Please, Michael Phelps, for the love of God and all things decent, please, oh please, never ever accept another role on television. For the future of television, please, just say, “No thank you.” Michael Phelps last night became one of the goofiest hosts of Saturday Night Live ever. And most uncomfortable. And unfunniest. I didn’t think it was possible for him to underperform my expectations, but he made his performance in the Rosetta Stone commercials look Emmy-worthy.
Every time he was on screen, he was looking blankly offscreen, seemingly reading the script on a screen. When he did read his lines (and he did read them; no memorization needed), he stumbled over them. Even when he played himself on “The Charles Barkley Show,” he was embarrassingly uncomfortable. For that matter, most of the show was unwatchable, save for a funny political sketch (that Phelps wasn’t in).
Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, LeBron James: None were great, but they all had funny moments. But Phelps performance: I have to wonder if he won’t lose the interest of companies looking for a spokesperson, he was that bad.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Relax,pal.It’s just a badly written TV show yet everyone watched it because Phelps was there. What’s the big deal? Surely people won’t stop buying Speedo because Mike isn’t too good at acting.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I don’t think it’s MPs fault – there is a reason I stopped watching SNL – the writing sucks. And sucks badly.
MP stated he had 50 skits/scripts to read through – if those are the best, of the best.. I really would have hated to see the others.
Maybe I’m just getting old. I was a SNL fan back in the good ol’ days, Radner/Martin/Belushi/Ackroyd – hell – even the Myers – Sadler years were funny -
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 2:01 PM
I agree with the two posters above. I haven’t watched SNL in years due to the below par comedy writing. I was interested in how Phelps would do, so I watched. That’s the best they could do? The skits w/o Phelps were painful to endure. He tried. I give him credit for putting himself out there. He’s still endearing with his “aw shucks” quality.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Wow! Could you be a little more cruel? How about a little perspective: he’s a 23 year old “kid” with absolutely no acting experience, never mind comedic experience. Yes, it may have been bad, but Cyd, maybe you should take a lesson from Destiny’s Child: “I’m not gonna dis you on the internet, cause my momma taught me better than that.”
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 3:11 PM
He wasn’t that bad at all. Awkward, yes, but there were some stupid skits. It’s been a while since I’ve checked out SNL but that opening sketch with Tina Fey as Palin still has me laughing – it was perfect.
Give Phelps a break, he’s not an actor…just an athlete cashing in…and the assortment of wigs on him were pretty funny…
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Good grief! He was definitely wooden, but he dosen’t pretend to be an actor. SNL usually has a funny opening skit – and last night’s was perfect with Tina Fey skewering Sarah Palin. The rest of the show stunk, as usual. But that’s not Michael Phelps’ fault. I say give the kid a break.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Cyd, By the same logic, you should stay off the internet. There are plenty of worse actors on television. People weren’t up at night to see his acting skills. With his super-human achievements he still remains an enigma and people are curious to see more of him. His goof ups were actually endearing. To have actually gone out of his comfort zone to try something new takes a lot of courage and you of all people should know that considering that you appear to have gone out of your zone in actually trying to write something credible. The results might have been disastrous but you should laud yourself for the efforts and try doing better next time. GO MICHAEL!!!
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Oh my! Bless his heart! Poor Michael was pitiful. And I had really been looking forward to his hosting SNL.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I agree with you all. MP did his best as an actor on that show. But let’s face it, he’s not entirely to blame. SNL’s writing just sucks. That show died after Will Ferrell and Chris Parnell left. And what was with the digital short? I’m sorry but after “Dick in a Box,” “Natalie Portman Rapping,” “Iran,” “Dopple Ganger,” “People Getting Punched,” and “Lazy Sunday,” Andy Samberg has A LOT to live up to. That was so painful to watch. SNL needs to get the old writers back. I miss the days with Mike Myers and Phil Hartman. I think MP would’ve done better on MADtv because that show is actually funny. I can totally picture him as Stuart’s cousin. Overall, MP did his best but he just didn’t have the best material to work with; although, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin was PERFECT!
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Hey dude
would you please take a hike and clear your head. think about the day you had to do somethhing that was new to you. i am sure you didn’ t master it either.
Please give MP some credit. Didn’t he just yearn 8g in olympics. the day you do that, you can talk about topping MP.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 6:28 PM
Whoa! I understand having an opinion/critique, but MP’s performance is nothing to be rude about! Obviously he is not an actor or a comedian. He did the best he could, with what he had. I am sure it is much harder than it looks; and it’s live. He’s not training to be a comedian. Ever tried swimming? Perhaps you should get in the pool and swim a lap (if you could make it across the pool), and let MP critique you. I am sure you would suck at it, but he would never be as ugly as you about it. Your jealousy of his tv airtime is showing. GO MICHAEL PHELPS!!
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 7:52 PM
Lighten up, people! It’s just SNL. Michael did fine. He tried a new challenge and can now move on to other things. Tons and tons of people still love him. He’ll be just fine!
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Are you serious?……Ugh..I hate people like you.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Um, he’s not some high school kid doing his best in a local talent show. He’s “the greatest athlete of all time” on national television. And he was terrible. It doesn’t take away anything he did in the Olympics, but seriously – for the love of all things decent – he really shouldn’t be doing any scripted television again.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:04 PM
Give him a break. He tried, the writing sucked and he couldn’t fix that. I’d love to see you stand in front of 4m people and try and do a better job… he gave it a shot and had fun. Let him alone.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:33 PM
In Cyd’s defense, everybody…comedy is a gift. You don’t have it just because you practice and have good writers. Phelps should stick to the things he has a gift for.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Why should we grade Phelps on a curve? Nobody put a gun to his head and forced him to host SNL; he made a decision to do it and should be judged on that. So why be nice when he sucked?
BTW, the whole show has blown for years, with the Sarah Palin-Hillary skit the only funny thing.
It did get boffo ratings, according to Tom Shales of the Washington Post:
“With CNN reporting Tina Fey’s return as national news Friday, the tremendous buzz was reflected in the ratings. Early overnight figures showed the “Saturday Night Live” season premiere earned a 7.4 rating and 18 percent share of viewers watching at that hour — the highest for a season premiere since 2001, and the highest for any “SNL” telecast since Dec. 14, 2002, when Al Gore was host. The numbers were up 64 percent over last season’s premiere, according to Nielsen data.”
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 12:29 AM
It’s nice that the Michael Phelps Cheerleading Club visits this site.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 1:41 AM
Cyd, sometimes people write things that are off-base. Then they apologize when they realize they made a mistake. Yet you took the second chance and burned it. Pathetic. Michael Phelps makes a better comedian than you make a sportswriter. How about that one for laughs?
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 3:30 AM
Patricia Nell Warren
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
In Cyd’s defense, everybody…comedy is a gift. You don’t have it just because you practice and have good writers. Phelps should stick to the things he has a gift for.
Patricia,
If everybody lived by that line of reasoning, there would be alot of people who would have to stop having sex.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 9:02 AM
The blogs by Cyd and others who run this site are nothing but petty little snippets and increasingly not worth anyone’s time.
Cyd, how does it feel to be a part of the media that builds people up only to gleefully begin to rip them apart once they reached success?
Oh, and SNL hosts reading off cue cards is something new??
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 9:19 AM
No one tuned in to see him act well. They tuned in to enjoy seeing this guy have some fun and enjoy some lime light. And all those athletes you mention have been on during times when the writing didn’t tremendously suck. Call it what it is, the kid is having fun after many years of hard work, and he’ll likely fade back to Baltimore in a few more weeks, to train and focus on his sport. He’s just enjoying some well deserved attention.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Guys! Yes for sure, MP has not earned a gold medal on this one. Gosh! But it was only his first time and let’s face it, the skit or the show sucks, but definitely not MP! Give him a break!…I actually watched d show bcuz of him trying some other stuff and enjoying himself. We all know dat he’s a real nice guy.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Michael Phelps is the best swimmer ever. And the hottest!
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 1:09 PM
You know he isn’t even based in Hollywood to begin with. He’s a Baltimore kid! For someone who spends most of his time in the pool than on the couch, he did alright. He is a 14-time Olympic Gold medallist, but he’s still a human, and humans – including you and me – are not perfect.
It’d be a major faux pas for him not to take such an opportunity.
It’s not very often athletes get a chance to be on that stage, let alone a swimmer. A little applaud wouldn’t hurt But to bring him down this way… uh uh… it ain’t gonna work buddy.
As what Phelps the champ said himself, “If someone says that I can’t do it, it even motivates me to try harder and do better next time.”
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 1:45 PM
I find it hysterical that the only people that support Cyd’s opinion in this petty little post write for Outsports.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 2:06 PM
Maybe because I happen to agree with him (not always the case with the 2 of us).
I don’t get this need to “protect” Phelps — he was not judged on his athletic ability, his humanity or his hotness: He was judged as the guest host of “SNL” and in that he stunk.
Why are you all covering for him as if NBC stuck a gun to his head and forced him to do the show against his will? He could have realized he was in over his head and declined. But he went on and now we’re all supposed to applaud him because he gave it the old college try?
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 2:36 PM
No one except you and Cyd expected him to be the next Kelsey Grammer or Lucille Ball.
Of course, no one put a gun to his head to perform. And because he wasn’t God’s gift to acting, you want him to quit. That is just plain silly.
No one asked you to applaud him. The original post ripped him. Perhaps you should refain from applauding him or ripping him.
I think its great that he worked hard, accomplished an amazing feat and is now enjoying it.
Why are you so willing to go out of your way to post something negatively about a person almost all of America likes? And he seems to be a nice person on top of it.
Why must you pick at everything? Can’t you just enjoy life a little? I guess not. Must be rough to always see the negative in everything.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 7:58 AM
Gretzky was worse…
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 12:20 PM
>>>Phelps should stick to the things he has a gift for.<<<
I’m completely floored to see that coming from a writer. How do you know you’re good or not good if you don’t give it a try? Was your first book great? If it wasn’t, why write a second? Should Mozart have stuck to symphonic composition because he had a gift for it and never attempted an opera?
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 1:01 PM
What’s funny to me is that all these Phelps fans are attacking me for writing this, yet I don’t see anyone who actually disagrees with what I said! But please, keep it up – I’m getting a kick out of it.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 4:02 PM
Phelps was absolutely horrible at hosting.
But I think that’s the good part. Isnt the point of having the athletes and other non actors or comedians host the show to see how HORRIBLE they can be? Isnt that the fun? Personally I would have been even more upset had he hosted it and been good and funny throughout (and he wasnt, not even a little). He was really really bad and I loved it and have more respect for him now. I think you’re missing the point Cyd, his appearance was a complete success.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 5:33 PM
I agree with Black. In life we should only try things that we are good at? We should not experiment and have fun?
According to Cyd and Buzinski, that answer is yes. His appearance was a complete success. I want to try as many things as possible in life and if I fail at some of them so be it.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 5:56 PM
I agree that we should all try things regardless of how good we are at them. But Michael Phelps worked for years and years to reach the pinnacle of swimming. Then, he jumped over to hosting SNL without putting in the years and years of work in front of audiences and cameras.
Tom Cruise is not going to get put on the Olympic team because he’s made millions as an actor.
That is the difference.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 9:45 PM
But they invited him, knowing what he was, Jonathen, and you expect him to say no? A once in a lifetime fun experience like hosting SNL.
I dont practice things for years and years before I try them.
Don’t you think that SNL knew what they were getting? I bet they told him to have fun and relax and not worry about it.
It was not MacBeth on Broadway. It was the host of SNL. He was not cast as the lead in a multi million dollar movie like your Tom Cruise comparison.
It was a fun pop culture show and these criticisms are plain silly.
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 11:24 PM
“We should not experiment and have fun?
According to Cyd and Buzinski, that answer is yes. ”
How do you get that interpretation? Phelps had every right to host SNL and I have every right to say he stunk.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 12:52 AM
Of course you have every right to say he stunk Jim and stink he did, but I think its all is going right over your head when you do.
The point was for him to stink. Who in the world wants to watch Michael Phelps be funny on SNL? The only reason to watch it is to see how unfunny he is, how awkward he is and how much he screws it up. I’m sure thats what the producers of the show had in mind when they invited him, it couldnt have been all that acting and comedy experience he had, because he didnt have any.
Criticizing Phelps’ performance on SNL is about as ridiculous as criticizing Wile E Coyote for screwing up at catching that damn bird. Of course they screwed up, that’s why they were there!
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 1:17 AM
This blog post is an example of why I do not visit this site very much anymore. It has changed from a community of gay athletes and sports fans into a ego-driven forum of the site owners. Which is fine, it is their site after all, but it is a shame.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Buzinski says,
“How do you get that interpretation? Phelps had every right to host SNL and I have every right to say he stunk.”
I apologize for getting into this argument. Of course, you have every right to say that.
Purdue Fan said it all.
You take pleasure in criticizing someone for saying yes to a once in a lifetime experience.
Most people here think you and Cyd are coming off like pompous jerks. It must be a terrible burden for you to be perfect every day. You could use the criticism to take a little introspective look at what you both have posted. But you are too caught up in being right.
And I am not posting this because I am a Michael Phellps fan. I watch him every 4 years like most of America. I come here to read about gay athletes and discuss sports. I don’t come here for Gay Sports TMZ.
From now on, I will stay with reading the news stories and stay away from jock talk blog crap.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 12:29 PM
I’m not criticizing Phelps for taking advantage of the opportunity. I’m just justifying why he was so awful. In reality, I felt like there were an awful lot of jokes left on the table and that the writers didn’t put him in a position to succeed.
Right now, Phelps has a name value and the entertainment market will exploit that as much as it can. That being said, it’s hard for me (and maybe schedenfreude for others) to watch someone who’s accomplished so much be so bad at something. I’ve always thought that minor sports (defined as the ones which don’t get allocated much TV time outside of the Olympics) need all the help they can get. Michael Phelps looked silly on the show and that does nothing to help his brand image or his sport. He should have been on the show as he is-an athlete; not asked to be an actor. Again, I blame the writers for not putting him in a position to succeed.
At the end of the day, Phelps has accomplished more than anyone posting here. I think we can all agree on that.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Phelps was great on the show. Awkward, yes, but consistently funny and a great sport. Cyd is trashing Phelps and SNL because his delicate gay conservative sensibilities were hurt by how well his hero Sarah Palin was skewered on the show. You will never see him criticize the acting on a right-leaning show.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 2:54 PM
We all have different perspectives. I thought he stunk, others thought he stunk but I shouldn’t say it, others thought he was good. All of this other stuff about Sarah Palin (I said that skit was the only good part of the show) or how horrible this Web site has become: I just don’t get it. I had an opinion, I shared it, you shared yours, that’s it. I’m sorry some of you have obviously taken this so personally, that certainly wasn’t my intention. From now on, we’ll only speak positively of the anointed one, lest we continue to bring on the wrath of the Phelps Phans.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 5:28 PM
They invited him on for no other reason than to bump up the ratings. Who is chosen to host has nothing to do with talent. I, personally, don’t want to watch shows featuring performers who are unfunny and awkward and prone to screwups. So I didn’t watch and despite the Palin skit (what I’ve seen and heard of it made me laugh), from a brief clip of Phelps I saw, I’m glad I didn’t.
I’m just so amused by all the howls of protests. The reaction is similar to fans of certain celebs who go crazy if you imply that they’re gay.
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Alright, calm down. First of all, I’m sure I’m not the only one that loves to watch SNL because, aside from being a really clever and funny show, it shows another side of our favorite celebrities.
I personally, am a huge fan of Michael Phelps and know he’s an athlete and doesn’t have to be good at memorizing/reading scripts. I didn’t expect him to have the whole show down–especially considering the fact that this is just after Beijing, and he’s still doing a million interviews a day. Nonetheless, I thought it was really fun that he decided to do it anyhow. Sure he was clearly reading off of scripts, however, it was hilarious to see him out of his element. And I had a blast watching it all. He was a good sport and I think the awkwardness of his “acting” made it all funnier
I just don’t think it’s right for you to justify Phelps this way.
Biased? Perhaps, but SNL was all in good fun. I had fun, as I’m sure others did to.
on Sep 19th, 2008 at 12:59 PM
MP’s appearance was rather painful to watch…talk about a fish outta water……but when you look at the show as a whole can’t you just tell that even MORE painful is when NBC has to sit down and write the paychecks for those woefully untalented writers and actors every week!
on Sep 23rd, 2008 at 11:17 PM
MICHAEL REDEEMS HIMSELF!!!! HURRAH!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NlRmlsmZc