Ever been Christian Laettner’d? This fictional TV president with UK basketball ties has
Disclaimer: This article features spoilers for Hulu’s new show “Paradise.”
University of Kentucky basketball, Christian Laettner, the infamous shot and an American president: It’s all part of new hit TV series streaming on Hulu that UK fans will appreciate.
The show, “Paradise,” includes multiple references to UK basketball by one of the show’s main characters, Cal Bradford, who is played by James Marsden.
He is president of the United States and a big UK hoops fan, going by the code name “Wildcat” among his Secret Service detail.
In the first episode, titled “Wildcat is Down,” Bradford is murdered by an unknown assailant in his mansion sometime after completing his second term as president. The first episode bounces back and forth between present day and flashbacks of Bradford’s second term in office.
The main character of the show is Secret Service agent Xavier Collins, played by Sterling K. Brown. The first flashback of the episode takes place in the Oval Office, where Bradford is interviewing Collins for the lead agent position on Bradford’s Secret Service detail.
Bradford references the recent election results, in which the incumbent president barely beat his competitor, who he says had an IQ of a goldendoodle. The president didn’t call the election his “one shining moment,” referencing the traditional highlight reel at the end of the NCAA Tournament.
Another flashback is an assassination attempt of Bradford, in which Collins takes a bullet for the president. When Bradford visits Collins in the hospital, he says, “When I saw all that blood I thought I had been Christian Laettner’d.”
Collins has no knowledge of college basketball, so Bradford explains it for him.
“Christian Laettner? Duke? He made the most famous college basketball shot of all time against us in the tournament. Single-handedly killed me and every other Kentucky Wildcat fan that day,” Bradford explained.
“I thought I’d been Laettner’d.”
“Paradise” writer Dan Fogelman told The A.V. Club he is a big sports fan, which could explain all the UK references in the first episode.
“Paradise” premiered Jan. 26 with an eight-episode pilot season.
The show has generated positive reviews, getting an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb.
