Jason Kelce’s new talk show features a cautionary tale in Magic Johnson’s “Magic Hour.”

They call it Late Night with Jason Kelce starts tonight, a weekly sports talk show with late-night comedy ambitions. At least that’s the dream of Kelce, a self-proclaimed man Conan O’Brien Fan who wants to make a living by joking. But be careful what you wish for, Jason. You’re not the first charismatic, high-profile athlete to pull off a late-night sting. And in the case of NBA legend Magic Johnson, it ended in dismal failure.

Johnson’s Magic hour was a disaster Right from the start in 1998. The biggest problem was Johnson himself, an extremely likeable appearance in the locker room during a post-game interview, but his winning smile and positive attitude didn’t make him a comedian – or even an interviewer. In many ways, he was the Tom Brady of late night, a likable sports icon who had never failed at anything in his life. But as Brady discovered this football season, championship rings don’t necessarily make for good television.

Magic hour‘s writers did Johnson a disservice, writing jokes with “urban appeal” that sound terrible in retrospect. Johnson’s sidekick (or co-host, to hear him say it) Craig Shoemaker described his opening appearance at the show’s premiere for the New York Post. “Magic said, ‘Craig, how about the Bulls game last night?’ And this is a quote that the author told me: ‘Magic, I haven’t seen a beating like that on tape since Rodney King!'” Shoemaker explains. “You could hear the gasps in New York coming from Paramount Studios in LA. If you had a recipe for disaster, that was the first ingredient.”

The reviews were anything but friendly. The Associated Press criticized Johnson for being bad-tempered toward his guestsand remarked: “His skills as an interlocutor have not yet been proven.” Weekly entertainment said Johnson “wasn’t nearly as quick with his wits on a talk show as he was with his feet on a basketball court.” diversity was outside immediately: “It is clear that the wizard has finally found a domain that he is unlikely to be able to dominate.”

But Johnson’s harshest critic was Howard Stern. The shock jock was in his “king of all media” phase and was crushing the perceived competition on his daily radio show. He beat up Johnson for things diversity or Weekly entertainment I would never dream of mentioning this, from his promiscuity and subsequent HIV diagnosis to trying to be too white (at least in Stern’s estimation). The smart move would have been to ignore Stern. Instead, the show’s producers thought that by inviting Stern, they would hit ratings gold Magic hour as a guest. Ratings rose, but Stern’s harsh demeanor destroyed any credibility Johnson might have had left.

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Highlights of the guest appearance included Stern groping Sheila E., Magic’s bandleader, telling Johnson to practice Ebonics and stop talking like the white guy, and praising Magic’s sexual past by proclaiming, “At least “Did you enjoy getting AIDS?” Yes.

“Stern’s performance represents everything a late-night show shouldn’t be: chaotic, irritating and funny for all the wrong reasons.” wrote vulture. “Stern was hired to help solve some of the Magic’s problems and pull off a publicity stunt that ultimately blew up in Magic Johnson’s face. He flipped the script and stole the show from his host.”

Kelce has at least two things to offer that the Magic didn’t have. First, his long-running podcast New heights next to Brother Travis gave him some interview practice that Magic didn’t have before starting his talk show. And while Kelce wants to turn to music and comedy, They call it late night‘S The focus will be on sports, allowing the first-time host to stay in their comfort zone.

But Kelce would do well to take a look Magic hour as a warning example. Being a potential Hall of Famer in professional sports doesn’t automatically make you a great late-night host — and an embarrassing comedy show has the potential to elicit unintentional laughs of the worst kind.