Saturday Night Live: Travis Kelce / Kelsea Ballerini

March 5, 2023 1:59 AM - Season 48, Episode 14

John Head was the show's first talent scout.

• Cold Open - Fox & Friends Dominion Suit: Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Bowen Yang, James Austin Johnson, Kenan Thompson
• Monologue: Travis Kelce
• American Girl Cafe: Sarah Sherman, Travis Kelce, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker
• Youre Worth It: PDD, Travis Kelce
• Glenda's Memorial: Travis Kelce, Kenan Thompson, Punkie Johnson, Devon Walker, Sarah Sherman, Ego Nwodim
• Straight Male Friend: Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Bowen Yang, Travis Kelce
• Seeing the Ex: Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Travis Kelce, Chloe Fineman, Jason Kelce
• Kelsea Ballerini - Blindsided
• Weekend Update: Michael Che, Colin Jost
  • Dilbert: Michael Longfellow
  • Oscars: Punkie Johnson, Mikey Day
  • The Sarah News: Sarah Sherman
• John Head RIP title card
• Cuckold Dad: James Austin Johnson, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Marcello Hernandez, Chloe Fineman, Travis Kelce
• Garrett From Hinge: Heidi Gardner, Travis Kelce, Bowen Yang
• Kelsea Ballerini - Penthouse
• Too Hot to Handle: Devon Walker, Ego Nwodim, James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang, Sarah Sherman, Travis Kelce, Chloe Fineman

posted by rhizome (8 comments total)

Punkie and Mikey on Weekend Update were amazing!
posted by ellieBOA at 5:42 AM on March 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

I didn’t know who either the host or musical guest were, nonetheless this was easily one of the funniest episodes of the season. Kelce was eager and game to the challenge and acquitted himself beautifully.

His monologue, such as it was, was endearingly rough and seemingly genuine. His performance in American Girl Cafe was pretty hilarious, and allayed any fear that the non-comedian wouldn’t be up to the challenge.

Other than the cold open, which felt kind-of thrown-together at the last minute, I don’t think there was a real flop throughout the first half of the show. Seeing the Ex was probably the weakest link in the first half, but it wasn’t too bad.

Straight Male Friend had me rolling on the floor.

WU was pretty solid. Mikey and Punkie were so good. And, Sarah News! Sarah Sherman is so brilliant. I thought she went easy on Colin, though.

Cuckold Dad was creepily wonderful.

Garrett from Hinge was a bit meh to me. It had potential, but I just think they didn’t seize the opportunities. Though, I do think Bowen working on Heidi’s feet was off-script, judging by her reaction, which was fun. Also: I know it’s live tv and everyone has to jump straight from one bit to another, but everyone clothed in bed was just odd. Kelce could have at least played it shirtless, maybe? Unless he has some questionable tattoos?

Overall, good show.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:48 AM on March 5, 2023

Somehow, it makes a lot of sense that Punkie is Barbara from Abbott Elementary.
posted by Etrigan at 4:49 PM on March 5, 2023

I really dug the monologue. Good energy, seems like a nice guy.

Loved Sherman on WO giving Collin grief!
posted by porpoise at 6:24 PM on March 5, 2023

Travis Kelce did AMAZINGLY well for a non-actor, and he was in everything except the cold open and Weekend Update, which of course the hosts aren't usually in. His role in "American Girl Café" wouldn't have been the easiest thing to carry off, yet he did so without a hitch. I'd rank his performance as host better than average, which is impressive given that most hosts are professional actors. Having his brother do a few bits too, such as his sitting in the audience looking very sullen while Travis talked about how his brother was absolutely totally fine with Travis beating him in the Super Bowl, was super cute.
posted by orange swan at 9:00 PM on March 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

I was braced for the sort of show that normally happens whenever there's an athlete or narcissistic billionaire on, but that didn't happen. The show has a lot of experience working around lackluster hosts, but it didn't seem like they needed to, like he was just a pretty solid host of a pretty good episode. He didn't even play himself, not even in the Please Don't Destroy bit.
posted by ckape at 9:34 PM on March 5, 2023

I'm not, er, well-informed about athletic events, and I watched a few of these and assumed Kelce was an actor who would be in an upcoming Marvel movie or something. Shocking to learn he's a football player with no acting experience.
posted by mmoncur at 3:32 AM on March 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

He and his brother have a podcast/youtube channel that's pretty entertaining (and I have a pretty low tolerance for podcasts.)

I particularly enjoy the speculative questions:
Could your average person gain 1 yard in the NFL?
Who would win in an all-linemen vs all-skill players scrimmage?
Could any NFL players play in the NBA?
and more ...
posted by chbrooks at 1:06 PM on March 6, 2023