Travis Kelce Brings Plenty Of Enthusiasm To Saturday Night Live, But Not Much Else
There's a reason athletes don't often host "Saturday Night Live," and recent Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce just proved why. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end took the stage at Studio 8H last night to make his hosting debut, and he brought the same enthusiasm that many professional athletes have brought to the late night sketch series before him, from Michael Jordan to Peyton Manning. However, though Kelce clearly has charisma, what he doesn't have are any of the other skills that make a good "SNL" host. That means that most of this new episode was a waste. Though there were sporadic laughs to be found, if it wasn't for the more reliable pieces of the "SNL" cast, this episode would have been a total dud.
So let's reluctantly dig into what the Travis Kelce-hosted episode of "Saturday Night Live" had to offer.
What was the best sketch of the night?
Please Don't Destroy – Self-Defense – After the comedy trio of Please Don't Destroy delivered the best sketch of the night last weekend, in an otherwise pretty dismal episode hosted by Woody Harrelson, they again provided the most laughs in an episode that somehow managed to be worse. The sketch uses Travis Kelce to the best of his ability, but actually delivers big laughs in spite of his presence. As expected, it's the fast escalation of absurdity that makes the work of Please Don't Destroy work so well. It's not one of their strongest sketches, but on a night filled with mostly polite chuckles, it's more than enough to be the best sketch of the night. Also, I don't know who that old woman is, but maybe she should be a cast member on "SNL."
How was the rest of the episode?
Straight Male Friend – Coming in as the second best sketch of the night is this entry with Bowen Yang. This particular sketch excels from giving us a subdued Yang performance, as he carries a prescription medicine-style commercial about the benefits of having a Straight Male Friend. Since Travis Kelce basically has to play a version of himself, he works rather well here. Honestly, Kelce worked much better in both of the pre-recorded sketches. Likely because he has multiple takes to get lines right, and he has a director guiding his performance along the way. But when Kelce was doing live sketches, it was like watching a stray cat being trained to walk, read, and talk at the same time.
Abby the Ex-Girlfriend – Here's a sketch that wasn't downright terrible, but that's mostly because it's anchored by a hilarious physical performance provided by Heidi Gardner. First of all, I'm thoroughly impressed by the practical effects used to make it appear as if Gardner's character is pouring tears out of her eyes. I'd really like to see how the crew pulled that off and how Gardner managed to deliver that performance as she inevitably got water in her eyes. Unfortunately, Gardner was playing opposite Travis Kelce in this scene, and that took the wind out of its sails quite dramatically. Thankfully, it picked up a bit towards the end when Travis Kelce's fellow NFL player brother Jason Kelce showed up. Honestly, based on his two appearances on "SNL," I would have much rather seen Jason hosting the show instead, but here we are.
Too Hot to Handle – If you're looking for evidence as to just how bad this episode got, look no further than this mess of a parody of the Netflix dating competition series "Too Hot to Handle." While I would have preferred seeing Travis Kelce attempting to portray characters with distinct personalities and voices like this, Kelce even struggles to fail in a hilarious way. With many athletes, it's amusing to watch them try to put on different personas, even if they're not particularly good at it. But there's nothing entertaining about Kelce playing this British douchebag. Though Chloe Fineman does a fine job as this undesirable horndog of a contestant, it's all overshadowed by Kelce sucking the life out of any comedy that might be present.
How was Travis Kelce as an SNL host?
In case it wasn't already clear, there's no beating around the bush here: Travis Kelce was just plain terrible on "SNL." It's like the guy can't control the volume of his voice, and he always sounds like he's reading lines out of a children's book. There are constantly lines where the inflection is on the wrong word, and the phrases don't even sound like dialogue. It's been a long time since I've seen anyone read lines this poorly while making it seem like they don't even know how humans behave. Is Travis Kelce an alien who just so happens to be good at being a male athlete? Because he has absolutely zero stage presence beyond the manner in which he's used to speaking to his teammates.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that there were a lot of promising sketches here that have now been totally trashed. The "American Girl Cafe" sketch would have been hilarious with anyone who even knew how to remotely act fancy. The "Garrett from Hinge" sketch would have been a superb 10-to-1 sketch, but Kelce again turned an opportunity for great comedy into a stilted stage play that rivals the worst community theater.
Kelce may be a nice guy, and it was charming to see him get a little choked up about being given the chance to host "SNL," but I simply can't get past the fact that this guy couldn't deliver during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Thank goodness for Sarah Sherman and Weekend Update
With such an underwhelming episode, it's no surprise that Weekend Update was one of the stronger segments of the night. Colin Jost and Michael Che had some more fun with each other during the headline punchlines, and Jost again was given a joke that leaned into his fictionally racist prat persona that Che takes advantage of whenever he can. There were also some great one-liners, especially the one about the Pontius Pilate lizard and the "Wet Ass Patty" McDonald's commercial inspired by Cardi B.
But of course, it's Sarah Sherman who took the spotlight with one of her Sarah's News segments. Though not as strong as her previous installments, this one was a "Birthday Edition," and it had some fantastic gags throughout. If it wasn't for Weekend Update and the two pre-recorded sketches that topped the evening, then this episode would have been a total loss.
Hopefully next week the cast and crew will have better luck when Jenna Ortega makes her "SNL" hosting debut on March 11.