Deadspin: saturday night live

Michael Phelps Outshone By Tina Fey in Quest for Comedic Gold

Enrico Campitelli Jr. — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:55:31 EDT

When Michael Phelps took center stage in Beijing, he dominated the competition in the pool over and over. His ability to step up at the Olympics, on the biggest stage of his sport, was unprecedented. But when he took the stage last night in New York as host of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, it was clear he wouldn’t be running away with the standout performance. That honor belonged to Tina Fey, the Sarah Palin doppelganger who was on point from her opening line of “Good evening, my fellow Americans” spoken in perfect Canadian/Alaskan-speak.

The Palin and Hillary Clinton opener was solid, with Fey doing Palin’s “aw shucks, God is great” perfectly. It was like Fey was served up a Billy Wagner fastball right down the middle and knocked the shit out of it. Video below:

Phelps on the other hand looked, well … like a fish out of water at times. (Sorry!)

The episode featured a cameo from an old school Charles Barkley mid-80’s Sixers jersey (pictured above), which brought a tear to my eye. That was one of few highlights from the evening.

In a bit Phelps did as himself on the “Charles Barkley Show,” the Olympic swimming legend simply forgot to bring the funny. That seemed to be the trend throughout the night.

When they tried to make fun of Phelps ridiculous eating regimen, the jokes just didn’t click. Wow, he eats a lot! Video below:

Why was Phelps unable to translate his dominating persona in the pool to the comedic stage in New York? Well, because he’s a swimmer. Despite 99.5% of the world not giving a shit about swimming except for one week in August every four years, Phelps was able to truly capture the attention of the American public and the rest of the world while he was in Beijing.
It’s simple really. For men, Phelps appeal when he is in the water is on par with Jordan on the hardwood or Tiger on the golf course. We love watching the best in the world simply dominate.

It’s simple for women too. While Phelps is certainly kind of goofy looking, the ladies still swoon for him. When you have a body that looks like it’s been chiseled by Michelangelo himself, that goofy white boy smile isn’t so bad. And when that body is on NBC covered in clothing, that appeal is diminished.

But does being a tad awkward prevent you from killing it on SNL? Not at all. An article in the Baltimore Sun ranks the top five athlete performances on the show. Fellow goofy looking white guy Peyton Manning wins the top honors. For my money, if you want an athlete to be funny, I’ll take Sir Charles any day of the week.

Phelps on the other hand, he was kind of turrrible.

Michael Phelps' Abs To Join Not Ready For Prime Time Players

DAULERIO — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:45:30 EDT

As predicted in this Michael Phelps post at the end of his medal run, Michael Phelps will, in fact, be making an appearance on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on Sept. 13th. What I didn't expect was that NBC would force him to warble through a hokey monologue and host the damn thing. Given Phelps' less-than-polished on-air persona this is an interesting choice. You would have a better chance of Fred Armisen medaling in the 100m butterfly than Michael Phelps getting a legitimate laugh in a sketch. But we'll see. The writers might make him look good. Most likely Phelps will bomb so badly that he'll make Lebron James' SNL appearance look like Carlin at Carnegie Hall.

Over/under on sketches involving goggles: 2.

Michael Phelps To Host Season Premiere Of SNL [Fanhouse]

You'd Think LeBron Would Be Accustomed To Being Surrounded By Nobodies

sussman — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:00:00 EDT

Like many of you since 1996, I missed Saturday Night Live last night, hosted by LeBron James, and have only the YouTubery offered up by NBC to go on. In this case, the monologue ("LeBronologue!" Oh, what whimsy!) was my favorite. There was also a High School Musical skit that had so much potential, but once the sketch ended, the writers found absolutely no way to end it. In times like this, you think of what David Chase would do in this situation.

I'm also hearing that the best skit of the night was called "Solid Gold," where James dressed up as a "feminine dancer." Well, I can only imagine he was certainly more feminine than certain Cavaliers dancer hopefuls.

As if it needs to be said, Peyton Manning was far better. But hey, LeBron can take solace in the fact that he's better at basketball than Peyton Manning.

James' Versatility Impressive On SNL [Cleveland Plain Dealer]