During his 18 years as a top-tier quarterback in the NFL, Peyton Manning was no stranger to appearing on television, and even when no games were on, you could still see him popping up on late night talk shows and Papa John's commercials and more. But with the rarest of exceptions, he always played Peyton Manning. That all changes with an upcoming appearance on ABC's hit comedy Modern Family, where the athlete will get into the mindset of a completely different character: a dangerous killer. No, no, not really.
Peyton Manning's first attempt at character work will be far more innocent than that, and he won't be going too far out of his occupational comfort zone. As Coach Gary, Manning will play a sports tutor who earns the ire of Jay. Gloria wants lil' Joe to learn how to throw and catch a ball, so she brings in Gary, who is good at not only that job he's hired for.
When Gary takes it upon himself to start doing house chores, Jay starts to feel like he's being shown up. Sparks will presumably fly. Ed O'Neill vs Peyton Manning sounds like exotic comedy gold, and I really, really, really hope we get to see the former go into Al Bundy's high school quarterback pose from his Married with Children days, because there is no better time for it.
Manning has a bit of experience on the comedy side of things, as he's been a guest host on Saturday Night Live, a guest star on The Simpsons, and a presenter on The Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe, among other things. (Check out some of the Manning-aimed jokes that didn't air.) It should be a good time, and we can probably expect his brother Eli Manning to be a Modern Family guest in a few years.
According to EW, the episode that the Super Bowl MVP will show up on Modern Family for an episode that will air in January, so it probably just filmed or is filming in the near future. Manning is just one more big name in a long-running comedy that has always brought the best guest stars. This season has also seen the introduction of Nathan Fillion's weatherman Rainer Shine, and the show recently hooked in Kelsey Grammer for what will hopefully be a hilarious role.
Though we can't expect Peyton Manning to show up in La Casa Jay Pritchard for another couple of months, Modern Family airs Wednesday nights on ABC. To see all the Hail Marys that TV has on the way, check out our schedules for both the fall debuts and midseason premieres.
