"Saturday Night Live" Season Premiere: Fey Swims Phelps Sinks

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

15 Sep 2008 02:14 PM

It was all down hill after the first 5 minutes... at least that's what the critics are saying today after the much hyped season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" aired on NBC.

It was sink or swim for first time host Michael Phelps and by the looks of the reviews the gold medal winning part man part fish sank like a rock. Despite Phelps' desperate doggie paddle to the finish, the late night show soared in the ratings. According to Nielsen Media Research, "SNL's" 34th-season premiere logged a 7.4 rating (which roughly translates to 6 million viewers) to score the largest viewership for a "SNL" season debut since 2001.

The ratings for Saturday's show were also up 64% from last year's opener, and most in the entertainment world attribute the record numbers to one person--Tina Fey. The former "SNL" castmember made a guest appearance impersonating Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Fey opened the show with castmember Amy Poehler (who played Senator Hillary Clinton) and skewered the pit bullish governor of Alaska, to whom she bears a remarkable resemblance.

The nearly 5 minute pairing of the two comediennes became a global Internet sensation overnight and has many wondering how many more times we will be seeing Fey back on late night. The actress stars in NBC's weekly primetime comedy "30 Rock," and has yet to announce whether she will be moonlighting on "SNL" through the November elections.

TV insiders say it is highly unlikely Fey will be live from New York on "SNL" spoofing Palin again this week given that she has been nominated for an Emmy as best comic actress and the awards show is taking place in Los Angeles on Sunday.

It's news that might come as a disappointment to the real Palin, who today told reporters that she was one of the millions who caught Fey's hilarious performance. According to reports, John McCain's running mate confessed that the skit was "quite funny" and further revealed that she once dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween a few years ago.

Which begs the question: Is it Palin who looks like Fey or Fey who resembles Palin?

As for Phelps, reports say he was disappointed with his lackluster performance (cameras caught the usually good natured Olympian hiding his head between his legs as his SUV sped off after the show). Frankly, I was a bit disappointed that "SNL" writers couldn't come up with more for Phelps to do other than utter a few spastic phrases dressed as a teen reject, but there might have been a reason behind that call. Regardless, the guy did his job--he showed up when he was supposed to and he delivered his lines. So he's not a comedian. "SNL" producers knew that going into the show, they just wanted his name recognition to get viewers to tune in. They got what they wanted out of the deal and Phelps now knows he should stick with swimming in the pool instead of venturing into show biz's shark infested waters.

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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mcmama (51978) 15 Sep 2008 04:52 PM

Phelps did alright. He is not a tv personality. He is an athlete. They were expecting Nancy Kerrigan, perhaps? The diet thing was funny.

Tina Fey was just spooky, how she was really spot on about Sarah Palin. She really nailed it.

deedee1231 (4030) 15 Sep 2008 06:28 PM

Yeah, Phelps did better than I had expected him to. I saw him in several interviews during the Olympics and I knew he wasn't going to ham it up too much but overall he was fine. I loved the skit about the Olympian diet.

Libby Pelham (12876) 16 Sep 2008 10:27 AM

Okay, maybe it is just me, but it seems like Michael must have spent about 12 hours a day in a pool for most of his life (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but still!). I am not surprised if he cannot keep a comedy skit alive - what did they really expect? Did they hire him only for his comedy skills or because, sink or swim, he is the hottest commodity around today?

Michele Cheplic (37339) 17 Sep 2008 06:09 AM

I agree Libby, Phelps didn't need to be good at all, he just needed to show up.