There has been a lot of sniggering about how Megan Markle’s Netflix series has flopped spectacularly, and it is well-deserved. Netflix has a long track record of buying into the hype surrounding celebrities and getting burned on expensive projects. Markle is widely disliked so any expectation that she would bring that many eyeballs was always a forlorn hope.
But Michelle Obama is supposed to be in a different class. Not fake British royalty, but genuine American royalty. Many Democrats held onto the hope that Obama would sweep in to save the day by jumping into the presidential race and decisively defeat Trump. She is trusted. She is loved. She is…boring.
So, so boring.
Obama has joined her brother, Craig Robinson, a former basketball player, to present a podcast called IMO, or In My Opinion. It was widely hyped, and people expected it to rise up the ranks quickly and establish Michelle as a force all her own. And it is quite possible that Michelle might be ON her own, because rumors of a divorce with Barack are swirling, although unconfirmed.
The problem is, as I said, that she is really really, REALLY BORING. This, for instance, is a “Digital Exclusive!” that is supposed to serve as the equivalent of a movie trailer, drawing you to see the rest. It is excruciating.
So boring, in fact, that after a week on YouTube the number of viewers might be compared to the number of parents attending a 3rd grade violin recital, and no doubt the viewers were just as happy to enjoy the experience as the parents themselves.
Maybe I am being unfair about the numbers. They are more akin to the attendance at a WNBA game where Caitlin Clark is not on the teams playing.
I don’t know if the producers expected her to be the next Joe Rogan, but if so they will be disappointed. Put up any random funny cat video and you are likely to do better in views than Michelle’s IMO, and with good reason. You will get a smile in the bargain, not a discussion of whether a hot dog is a sandwich or whether milk and ice cream should be consumed together.
I used to be worried about Michelle Obama running for the White House, but after listening to her talk for 90 seconds on her podcast, I now realize that she’s as likable as a bad case of hemorrhoids pic.twitter.com/xpzzjnrjSH
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) March 14, 2025
In some ways I am a bit disappointed that Obama’s podcast is only a bit more popular than Herpes, and much less popular than how you contract it. It should have provided a rich vein of materials on which to build jokes, but if it continues down this path I doubt that it will be around long enough to give us even that benefit.
Gutfeld: “Michelle Obama surprised fans on her new podcast by saying her pet peeve about her husband is that he’s chronically late. For example we’re still waiting on him to admit he’s from Kenya.” pic.twitter.com/npOntlVYvg
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) March 14, 2025
Michelle Obama is one of those figures who is best liked when mysterious. When her fans can build an image in their heads they can make her out to be something much more interesting than she really is.
If I were advising her I would tell her to let others write scripts for her and to stay away from trying to appear more relatable. She isn’t that at all.
To know her is to be…bored.
