The Beijing Olympics on NBC turned out the largest viewing audience in American television history. Safe to say NBC's mission was accomplished.

NBC's Beijing coverage reached 214 million viewers during the event's 16-day run, according to US media reports, eclipsing the 209 million viewers who watched the the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.

The US network broadcast a record 3,600 hours of coverage from Beijing across its various multimedia outlets - including mobile and online - after paying $894m for the rights.

As it turns out, the top five most viewed television events in American history are Olympic events. The Beijing games are trailed by Atlanta '96, Lillehammer '94, Athens 2004, and Seoul '88. For some perspective on this year's viewership, the average primetime audience was 27.7 million people, up 11 percent from 2004.

Combined with the BBC, 250 million people tuned into at least 15 minutes of the Olympics across two countries. Yikes.

Of all the bizarre things to occur during the closing ceremonies, none left viewers befuddled more than Bob Costas' assertion that fake Chinese athletes were boarding a plane that didn't really exist.

Bob was on to something. Those are, in fact, not-real athletes boarding stairs to a not-real plane to give the illusion that real athletes are boarding a real plane as part of their formal good bye.

I suppose we've come full circle from fake fireworks on 08/08/08.

Thanks to Matt Sebek at JoeSportsFan.com for the screengrabs.

Continuing a magnificent two-day old tradition, FPM celebrates the best and worst of the Beijing Games. Check here for more FPM medals.

In our quest to find the most awesome and absurd Olympics items, we landed on Ebay to find the products that *really* captured the essence of athletic competition. Between a Michael Phelps-used Speedo, a Dream Team windbreaker, Dream Team air mattress and Shawn Johnson cardboard stand-up, the FPM Medal was pretty much a no-brainer. Let us review the four nominees for good measure:

Shawn Johnson Cardboard Stand-up - Currently for sale with a bid of $76.00 and T minus 20 hours remaining

Michael Phelps Autographed Used Speedo - Sold for $579 the same weekend Phelps captured his 8th gold medal. Perfect timing on the vendor's part and equally disgusting.

Dream Team windbreaker- Sold for $12.99, and will get its true value via wall decor. Anyone who wears the jacket in our current society will likely be mocked and have to answer questions about Reebok Pumps, Zubaz and Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Scottie Pippen/David Robinson Air Mattress- Sold for $7.99 and has a hole in it! Throw on some tape and use as a de facto cardboard stand-up and it will at least muster a shred of long-term benefit.

Safe to say our undisputed FPM Medal for value goes to our smiling gymnast. It turned into a two-horse race between Phelps' swimming attire and 56 inches of cardboard Shawn Johnson. In the end, Johnson's value will stand the test of time (pun not intended). When the Olympics flavor tapers off and autumn officially hits the calendar, the novelty of Michael Phelps will certainly subside. Likewise for Johnson.

The difference in their items, however, is that Johnson will be smiling for all time. The Speedo on display will quickly turn into the "Speedo on the wall" and soon you'll be the creepy person with another man's briefs you treasure as a souvenir. That's what makes a sexual deviant. Plus, nobody wants to spend 580 bucks on a used Speedo.

Most of us, anyway.

Photo via Ebay user rkbakely

Cuban taekwondo competitor Angel Matos and his coach, Leudis Gonzalez, may be permanently banned from Olympics competition after Matos kicked referee Chakir Chelbat. The altercation occurred when Matos was disqualified in the second round of his match with Kazakhstan's Arman Chilmanov.

Up 3-2 with a minute remaining, Matos fell to the ground and awaited medical attention when his one minute of injury time expired, thereby awarding the match to his adversary. From there, Matos snapped and created a scene straight out of the WWE handbook. 

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

“He was too strict,” Gonzalez said, referring to the decision to disqualify Matos. Afterward, he charged the match was fixed, accusing the Kazakhs of offering him money.

In addition to the Olympics ruling, Matos and Gonzalez may be banned from all championships sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation. Matos' Beijing records may also be terminated.

Photo via Getty Images

One of the timeless storylines in the Saved by the Bell TV series was the on-again, off-again relationship of Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski. In the first episode of the Bayside era, Zack showed everyone his life-size cardboard cutout of Kelly that descended from the ceiling to greet him in the morning. I maintain to this day I'd be content if cardboard cutout-Kelly offered me morning salutations every 24 hours, but that's not important.

What is important is that our friendly online super-center, otherwise known as Ebay, is bringing back the Kapowski in Olympics form. She's not a volleyball player and isn't a cheerleader per se, but smiling Shawn Johnson in cardboard form is sure to make you happy.

This is a life-size cardboard stand-up of Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson that was used as part of a Coca-Cola display.  The stand-up is 4' 8" tall and measures 27" across. 

Much like the Michael Phelps' competition-used Speedo, the Shawn Johnson cutout will make for some awkward conversation in the single male's household. Used as a form of sports decor in the family home or female home and this thing will be cute as a button (I didn't make up the rules, I just follow them).

Come to think of it, Shawn Johnson and Kelly Kapowski have a lot in common. They both represent the athlete, the girl next door and the all-American. That's why I say to you, Shawn, as a distant fan, please don't ever date a college guy who runs a burgers and fries joint. You'll only be hurt in the end.

Photo via Ebay user rkblakely

Like so many recent broken records before it, NBC's record viewership for the 2008 Olympics isn't exactly clear-cut. The network is on the verge of setting an all-time high for total number of viewers, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Whatever variables are included, the story is still impressive.

Akin to unique visitors to a Web site, NBC’s favorite number these days is a count of the number of people who have tuned in at some point to U.S. television coverage of the Beijing Games. Through Tuesday, that number stood at 203 million — four million more than the count at this point during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and six million shy of the record set that same year. The total count already has exceeded viewership in 2004 in Athens, by a margin of fewer than one million.

So NBC 2008 will likely be the unanimous champion for viewers in Olympics history, right? Kind of.

The US Census Bureau estimates there are 35 million more people living in the United States than in 1996. Due to that growth, there are an estimated 31 million more people not watching the Beijing games compared to the Atlanta version in 1996. Throw in the fact that many people are watching online, viewing video-on-demand and checking their cell phones and deciphering the number of "unique viewers" isn't an exact science.

All I know for sure is that NBC purchased the rights to the games for a reported $894 million and spent another $100 million on production. The network sold $1 billion worth of advertising and GE says it will rake in an additional $700 million for "Olympics-related services". Sounds like a winning formula.

If the network gets the surplus of viewers people are projecting, it'll simply be the icing on the cake. And the hard-working folks at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company should expect big things this fall with the increased exposure.

Photo via Getty Images

With the massive ratings success the Beijing games have brought NBC, the mainstream networks are eager to get their corporate hands on future events. Not surprisingly, that includes the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Bidding for the 2014 Games from Sochi, Russia and the 2016 Summer Olympics will likely unfold over the next six to nine months, according to ESPN officials. A firm deadline is expected by October 2009, when the IOC determines whether Rio de Janiero, Madrid, Tokyo or Chicago will host the 2016 Games.

Given NBC Universal’s ratings and digital-media success with the current Games, which held an $894 million rights fee, the bidding will likely surpass the $1 billion mark, a floor ESPN is bracing for.

Safe to say an ESPN-hosted Olympics is a distinct possibility. But what would that mean for viewers? I've given it some thought and realized "the Olympics on ESPN" would more or less resemble mass hysteria.

Tons of Chris Berman - He'd secure the role of Bob Costas and we'd see his discount-rack ties, wrinkled pants and severe comb-over every night. He'd occasionally be joined by Tom Rinaldi and Jeremy Schaap for the sap features a la Mary Carillo. Nastia "that faucet is Liukin" anyone?

Wall to Wall Coverage -The 2016 Summer Games would be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC, ESPN News would run special Olympic updates every 15 minutes, and ESPN Classic would air classic Olympic highlights. Since the highlights would be limited to ESPN-broadcast events, it would serve as a Chris Berman marathon. Also consider the advent of a new ESPN channel, "ESPN Karolyi", broadcasting nothing but Bela Karolyi 24/7. Frankly, I'm pulling for that one.

"Olympics Tonight" -A new highlight show spawns in the mold of "Baseball Tonight" and "NFL Live". Following in the Bristol tradition, the "Olympics Tonight" studio would include a mock swimming pool, mock high dive, mock track and mock balance beam. If it means Mark Schlereth and John Kruk will be involved in mock-swimming and mock-diving, consider me a loyal viewer. Ditto for Linda Cohn on the balance beam.

Warm Cereal -Following in the path of "Cold Pizza", ESPN presents a new variety show for the Olympics titled "Warm Cereal". ESPN's version of MSNBC's critically panned "Olympic Update" will feature Skip Bayless as the Tiki Barber of the show. Yikes.

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Monday we documented the poor reviews for Tiki Barber and the rest of the MSNBC "Olympic Update" program. As it turns out, the average fan is voicing displeasure with the quality of the program.

On MSNBC's message boards, Tiki and the crew are taking one on the proverbial chin.

anewvoicein08- Not only is the leather distracting, Jenna is sophmoric and Tiki is no orator.

Lainy625- Frankly I am appalled at the broadcast on the Olympic update that I just saw with Tiki Barber and Jenna Wolfe. This was the worst broadcast I have ever seen. I have worked in television truck for several years and have a good idea of what it takes to do a decent broadcast. From a television production point of view the whole broadcast was horrible, the graphics need to be updated, the talent needs to be better informed, the background noise needs to be taken out, and the information needs to be RELEVANT!

Softstep- i have to agree that the olympic update i just watched my have been the worst broadcast i have ever seen. tiki and jenna are so unprofessional! they seem to be constantly cracking jokes and taking shots at olympians shown on the screen. this is the olympics folks, i believe the athletes deserve a little respect.

For video evidence, we turn to Awful Announcing's clip of Jenna Wolfe forgetting that Tiki Barber never won a Super Bowl ring.

Awk. Ward.

And then we come to the most recent controversial gaffe:Tiki pondering if Jamaican athletes are doping. Naturally, that didn't go over well.

LouiLa Touche- In today's report Tikki brought up the issue of drug use and tied it to the male and female Jamaican athletes.  He did not mention that Usain Bolt was a 400 meter youth world champion at 15 yrs old.  He did not mention that over the years US athletes (not Jamaicans) have been exposed for their drug use.  He did not mention that at least one of the US athletes in the 100 meters women has tested positive for drugs in the past.  TIkkI!  Could it be that now that more testing is being done and more athletes are forced to go clean, the true champions are on the podium?  I think so!

Tiki should probably quit digging now before that hole continues to get deeper.

Photo via Getty Images

It's not a box of Wheaties and it certainly isn't Chocolate Covered Doughnuts. Michael Phelps locked a deal with Kellogg's to appear on a cereal box with a rooster and tiger, otherwise known as Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes.

Kellogg Co. said Tuesday the boxes should be in grocery stores by the middle of September. The packages will include pictures of Phelps competing at the Olympic games in Beijing, where he won eight gold medals -- setting an all-time record for most golds at one Olympics.

Kellogg's is also an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Team and a sponsor of Phelps.

Naturally, the cereal isn't the only product to make Phelps a rich man as a result of his worldly exploits and achievements.

Phelps’ victories should earn him more than a few more endorsements. As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, the swimmer already has deals with PowerBar, Omega, AT&T Wireless, Kellogg’s, Visa and Speedo, who promised him a $1 million bonus if he won all eight medals.

For those unaware, the Kellogg Company houses its world headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, roughly 80 miles from Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan where Phelps attended college.

For his sake and the sake of the children, I hope Phelps appears in a television commercial alongside Tony the Tiger. That's the equivalent of street cred with the kiddies.

Don't act like you never ate a balanced breakfast with an imaginary talking tiger in the locker room after your hockey games as a kid. Just don't even go there.

Photo via Getty Images

Michael Johnson is synonymous with sprints at the summer games. He's the only man to successfully defend his Olympics title in the 400M, he won four gold medals and was crowned world champion nine times. Safe to say he recognizes greatness when he sees it.

Then again, it doesn't take a genius to recognize such when a world record in the 100M transpires right before your very eyes. Even so, the following video via Fan IQ is pretty cool. Johnson was hanging with the BBC crew during Usain Bolt's rush to history and displayed his love of sport in much the same way viewers of NBC witnessed Bela Karolyi cheer on the American gymnasts.