Howard Cosell

Monday Night Mayhem

Howard Cosell is the element that makes TNT's Monday Night Mayhem sizzle. The 2002 made-for-cable movie offers John Turturro's outstanding performance as the sportscaster, one that replicates his voice, his verbage, and his volume without dipping too far into caricature. Co-stars in the film include Patti LuPone as Emmy Cosell, John Heard as Roone Arledge, Kevin Anderson as Frank Gifford, Brad Beyer as Don Meredith, and Nicolas Turturro (John's brother) as Chet Forte. The movie is based on a 1988 book by Bill Carter and Marc Gunther and recreates the on-air and off-air drama of creating Monday Night Football. It shows how revolutionary Arledge's ideas were, not only broadcasting football at night, but putting roving cameras on the sidelines, letting the audience hear the sounds from the field, and creating a colorful team of announcers in the booth. While Cosell is mixing it up with his co-hosts, ABC was receiving a flood of anti-Semitic mail from viewers and early sponsors tried to back out of their commitments.