Tom Hanks Never Should Have Cut Howie Long From the Theatrical Version of 'That Thing You Do!'

Howie Long should not have been cut from That Thing You Do! He did a really nice job in a scene where Tom Everett Scott had to play drunk and he deserved to be remembered forever along with the rest of the movie. Long played Mr. White's partner, Lloyd.

Lloyd should never have been cut from the film. Who knows where Long's acting career could have gone? That Thing You Do! came out in 1996, the same year as Broken Arrow. If he had remained in TTYD! maybe he gets a better movie than Firestorm and isn't done acting by the early 2000s. Then he might have accomplished something in the 21st Century.

All he's done is spend years as an NFL analyst on Fox, get inducted to the Hall of Fame and raise a few exemplary sons. Only two of those sons ended up in the NFL and only one of them even ended up hosting a podcast. Can you really call that a life?

It's not just that Long was good or great as Lloyd in two impatient minutes. The extended cut also featured a full story about Tina falling in love with her dentist. The That Thing You Do! universe could have been so much better. In fact, with all these burgeoning streaming services, I can't believe no one has optioned a series about Captain Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters. If Lloyd doesn't fit the story, at least Howie Long could produce.