Olympic superstar Michael Phelps hosted the much anticipated Saturday Night Live 34th season premiere on September 13, 2008.

With absolutely horrendous expectations going in, Michael Phelps’ stint as Saturday Night Live host last night was a pleasant surprise, if only because the show’s writers worked around the formidable problem of his utter lack of charisma with an ingenious strategy –have Phelps say as little as possible.

In the end, it was almost as if Phelps made a cameo appearance rather than serving as host. The show was mostly memorable for its non-Phelpsian moments – Tina Fey’s opening turn as Sarah Palin (the resemblance is hard to believe), Bill Shatner’s out-of-left-field bit during Phelps’ monologue, and of course musical guest Lil Wayne just tearing up the mike in proud, loosey-goosey defense of his current status as hip hop’s heavyweight champ.

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For the sports fan, however, the finest moment of the show was Keenan Thompson’s bit as Charles Barkley in a skit about a Barkley talk show that Sir Charles was doing for Wynn Casinos because he owed them so much money. During this routine, Thompson as Barkley interacted with Phelps (as Phelps) about the glory of winning a gold medal, and what followed was the greatest explanation for the genesis of the original Dream Team that ever has been offered:

Phelps: Well, you won a gold medal with the Dream Team in ’92, so you know how much hard work it takes.
Barkley: Yeah… no. Basically I got a call from Michael Jordan saying hey you wanna go play poker in Barcelona for two weeks? And I said most definitely. And he said, well here’s the catch. We gotta leave the casino for two hours to beat Angola by 80 points. Did you know Angola had a basketball team? Cause they don’t.

Source: SportingNews.com – Phelps on SNL: Far From Dreadful

And, of course, the Michael Phelps 12,000 calories a day diet skit was obligatory, begging for an infomercial.



Michael Phelps’ hometown newspaper, The Baltimore Sun has a roundup of reviews:  On SNL, in a bit over his head. Despite mixed reviews, the 34th season opener was a ratings hit, as Reuters reports: “Saturday Night Live” has best premiere since 2001

Photo: (L-R ) Lil Wayne, Michael Phelps, Amy Poehler on the SNL set (Photo credit: NBC) 

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Video: Michael Phelps Saturday Night Live SNL Season Premiere 9-13-08 Michael Phelps snl video