Roleplay Retcon Kicks Off First Sports Movie Remake

Roleplay Retcon released the premiere episode of its remake of the 2005 Adam Sandler vehicle The Longest Yard this week, GMed by Grant Nordine of Game Master Monday.

Roleplay Retcon is an Actual Play podcast that re-imagines infamous flop movies by plugging them into TTRPGs. For The Longest Yard, The cast is running Play Ball! by Roe Caufield, a game designed to simulate a sports anime by having stats and abilities that can be used both on and off the field. Knowledge of the movie and sports are not necessary to follow along with Roleplay Retcon's remake.

The Longest Yard is an Adam Sandler-led remake of the 1978 film of the same name starring Burt Reynolds, who also plays a different character in the remake. The 2005 version did well at the box office, but failed to impress critics; it has a 32% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Even Sandler has said it wasn't his best work.

Roleplay Retcon fluctuates between mini-series that run 6-12 episodes and one-shots; The Longest Yard is a series. Most remakes have a guest player, but Nordine is the first-ever guest GM on Roleplay Retcon. He pitched the series as part of an open call for guest GMs, even going so far as to rewrite Play Ball!'s baseball mechanics as American Football mechanics (and design them so Roleplay Retcon's sports-ignorant cast don't get lost).

"We love Grant and Game Master Monday," said Benjamin Gray, one of the core cast of Roleplay Retcon. "He was the first person to pitch to us and we actually picked a second pitch so we wouldn't feel guilty about just automatically choosing his. I think he gets our line between comedy and drama."

Nordine is a creator, producer, showrunner, and typically titular Game Master of Game Master Monday. Most episodes of GMM have a new cast and features a new game, though they also sometimes run a mini-series like the currently-running Hellwhalers.

"The Longest Yard, for all its many... many faults does weirdly have some cool things going for it," Nordine said. "It shows the cruelty of the prison system, finds the humanity in otherwise hardened criminals without glossing over the fact that they did wrong, and like all great sports movies places the emphasis on community against a seemingly insurmountable foe. I wanted to find the real comedy in that story while leaving behind some of the, uh, more unsavory parts of 2005 and Adam Sandler's sense of humor."

The first episode introduces the player characters, played by the core cast of Roleplay Retcon: Professional grifter Cornflake Cogburn (played by Gray), gentle giant Bocepherous Nut (played by Jensie), and former NFL quarterback and maple syrup tariff dodger Portman Tow (played by Alex). The episode also follows the trio on their first day in prison, where they start a brawl in the cafeteria and get an offer they can't refuse from Warden Sanders.

Each Roleplay Retcon series also features a indie musical guest on the "soundtrack." The Longest Yard features Huntsville, Alabama-based alt rock band Them Damn Dogs.

Roleplay Retcon is part of the One Shot Network and is produced by Two Fish in a Jug. They release episodes every other Wednesday.