SNL Scorecard: Travis Kelce / Kelsea Ballerini

In the calendar year, Saturday Night Live began by tabbing a trio of buzzy hosts that were having a *moment* in pop culture (especially in the Twittersphere), a trend that will return this coming weekend with first-time host Jenna Ortega. A week ago, the show went broke from the trend of new social media beloveds, opting for a 5-time host and veteran actor Woody Harrelson. This past weekend, they went in a... slightly different direction for host: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce!

In my head, athletes hosting Saturday Night Live isn't all too uncommon, but I looked back and found that Kelce was actually the first professional athlete to host the show since fellow NFL player J.J. Watt helmed proceedings in the first weekend of February 2020. That show, ironically, took place less than 24 hours before Super Bowl LIV, won by none other than Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs. There were other similarities between this episode and that one: just like Watt, Travis was joined by a country artist making their first appearance on the show. In his case, the musical accompaniment came courtesy of another "Kelsey" homphone, Kelsea Ballerin. (Fortunately for people that, unlike me, don't enjoy dad jokes, they relegated the Kelce/Kelsea jokes to the promos and no live sketches.) And unfortunately, the other similarity was that, despite a good amount of energy and willingness from the host, a combination of his lack of sketch comedy instincts and generally weak writing conspired to render a pretty forgettable, if not bad, episode.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 14th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"Straight Male Friend": 7/10

Some of SNL’s best content in recent years has come in the form of gently teasing straight male behavior. This was the latest solid installment; not quite as memorable as the other two linked above, perhaps because this was slightly less novel of a concept. But still, Bowen’s somewhat condescending but genuinely appreciative interaction with Travis the benevolent oaf was so funny.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 7.5/10

This was another hit-or-miss segment of Weekend Update, with some of Michael Che’s and Colin Jost’s best/edgiest jokes in a long time, but a fair amount of “meh” jokes as well. Michael Longfellow’s appearance as Dilbert and Punkie Johnson’s appearance as herself were both funny, but not really standout, which is too bad because I wish we saw both cast members more than we do. Sarah Sherman, though, is such a star, and her latest Update appearance was unsurprisingly hilarious, once again.

"American Girl Café": 7/10

Without a doubt, the highlight of live sketches-- arguably the only one that was worth rewatching --came fresh out of the gates after the monologue. This one didn’t really go beyond much more than Travis Kelce’s character being a creepy dude, but they got a lot of mileage out of it, and he played his part very well. I also appreciate how they could never actually pin him down as doing anything ‘wrong,’ just being generally unnerving. There were several solid punchline, but “don't worry, she’s on the pill” legitimately made me spit my drink out.

"Please Don't Destroy - Self-Defense": 6.5/10

Two weeks in a row of getting a Please Don’t Destroy sketch early in the episode! I may be wrong, but I feel like up until last week, they’ve tended to get pushed back to later in the night. I didn’t find this one to be among their most memorable either, but did prefer it to last week’s bit. The joke about Kelce repeatedly beating them up was fairly obvious, but the added humor of the older woman classmate, then yet another twist at the end, was clever.

“Garrett From Hinge": 6.5/10

This sketch near the end of the night ended somewhat clumsily, and there was the occasional timing error, but this was such a hilarious send-up of the copious awful guys on dating apps. Solid skit, and I could afford to see "Garrett From Hinge" as a recurring character.

“Abby the Ex-Girlfriend": 6/10

This one was another one that I liked, but didn’t end up as good as I thought it could be. Heidi sold her part well, and it was among the most at-ease Travis seemed in all of the live sketches. It was definitely fun, and the Jason Kelce cameo was a fun addition, but I think between the one repeated joke and somewhat clunky finish, this was merely good, not great.

"Too Hot To Handle": 6/10

This was the rare 10-to-1 sketch that I wished wasn't 10-to-1. It was so easily enjoyable, but felt so rushed in the constrained time slot. I want to know more about Glen Bechamel!! Give me more Glen!!!

"Monologue": 5.5/10

When a comedian or a particularly charismatic actor hosts, the monologues are hotly anticipated for their expected comedy value. With atypical hosts such as, say, a pro football player, the monologues are anticipated more so out of perhaps morbid curiosity (“Can they do this?”). The answer for Travis Kelce is, yes he can do it! His comedic timing was occasionally off, and truth be told, there weren’t a whole lot of funny jokes. Still, for someone who has never done anything like this and claimed to be nervous, he seemed incredibly comfortable onstage, and made the most of some very funny moments. I also appreciate how much he allowed his brother to be part of his big night.

The... Less-Good

“Family Meeting": 5/10

This definitely felt like a 10-to-1 sketch idea, with how bizarre it was. The concept of a middle-aged couple calling all their adult children to break the news that they’re now in a throuple through song is so random and so hilarious. And yet, this one just never really amounted to being any funnier than the original idea was.

“Mama's Funeral": 4.5/10

I wish I liked the sketch more, because I loved the idea. But while it had some good moments, the laugh out loud parts were fewer than it felt like they could have been, and several minor timing errors made this feel kind of clunky.

“Fox & Friends: Dominion Lawsuit Cold Open": 4/10

SNL’s short-lived streak of very good cold opens comes to a close after several weeks. Unsurprisingly, it was a Fox parody that ended it; I remember the show’s “Fox & Friends” parodies were occasionally very funny when they first started them with Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer and Bobby Moynihan playing the clueless trio. Nobody since the departure of those three cast members has ever been able to come as close to accurately portraying their buffoonish personalities, however. This had a couple laughs, especially with James Austin Johnson’s Mike Lindell, but for the most part consisted of obvious, fairly lame punchlines.

Musical Performances

Kelsea Ballerini: 5.5/10

Before this episode aired, I could only name one song by the artist, but I had heard her name come up on radio and in Grammy discussions since her breakout with said song (“Peter Pan”). So, I was aware she has a fair amount of both fandom within the Country sphere and respect from the music world at large. I also lump her in with fellow country queen, and friend (and even lookalike?) Maren Morris who I love, so I was predisposed to like Ballerini as well.

Her set was fine, but pretty unremarkable on the whole. I enjoyed Ballerini’s stage presence and the interaction with the set design/the person playing her “shadow” during her first performance of “Blindsided.” But vocally she was a little wobbly throughout, and both musically and lyrically the track didn’t do a whole lot for me. Her second song, “Penthouse,” was similar in terms of sonic type and level of quality. It featured less stage interaction, but I actually preferred this performance for how well Ballerini captured how emotional and vulnerable this song was for her.

OVERALL SCORE: 5.92 ('Comedy Only' score: 5.95)