whatever night that show is on and be glued to the set. I may need to wear a diaper.

What network genuis thought that one up?


Nolan Dalla

 

[buddy]

Nolan,

Who do you think could play Cosell?

I'm not a movie buff, but I sure enjoyed Howard when he was with us.

I'm thinking maybe John Goodman?

 

[SixFive]

How about John Ratzenberger aka Cliff Clavine?

 

[Nolan Dalla]

John Goodman is not a bad choice, but I'm not sure he could pull off the NY accent. He's also pretty big....Cosell was not nearly Goodman's size.

Off the top of my head:

Daniel Bonzalli (sp?) -- He's the ball-headed lawyer from Murder One, alwasy plays a cop or a tough guy. Looks like Cosell and could do the schtick.

Ron Silver -- Did a good job as Bobby Riggs (terrible movie, but Silver was pretty good). Versitile actor. Has the right accent and attitude.

Robert Forester -- Played the bail bondsman in Jackie Brown (nominted for Oscar). Has the right look and swagger.

I'm sure I could think of others -- but what they need is a 50ish, pale faced actor with an attitude. If you see the promo for this show, it's so frighteningly bad it's memorable. My only thought is, TNT must have intentionally miscast this role to make this such an awful show that it actually gets rating points from those who like to watch car crashes.

Nolan

 

[buddy]

Nolan,

Just curious..were you a fan of Cosell?

I thought he was one of the best things to ever happen to live TV.

What a presence!

 

[JT]

I dunno who could. I cringe at thinking what Jon Voight will look like. Goodman? Please. Maybe the guy named Harry Schearer? If that is how his name is spelled.

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Jon Voight.....interesting choice.

As far as me being a "fan," yes I was very much a fan. Although I was opposed to his hidden political agendas, I always thought Cosell tried to put sports on a higher plain, with his intellectual musings on the social ramifications of sport. What we have now is networks DUMMYING DOWN the broadcasts to the lowest common denominator. Question: Do you agree that if Cosell were to apply for a broadcasting job today, they would not hire him?

Another point: Dick Schap was way too "New York" for me, but he had some similarities to Cosell in that he saw the larger picture about what sports represent in society. His passing is another big loss of sports.

Nolan Dalla

 

[MadJack]

nolan- voight plays cosell in the new ali movie. i saw a clip and wasnt impressed. it could have been worse though.

 

[JT]

Nolan, I don't know if you realize that Voight plays Cosell in the new Michael Mann film "Ali".

 

[murph]

JT--my post didn't explain that very well, huh?

 

[shadow 44]

Saw a clip with Billy Crystal mocking Cosell.
He has the voice,inflection,etc. down,just not the "look".
Voight did not look convincing.

 

[NJO]

Nolan, I believe the movie is actually a story about how Monday Night Football got started, and the early days of that event.

Obviously, Cosell will play a prominent role in telling that story, but the story itself may be interesting (and also, likely, poorly acted!).

 

[MadJack]

murph was me. i was testing someone's password last night and the forum saved that name into my memory.

 

[buckeye]

Feuvish Finkle (sp?) has the look and bravado and accent, but a little old.