'The Newsroom' welcomes Old Spice guy, Terry Crews

On tonight's new episode of HBO's The Newsroom, Terry Crews joins the cast as a bodyguard for Will McAvoy. Can viewers ever look at the actor without thinking of his washboard abs?

The Newsroom deals with a threat to Will McAvoy's life that the network takes seriously enough to assign him a bodyguard. It is then that Terry Crews enters the ongoing drama as the unlucky guy who has to corral the cranky and independent news anchor. Video clip of tonight's episode posted below.

Update: The episode delved into Will McAvoy's emotional life in more ways than one.

Crews has the credibility for the role. Playing tough guys with a body that looks like the Bat Suit in the flesh is one he relishes. This summer he joins the cast of Expendables 2 as the action stars of yesteryear gather once again to show the world who's boss.

In August he will be seen in a new television reality show, Stars Earn Stripes. Brought to you by the creator of Survivor,, Mark Burnett and longtime Law & Order exec producer Dick Wolfe, the series begins on Monday Aug. 13, after the Olympics.

Dropping celebrities of various degrees into the hands of the military to train them for combat, the show 's cast includes actor Dean Cain and Laila Ali.

The veteran actor comes from a football background in his native Michigan where he was a standout at Flint Southwestern Academy and Western Michigan University. Crews also has seven seasons of NFL credentials under his belt.

With all that testosterone the role in The Newsroom should be cake for him. But is it as much fun as the action film and over-the-top television commercials?

Crews knows fun and all you have to do is look at the wildly popular Old Spice ads to know that. He literally burst on to the TV commercial scene more than two years ago, in a series of commercials for the company's Odor Blocker body wash that went viral and brought him a new audience. It was then we got an up close and personal look at his cut torso and his ability to deliver over-the-top lines with a sly smile.

In a 2010 interview Crews shared the fact that his tone of voice while he extols the virtues of the product became a staple around his house. Even his kids would imitate it to make a point. Link to commercial posted below.

He was just coming off his five seasons playing a family man in Chris Rock's half-hour comedy, Everybody Hates Chris. His role as Julius gave him opportunities to scowl but only like a typical dad does when his kids and wife get the best of him.

Terry Crews joins The Newsroom in progress as the sixth episode of the Aaron Sorkin helmed series kicks off the second half of its season. The action has been set in the years 2009 through early 2011.

Last week's plot included the Egyptian uprising and the fictional cable news network getting close to the action on the ground in Cairo. It was layered over news anchor Will McAvoy's continuing struggle with upper management over his refusal to cease hammering the Tea Party. Read: Will and McKenzie ignore looming disaster. Image: Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore

Link to one of Terry Crews' Old Spice Odor Blocker ad

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