Mario Lopez As Sexy Colonel Sanders: Twitter's 10 Best Reactions
Twitter lost its collective mind when Mario Lopez and Colonel Sanders were brought together in the same sentence. Here are the best reactions.
Twitter lost its collective mind when, to users' utter incredulity, Mario Lopez and Colonel Sanders were brought together in the same sentence. A deluge of promotional materials, depicting Lopez looking like the hypertrophied hunk on the cover of a romance novel, made clear the affable actor was in fact going to appear as the famous KFC founder for a "mini-movie" on Lifetime, the network famous for its melodramatic movies-of-the-week.
He will follow in a long line of famous faces like Norm MacDonald and Reba McEntire portraying the Colonel for the fast-food brand, this time in a steamy thriller appropriately called A Recipe For Seduction, about a wealthy heiress who falls in love with a handsome chef -Harland Sanders- and his fried chicken. These are some of the most amusing reactions on Twitter, for everyone who didn't have Mario Lopez as Colonel Sanders on their 2020 bingo cards. A Recipe For Seduction debuts on December 13th, at noon, on Lifetime.
10 There's A First Time For Everything
For some Twitter users like @TOPolk, who are apparently not big fans of the Lifetime brand, A Recipe for Seduction proves to be as alluring as a bucket of tenders left on an open sill on a windy day. He posted the trailer and happily wrote that the movie might be the only time he'd ever consider watching a Lifetime presentation.
Given the network's unabashed use of cliches, tropes, and melodrama, it's not surprising that it would take a novel movie capable of being self-effacing to change his mind, even though its original movies can be quite good.
9 Choices
Viewers probably aren't expecting A Recipe for Seduction to win many prestigious awards anytime soon, but it will undoubtedly prove entertaining, as @fuggirls contends, mentioning it in the same tweet as Mank, Gary Oldman's latest drama set in the Golden Age of Hollywood and focused on the writing of Citizen Kane.
A Recipe for Seduction might lack for Rosebud, but won't lack for symbolism, especially when viewers consider the fact that an icon of Southern comfort food will be portrayed by an engaging Latinx actor. Mario Lopez is sure to bring the spice ala "50 Herbs And Spices".
8 So Many Questions
For some Twitter users like @Dobrenkz, the possibility of a melodramatic film about KFC's secret recipe, bursting with flavor and passion, simply created too many questions. He pondered what the meaning of the movie's format ("mini-movie") could really mean, as well as the choice by Lifetime and KFC to release it at lunchtime (no doubt sandwiched in between one of its all-day marathons).
Finally, there was the question of what sort of chicken might be consumed in the movie, which he concluded must be chicken wings, further postulating that inquiring minds really needed to know how many wings before truly investing themselves in A Recipe for Seduction.
7 The Start Of The Fast Food MCU
@johnvechey decided to tweet something truly broad-thinking, wondering if in fact KFC and Lifetime were concocting what would eventually be the first film in the MCU of Fast Food Franchise Narratives. He equated A Recipe for Seduction to Iron Man, predicting its immediate and unlikely success as a maverick and pioneering entry.
He even came up with a sequel entitled "Taco Bell: Italian-Mexican War", a spoof on Avengers: Civil War, in which Team Personal Pan and Team Nacho Supreme would battle for ultimate supremacy just like Captain America and Iron Man.
6 Lifetime's New Lineup
Twitter user @dstorbe has surmised that the Lifetime movie might just be the first in a collaborative lineup with the Fast Food Industry. Like Marvel Studios, eager audiences could prepare to see a rollout of epic mini-movies partnered with some of the biggest names in Fast Food Canon.
He mentions in 2021 getting ready for "A Little Frosty, Never Frozen" from Wendys, and in 2022 "I said I'll Have It My Way" from Burger King, followed by "You Put The Ick In Chick" from Chick FilA in 2023.
5 When Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction
2020 proved to be the year when reality and satire seemed indistinguishable from one another, leaving Twitter users like @GrammarGirl questioning what was real and what was nothing more than a bad SNL sketch.
Like many people around the internet, she couldn't tell if Lifetime and KFC were having a laugh at the expense of viewers, or if A Recipe for Seduction was a real movie. The fact that the movie exists seems to be both a high and a low point for 2020 if Twitter is any indication.
4 I Love You, Colonel Sanders
With the announcement of the movie sweeping the internet, one Twitter user @quean_bee wanted to take the time to remind everyone that a sexy version of Colonel Sanders already existed long before Mario Lopez decided to slap on some salt-and-pepper facial hair.
She put forth a Japanese dating sim called "I Love You, Colonel Sanders", in which fans of both the Colonel and his tasty chicken get to court the KFC founder while also helping him prepare meals in the kitchen. The game may not be an animated masterpiece but it's entertaining and unique.
3 Saved By The Colonel
Prior to appearing in A Recipe for Seduction, Mario Lopez sizzled on the Saturday morning teen hit Saved By The Bell as hunky captain of the football team AC Slater. Some Twitter users like @Palmer2theMax wouldn't mind if Lopez referenced the role that made him a star in his latest mini-movie.
Lopez currently stars in the Saved By The Bell reboot for NBC's Peacock streaming network, and Lifetime may not want to draw attention to a competitor network, much like how KFC wouldn't want its customers to have to settle for Taco Bell.
2 Vin Diesel As The Hamburglar
At the news of A Recipe for Seduction's release, @nathancarronair mentions KFC's competitor McDonald's releasing a dramatic biopic of the Hamburglar starring Vin Diesel, no doubt appearing as some sort of amalgamation of his Fast And The Furious alter ego Dominic and the infamous McDonald's striped character.
McDonald's in fact did help finance a film in the late '80s (with a very young Paul Rudd) called MAC And Me, about an ET-like alien who lands on Earth and requires the help of a young boy to be reunited with his family. Ronald McDonald, "more famous than Santa Claus" at that point, did appear in the film for an oft-maligned musical number.
1 Never Say Never
These days Mario Lopez seems to be everywhere. He's appeared on Dancing With The Stars, he's been a longtime host of Extra and Access Hollywood, and most recently he's appeared as AC Slater in the Saved By The Bell reboot decades after the character made him a star.
Is this because he accepts everything his agent puts in front of him? @Sophus_Maximus seems to think so, though to be fair Lopez might just have a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, something that's helped him make the best of 2020.