Uncharacteristically, I was flipping through the TV channels recently. This is highly unusual, because generally, when I watch television, I go to a particular show, usually prerecorded. I came across this 2000 movie I saw in the theaters, Remember the Titans. Part of the IMBD synopsis:
“It’s 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia and successful high school football coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) has just been deprived of the head coaching job at the new integrated T.C. Williams High School to make way for equally successful black coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington). Yoast debates pursuing opportunities elsewhere, but when most of his white players vow to sit out the season unless he coaches, he changes his mind and stays on as Boone’s assistant.”
The Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: “An inspirational crowd-pleaser with a healthy dose of social commentary, Remember the Titans may be predictable, but it’s also well-crafted and features terrific performances.”
Well, yes, predictable, including having the Big Game. I enjoyed it well enough, and it at least tried to tackle the issue of race.
Looking back at it, though, I noticed an interesting coincidence:
Donald Faison, who played football star Petey Jones, became Dr. Christopher Turk, best friend of quirky Dr. John Dorian on the TV comedy Scrubs (2001-2010), with seven years on NBC, and the final two on ABC. Turk and JD were probably the epitome of a word I’m not fond of, “bromance”.
Ethan Suplee, who played big-hearted lineman Louie Lastik, was the some-what simple-minded younger brother Randy Hickey to the title character on the comedy My Name Is Earl (2005-2009, NBC). Earl dragged Randy into his plans to fix the outcomes of some of their less-than-desirable activities after the elder brother discovered karma following a car accident.
Hayden Panettiere played Sheryl Yoast, daughter of Coach Yoast: “My daddy coached in Alexandria, he worked so hard my momma left him, but I stayed with coach, he needed me on that field.” She initially resents Coach Boone for supplanting her daddy, but:
Sheryl Yoast: Coach Boone, you did a good job up here. You ran a tough camp from what I can see.
Coach Boone: Well I’m very happy to have the approval of a 5-year-old.
Sheryl Yoast: I’m 9 and a half, thank you very much.
Coach Boone: Why don’t you get this little girl some pretty dolls or something, coach?
Coach Yoast: I’ve tried. She loves football.
After playing Ally McBeal’s daughter in that program’s last season (2002), Hayden played Claire “Save the cheerleader” Bennet on Heroes (NBC) from 2006 until its cancellation in 2010.
So all three actors were on NBC programs that started after their appearance in the movie but that are all now off the air.
***
When the upstart American Football League (AFL) was formed in 1960 to challenge the long-established National Football League, the franchise in the US’s largest city was called the New York Titans. Major League Baseball’s National League experienced an expansion in 1962, and the city got the New York Mets. When the Titans were sold to new owners in 1964, the team changed its name to the New York Jets, to nominally link it to the popular, though inept, baseball franchise. The AFL merged with the NFL in 1966, though it wasn’t finalized until 1970. the Jets, of course, were the first AFL team to beat an established NFL in what became known as the Super Bowl, in January 1969. (The Mets would win the World Series later that same year.)
Another of the charter members of the AFL was the Houston Oilers, which relocated to the “state of Tennessee in 1997, first playing temporarily in Memphis for one season before moving to Nashville. For two seasons, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers before changing its name to Titans in 1999.” So the Titans’ name lives again.
When I was collecting comics in the 1970s through the mid-1990s, I was pretty much a Marvel fan (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four) rather than a DC fan (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman). I never read, never even sought out, the original Teen Titans, a book about the sidekicks of the established stars from back in the 1960s. But because of the creative team of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, I did collect the NEW Teen Titans, starting in 1980, even though Robin was the only character I knew, and it became one of the most popular titles of its time.
There was also a Teen Titans TV series in the first decade of the century. New episodes stopped in 2006, but they are rerun often; I watched a part of an episode just this week to get into the spirit of this post.
Here is an extensive team history of the Teen Titans.
Finally, there is Clash of the Titans, the cheesy 1981 film with Harry Hamlin, and the 2010 remake. But I’ve seen neither, so I thought I’d just do the photo comparison.
Thanks! I learned a lot. I’m not so much a movie or a sports fan but I can claim a granddaughter who played football in elementary school!
Interesting and informative post as always and what a fun look back at some old movies. I rarely watch movies anymore, but I had seen most of these. Hope the rest of your week goes well, Roger! Enjoy!
Sylvia
I don’t think I have seen any of the films you mentioned, although I have heard of the remake of the Titans. Not really my cup of tea though, so I don’t think I will watch this in the cinema. I love the way how you connect all the dots and make one story out of it.
Another informative post, my husband enjoyed your reflections on the Titans!! We hadn’t realized that Heroes had been cancelled, we have been watching it on Netflix!
Very Titanic post!
I’m surprised, (and glad) that you didn’t find a way to work Titanic into your movie list.
And as always I was fascinated by the details.
I’m all about the little stuff that nobody else knows or notices.
Theres another T for you. Trivia!
Ta-Ta
Troy
Interesting take on the Titans. Enjoyed it.
Fascinating details!
I liked “Remembering the Titans”. Like you and the review said, predictable, but good.
I also think the name Titans is a great name for a football team and am surprised it took so long for someone to pick up on it (and that the original team dumped the name). I also think that the current Titans’ logo is one of the best in the NFL.
I am looking forward to seeing the new “Clash of the Titans”. When I first saw the original, only a year or so after it’s release, I liked it. But it has not held up well at all.
Roger, I always learn something when I visit, so thank you! You must have a massive comic book collection!
Great post – my son will be glad you included his favourite, Teen Titans.
awesome T post…
love the photo images.
My first time attending..
let me know what you think please.
Cheers!
Very interesting Roger, and all new to me, not being a movie fan. Fascinating to follow your connections…
Now I know more than I ever thought I could about the Titans. Fascinating…
Great post – as always! I love the quotes from ‘Remember the Titans’. Perhaps I should look out for that one.
Ah, Harry Hamlin’s ‘Clash of the Titans’ …not the best Greek mythology film that was made but I still loved it because I just have a fascination with all those wonderful Greek myths and legends. Can’t wait to see the remake.
very interesting take on the theme!
Very informative. This is new to me.
What an interesting post! It was all completely new to me and that’s always welcome 🙂
Lots of interesting information. I think I’ve seen part of this movie. Maybe I’ll try it again.
Once again, meticulous detail about your chosen entry! I haven’t seen Remember the Titans for years. Another one I do remember and really like is Glory Road. It’s about Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) who, in 1966, led Texas Western to the NCAA national championship with the first all-black starting line up. Definitely Titans in their own right.
Gosh what a wide raging post and full of lovely factoids.
Clash of the Titans usually appears sometime over Christmas on tv here. The robotic owl is rather sweet, only worth watching for Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion animation.
I’ve never seen that football movie, but it looks interesting. Will look for it at Blockbuster.
I think the librarian is showing! You remind me of my husband, who can remember the most amazing things if it relates to football, but can’t remember the name of someone he met ten minutes ago.
I am, by the way, a fan of the Tennessee Titans. And I did enjoy the movie – but I happen to be fond of “feel good” movies. Escapism, that’s my idea of entertainment.
Titans is indeed a very good movie to watch.
I loved the Titans (first movie!) What a great post – never realized there were so many titans!
These days, I don’t go to the movies to watch movies.
Before we had kids, I worked for a corporation joint with odeon company. They owned half the cinemas in New Zealand. there were about 10 in Auckland. We could watch for free. The two of us watched so much movies that it lasted a life time.
Now, once in a blue moon, I take the kids. Now that I am addicted to blogging, I don’t even watch TV. LOL. I do recognise the first two actors.
Dear Roger,
Thank you for visiting my T-post earlier. Sigge the tabby tomcat seems to have won the hearts of many. But did you understand my translation of the poem? Maybe not.
Your lastest post, about Titans, shows your gift for making sense out of subject matter that I would not even try to understand. You see pattern where others see chaos!
Take care!
Anna
For the benefit of visitors to you who are curious about my post:
Anna’s Ts
Is it not good to remake a film just so you can update its particular effects? Hollywood doesn’t look to think so. The classic claymation and stop motion sequences of old are some of the initial things we think about when bringing up the subject of mythology movies. But one still cannot help but think how totally awful it would look if it were updated.
Wow! That was creative! I am glad I found you. Thanks for commenting on my Tunnel of Tree post. I just found ABC Wednesday this week. You might like Alphabet Thursday too.
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/search/label/Alphabe-Thursday
I find some interesting posts there.
i loved this i am in10 grade and we are doing a project on ths moves this really helped me in what i needed to know thonaks very much i love these post and i wish i could mmet u and leanere more about this movie thanks and hope u have a great day
love jessica
mccranie