Peyton Manning Follows Super Bowl With Strong “SNL” Debut

Manning Participates In “SNL” Parody Of United Way PSA

Colts QB PEYTON MANNING hosted NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” this past weekend, and in his opening monologue, he said, “It’s been a fun year for me as I accomplished two of my life goals: One, I appeared in half of America’s television commercials, and two, my team, the Colts, won the Super Bowl.” The 90-minute broadcast contained two 30-second ads featuring Manning, one for Gatorade and one for MasterCard. Manning introduced his father, ARCHIE, his mother, OLIVIA, and his brother, Giants QB ELI MANNING, who were in the audience. Manning noted his father and brother both played in the NFL and said, “(My mother) never made it to the NFL. Didn’t have what it took. Got cut by the Dolphins. She tried in Canada for a bit. She’s a real disappointment to all of us but still a great lady.”

FEATURED MEMBER: The eight skits in which Manning appeared included a parody of a United Way ad where he taught kids to play football. Manning drank beer, swore and chastised kids for failing to catch his throws, saying to one, “Get your head out of your ass. You suck.” The spot ended with the voiceover, “The NFL and the United Way. Spend time with your kids so Peyton Manning doesn’t.” In another skit, Manning played a sports writer on the “ESPN Tournament Pool Party,” where he and a female fan discussed picking the most games correctly. The female fan and anchor made references to “pulling a Peyton Manning” when speaking about teams that could not win the big game, to which Manning’s character asked, “Why Peyton Manning? I don’t get it.” Manning also played a senior on a college basketball team that was down by 34 points at halftime. In the locker room, Manning told the coach, “These guys are so good and I’m very, very scared of them. ... I just thought about going out there for the second half and a little bit of pee came out.”

DO THE RIGHTS THING: An NFL spokesperson said that “SNL” did not ask for the league’s permission to use the NFL shield in the mock ad. “SNL” also used ESPN and NCAA branding, as well as footage from a tournament game from CBS, in the “Pool Party” skit, and an ESPN spokesperson said the show is “well protected” when doing a parody. Attempts to reach the NCAA were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, per policy, user-posted clips from the show are being pulled from YouTube with a message citing “a copyright claim by NBC Universal.” Two clips featuring Manning -– the monologue and a sketch mocking the movie “300” –- are available on NBC’s YouTube page.

OVER & OUT: One skit in which Manning did not appear was a spoof of Nike’s Air Force One ad featuring ten NBA stars playing a game inside an airplane hanger. Manning is a Reebok endorser. The parody featured six “SNL” cast members playing a very bad game of basketball, with several players calling “Foul!” after badly missing shots. The spot ended with the announcer saying, “Air Force One. With the way you play you don’t need these shoes.”

BIRTHDAY SONG: At the conclusion of the show when the host, cast and crew appeared on-stage to say goodnight, Manning’s brothers, Eli and COOPER, wheeled out a birthday cake for Peyton that was shaped like the “SNL” studio. Everyone on-stage sang “Happy Birthday” accompanied by the band (THE DAILY).

REVIEWS & RATINGS: The show drew a 5.9 overnight Nielsen rating, its highest overnight since a 5.9 on May 13, 2006, when the show was hosted by JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, with PAUL SIMON as the musical guest. On April 16, 2005, the "SNL" hosted by TOM BRADY averaged a 6.0 overnight. Saturday’s show earned a 23.0 in Indianapolis, four times the market’s average during the most-recent February sweeps. The second-highest market rating was a 10.4 for Knoxville, where Manning played at the Univ. of Tennessee (THE DAILY). In Indianapolis, Mark Alesia wrote the show “played heavily off of Manning’s wholesome image for laughs” and used “lots of bathroom humor.” “SNL” creator LORNE MICHAELS said Manning is “a natural. He can come back anytime” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 3/25). In Jacksonville, Chase Goodbread gives Manning’s performance a thumbs up and writes he “delivered a few strong laughs” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/26).