The Program

by **Nacho** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:32 am

The NY Times article says that James Caan was in a movie about SMU football. I assume they are refering to The Program. Is that correct?

by **mrydel** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:36 am

Misery also with SMU alum Kathy Bates.

by **Nacho** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:40 am

I went back and looked. It was stated by a poster in reference to the article and not by the paper. I haven't heard this before. I recall that it was set in some northern town so I doubt it was SMU related. Almost any program could have been the inspiration for all the things going on in the movie. I haven't seen the movie in a while but I remember thinking it was probably pretty accurate.

by **Nacho** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:42 am

There was this completely hapleess character in The Program based on a former very bad SMU linebacker or so I have been told.

by **mrydel** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:44 am

Nacho wrote:There was this completely hapleess character in The Program based on a former very bad SMU linebacker or so I have been told.

Hapless but lovable

by **SMU Kilmer** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:55 am

Alvin Mack?

by **Stallion** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:58 am

there was a movie shot at the Cotton Bowl using SMU type uniforms with SMU fans as a backdrop during the Mustang Mania days.

by **ponyboy** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:58 am

Mark Rydel?

by **Longtime** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:16 pm

"The Program" may or may not be based on SMU football, but the uniforms and setting are very much Florida State. "Necessary Roughness" definitely has SMU origins - a team coming back from NCAA death for cheating. The idea for the movie is obviously rooted in SMU getting the death penalty.

The movie filmed at the Cotton Bowl in the late 1970s was "Semi-Tough" based on a Dan Jenkins book and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristoferson and Jill Clayburgh. The team in the movie wore plain red and white uniforms, not really like anything SMU has worn.

By the way, did you know the hotshot college QB played by Jerry O'Connell in "Jerry Maguire" is an SMU player? There's a poster in the background of one of the scenes where he is clearly wearing an SMU uniform.

by **Stallion** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:23 pm

SMU had a red and white alternative uniform under Ron Meyer in his first or second year.

by **couch 'em** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:58 am

Longtime wrote:By the way, did you know the hotshot college QB played by Jerry O'Connell in "Jerry Maguire" is an SMU player? There's a poster in the background of one of the scenes where he is clearly wearing an SMU uniform.

I always heard that the SMU references were going to be much more explicit, but SMU refused to allow it because of the connection between football and money. I think a much more likely reason is Copeland not wanting a connection because SMU and winning.

by **MrMustang1965** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:25 pm

by **ThadFilms** » Fri May 16, 2008 1:08 pm

I've got Cush-lash.

Yeah, and there's an SMU pennant behind his dad's head when he's telling Jerry that his word is "strong as oak".

Show me the money.

(I remember the football team being all for it, I don't know that anyone in the athletic department were the ones to tone it down.)

by **SMUPhil** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:55 pm

There was a poster here that apparently worked on the film or something. I remember it was in a thread about "SMU on Film". He had said that there were a lot more SMU visual references, like balloons and coffee mugs and posters, etc throughout the set, but because of editing, they didn't really end up on film. I don't think he said it had anything to with SMU having a say about the connection with football and money.

by **Nacho** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:08 am

Saw The Program last night. The only reference I could see regarding SMU is that the backup QB is named (I am not kikking ) Bobby Collins.

The Program

The Program

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