Monday Night Mayhem is a 2002 television film about the origin of ABC's television series Monday Night Football. It debuted on the U.S. cable TV network TNT on January 14, 2002. It was based on the 1988 nonfiction book of the same title by Marc Gunther and Bill Carter.

Monday Night Mayhem
Written byBill Carter
Directed byErnest Dickerson
StarringJohn Turturro
John Heard
Kevin Anderson
Nicholas Turturro
Brad Beyer
Patti Lupone
Eli Wallach
ComposersGrant Geissman
Van Dyke Parks
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersLeslie Greif
Lewis Kleinberg
ProducerTiffany McLinn Lore
Running time98 minutes
Original release
NetworkTNT
ReleaseJanuary 14, 2002 (2002-01-14)

Cast

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Production

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Filming took place in New York, New Jersey, and other locations by Turner Network Television.[1]

Reception

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Phil Gallo of Variety complained that "nobody looks quite right" and "there is invariably a thin line between caricature and character."[1]

Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, writing, "The book was good, the movie isn’t. It appears to be cheaply made and the characters, particularly Frank Gifford and Don Meredith, are not believable. John Turturro does a decent job portraying Cosell, but his performance isn’t enough to save the movie." Stewart concludes, "It doesn’t come close to matching a documentary HBO did a couple of years ago titled “Cosell.”"[2]

Allen Barra of The New York Times gave the film a more positive review, writing that the film "works because of Mr. Turturro's unabashed joy in playing a part as juicy as Howard Cosell."[3]

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In the same year, Jon Voight portrayed Howard Cosell in the Michael Mann biopic Ali (2001). Voight's performance earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Home media

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The movie was released on VHS on September 10, 2002.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Gallo, Phil (January 13, 2002). "Monday Night Mayhem".
  2. ^ "HOT CORNER". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 2002.
  3. ^ Barra, Allen (January 14, 2002). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Three Egos in a Booth, And, Man, Is It Crowded". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ Arnold, Thomas (August 1, 2002). "Warner Out for More Booty on Smoochy". hive4media.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2002. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
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