MichaelPhelps-related stories
Posted Jul 22nd 2009 9:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals
I can't help but think of the old "Bo Knows" commercials, where professional baseball and football player Bo Jackson showed us that he could do literally anything. Now, it's the big man's turn.
Shaquille O'Neal stars in Shaq Vs., where the basketball star shows his own diversity by taking on the likes of Michael Phelps and Albert Pujols.
The idea is that Shaq will take on the guest athlete's sport, meaning he'll swim laps with Phelps and go to bat against Pujols. The ABC series premieres Tuesday, August 18 at 9 PM, but there's no word as to how many episodes they're signed up for. If it's a huge hit, though, you have to think they're going to need to find more athletes and more challenges for Shaq.
Can he Trade powerslams with Randy Orton? Pump more steroids than Manny Ramirez? Make a better blacklight sex tape than Paris Hilton? Get more tabloid headlines than the Gosselins? The real challenge would be if Shaq starts taking on actors in their chosen field.
Posted Feb 4th 2009 11:03AM by Jay Black
Filed under: OpEd, TV 101, Reality-Free
Michael Phelps recently went from big-time role-model to big-eared pothead in about the time it took for some d-bag with a cameraphone to press "send."
This got me thinking about role models in general. Like it or not, most of us wind up choosing role models from television, probably because we see the people on TV more often than we do our own family. Considering the amount of alcohol-fueled Thanksgiving fistfights in my own family, that's probably for the best.
So, seeing as my son is going to be raised by TV, I decided that I needed to pick out the best role model on it. My choice?
Howard Stern.
Continue reading TV 101: Why Howard Stern is the best role model on TV
Posted Sep 14th 2008 11:46AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E01) Well, well,
Saturday Night Live is back for another season and we couldn't be more excited. Actually, we probably could be more excited, but we're still tuning in and that's what matters.
Personally, I believe they took a risk in inviting an athlete to open the season with a bang, as I often find their performances super-awkward and damn near unwatchable, but there are folks that go totally nuts when sports people host. Plus, Michael Phelps was definitely the sweetheart of the summer and it was a smart move to grab him before he retired to his giant fish tank in Baltimore. His performance was still pretty awkward, but at least they didn't give him a lot of crazy characters to struggle through.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne (season premiere) - VIDEOS
Posted Aug 29th 2008 10:20AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Sports, OpEd, Lost, Saturday Night Live, Entourage, Celebrities, Heroes, NCIS, Casting, Reality-Free
Annie
posted earlier today about
Michael Phelps' upcoming hosting duties on
Saturday Night Live. The Olympic swimming champ isn't wasting any time capitalizing on his stardom, because now he's also landed a cameo on
HBO's
Entourage.
According to the World Entertainment News Network,
the eight-time gold medal winner will appear as himself in an upcoming episode of the buddy-series, which begins its fifth season on Sept. 7.
Phelps certainly must have some good people working with him, because in addition to hosting
SNL, he'll be among the presenters at the
MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7.
Continue reading Michael Phelps set to cameo on Entourage
Posted Aug 27th 2008 7:53PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Saturday Night Live is about to kick off its 34th season, and they're determined to do it with a bang. Doing a smart job of quickly pulling in America's biggest star of the summer, the show has announced that super-crazy Olympian god slash merman
Michael Phelps will be hosting the premiere. It also looks like the musical guest will be Lil' Wayne, but who has time to care about that? Michael Phelps is swimming back to America and he's hosting!
Continue reading Michael Phelps to host SNL season premiere
Posted Aug 18th 2008 8:23AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Sports, Industry, Ratings, Reality-Free
NBC couldn't have asked for a better Olympian than Michael Phelps. His chase after Mark Spitz's record has been a huge draw for viewers. So, it came as no surprise when I saw that Saturday night, with the record breaking 8th gold, did
huge numbers, clocking in with 31.1 million viewers. What did come as a surprise was the big event from 18 years ago that topped Phelps reaching his goal. Surely it had to be something like a big sporting event, a dramatic news special, or something of the sort, right?
Not quite. Saturday, Feb. 24, 1990, 31.4 million viewers tuned in to watch
Empty Nest. Wow. That says much more about the growth of cable TV and how the big networks have abandoned Saturday than it does about the success of the Olympics. At a time when half that number is the stuff of a hit show, it seems strange to think that 31 million people were watching
Empty Nest.
Continue reading NBC has best Saturday in 18 years
Posted Aug 14th 2008 9:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Sports, Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Is there a bigger star in the world right this moment than Michael Phelps? He's poised to break Mark Spitz's record seven gold medals in one Olympics. He's already the most honored Olympic champion of all times, having won more gold medals than some entire countries.
Jeremy Schaap was singing his praises on ESPN this morning. Michael Phelps is tall, fit, good looking and has the makings of humongous success. Can't you just see him as a TV star?
As Rich pointed out, being an
Olympic champion can sometimes be a launching pad for a career on TV. For most, the fit isn't exactly right, but I think that that was the fault of the producers back then, not the Olympians.
Therefore, I'm going to help Michael and those TV bigwigs with a few ideas. Here's four existing shows that should be writing scripts for Michael Phelps right away, and one remake that's right up his alley.
Continue reading Five TV shows that should recruit Michael Phelps
Posted Aug 12th 2008 10:02AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Sports, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
Over the past few days it has once again become quite apparent that they have yet to invent an Olympic sport that I won't watch. Really. Fencing, Women's Air Rifle, Badminton... I'll watch it all. I spent my weekend traveling between the various channels, internet streams, and the occasional visit to my Slingbox in Boston. As far as the games go, they're as good as they've ever been. The coverage from NBC though, unfortunately, is still not nearly what it should be.
I'll admit, they got me. When I read about the plans for more live coverage, and how they were going to make use of all the other NBC/Universal properties, I thought this would be the year, the Olympic nirvana that always could have been. It's really not panning out that way. More than anything else, the word that keeps coming to mind for the NBC coverage is annoying. After the jump, some notes for NBC.
Continue reading Loving the Olympics. NBC... not so much
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
