1. Travis exceeded my expectations. I thought Travis would be fun but didn’t know exactly how well he would actually do. But you could tell that although he had fun, he took it serious. Even in his monologue he got a little emotional talking about how big of a deal it was to stand where Ferrell, Farley and Sandler had stood before. He worked hard and it paid off. He is no Timberlake or Steve Martin but he held his own and performed admirably.
2. The Monologue was the best part. After the opening scene making fun of Fox news that surprised no one, we got to the monologue. I didn’t know what they would do here but it was excellent and the best part of the whole show. From the get go, he said that hosting SNL was better than winning the Super Bowl and then quickly said he was lying. He followed it by making fun of himself on the sidelines and then imitating Mahomes. Jason Kelce was in the audience and that was great. They played it well. Then he made fun of his dating show, “Catching Kelce”, it is like the bachelor except no one watched. He said that technically it should be on the streaming service Peacock but they were like “nah, were good. It was strong from beginning to end and kicked the show off right.
3. SNL writers are weird. Even though I thought Travis was great, the writers didn’t give him a lot to work with. It seemed like every sketch got weirder and weirder as the night went on. It was like what awkward scenario can we put Kelce in next. And almost every sketch had to do with sex in one way or another. It wasn’t that creative and sort of redundant which leads to reaction #4.
4. SNL still sucks. While it was entertaining because it was Kelce, there was nothing about the show that inspired me to tune back in anytime soon. It bashed conservatives a little less than I remember but still wasn’t that funny. In a lot of ways it was just the same jokes over and over again with a couple of good skits in between.
5. Weekend Update isn’t good either. Weekend Update used to sort of be the climax of the show. Everything before was good, update was awesome and then it was down hill after that. Now everything before Update is okay, update isn’t good and everything after update is weird and/or dumb. Whether it was Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Norm McDonald, Tina Fey and Fallon, Fey and Poehler, Poehler and Seth Myers and finally Myers by himself, it was always funny with good people who came on as well. But this thing was a disaster. Besides a few decent laughs, the jokes weren’t funny. The only thing worse than normal update was the guests. First was a guy dressed like Dilbert. The jokes were so bad that literally no one laughed after anything he said. Then they rolled out some woman with a brightly colored desk and clothes that tried to make Colin Jost look bad or feel awkward. The thing that was bad and awkward was the sketch. You used to be bummed when Weekend Update ended because you know the show was downhill from there. Now when Weekend Update ends, you are bummed because it is hard to imagine the show getting worse from what you just saw.
6. Kelce makes awkward work. Despite the writer’s attempt to make this an awful show, Kelce saved several sketches starting with the first one. The first sketch he was in was awkward but at least funny. It involved him going to an American Girl Cafe with just 2 dolls. Kelce played the role perfectly with enough creep to be funny but not so much that it was cringeworthy. He attempted to do the same thing in several other skits where he was dating an old black woman who had died, was sleeping with a married woman who’s husband knew about it and were explaining it to their adult kids while he played video games and finally in bed with a girl who stood up another guy who shows up at the house. The creep factor was in full effect. I thought Kelce saved all but the last sketch despite the writers attempt to make the show awful.
7. Straight Male Friend was the best. By far the best sketch was about a gay man who has lots of straight girl friends who can be high maintenance and exhausting. The idea is that these friends are great but you need a straight male friend sometimes. It then cuts to Kelce playing video games, eating wings and having little conversation. To point out how little the commitment is the gay man tells Kelce he might be moving to Europe for 7 years. Kelce responds, “Go, just hit me up when you get back.” The drama comes during a frustrating video game where Travis throws the controller and utters the words I hear my 14 year old son say all the time, “This game is stupid!”. Then Travis says, you want to go get some wings. The skit is spot on and hilarious.
8. Jason Kelce appearance was a win. Jason showed up twice. First during the monologue when Travis mentioned his family and talked about beating his brother in the Super Bowl which was awkward especially since they had to ride home together in their Mom’s minivan. Jason showed up again during a skit as Travis was at a bar with his fiancée. He runs into a past “girlfriend” who is very upset and cries dramatically with tears/water going every where. It is pretty funny. It turns out they only went on one date and the girl is a little nutty. But then her new boyfriend shows up and it is no other than Jason Kelce. This makes Travis cry like the girl although I don’t think he could get the tear tools to work correctly. But these two brothers are something else. It was great that we got to see Jason a couple of times.
9. Travis as a self defense trainer was pretty funny. The skit starts with the writers not being respected by interns so they go to a personal protection/training class hosted by Travis. First of all his name is Kurt Lightning which is awesome. He then shows that his t-shirt says You’re worth it. He then brings one of the writers up and talks him up before knocking him out. The next writer comes up and Travis says why are you afraid and he answers, because you knocked out my friend and I’m concerned he might be dead. The whole thing escalates from there including beating up an old lady and the interns throwing coffee on the writers. Kelce is solid in it and after the monologue and the straight male friend skit, it is probably the funniest thing on the show.
10. The only way I will watch SNL again is if another Chief hosts. I thought Travis was great and it was fun watching it because he was on it. I laughed quite a bit but mostly because Kelce was on there. But if this is an example of the overall writing of the show, then there is no reason for me to watch. To many skits involving sexual innuendos and non funny political stuff. Why would I watch SNL when I can watch something that is actually funny on Netflix or some other streaming network. Even if I want to watch Travis be funny, I can simply check out the New Heights podcast. In short, the show successfully got me to watch SNL once but did not succeed in bringing me back to watch again. I’m guessing I am not alone.

I said I wouldn’t get a 5 for Friday in because I am traveling but a lot has happened this week in sports so I will see if I can fit it in. Either way, have a great rest of your week.