Travis Kelce, Super Bowl champ, is open to anything. However, he plays awkwardly or hot (or both). Plus, there's a parody that sees NFL Give back by lifting women literally.

Travis Kelce was the latest host of Saturday Night Live, which is always a risky venture. Will he be a game-and-fun like Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan, or a dud like Lance Amstrong or Deion Sanders.

It was actually a mix of both. Travis was open to doing anything and made some great performances throughout the night. However, he also made a lot mistakes. He was stronger in the pre-taped parts, and he shined in the best sketch of the night. H

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It was brought in for some sketches, but it seemed that his confidence was waning and he was more dependent on cue cards and flubbing moments. Travis was the highlight of both the American Girl Cafe sketch and Mama's funeral. But he quickly faded.

Travis's parents, as well as his brother Jason Kelce, a Super Bowl opponent, joined Travis at the show to add more fun. Jason was not used in the show to overshadow his brother. Instead, he played on their rivalry as well as their relationship.

It was also clear that Travis' limitations as an actor were recognized by the cast and writers. They wrote a lot of material around him or cast him in similar roles to the confident, handsome man. Despite this, the sketches they created around Travis were great and could stand the test of age.

We'll rank all sketches from worst-to-first, as usual. This includes the Monologue, Cold Open and "Weekend Update", as well any sketches that were not cut due to time constraints but found their way online. We will not include musical guests because they aren't usually funny -- except Ashlee Simpson. We end with a look back at the cast member who had the best week.

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Too Hot to Handle

We enjoyed the absurd accents and Chloe’s portrayal of Travis as the strangely unusual woman Travis was drawn to. However, the sketch had no direction. Or it was cut short because of time constraints. Travis was able to keep his straight face while she had him physically manipulate her. But none of these shenanigans helped this sketch find a purpose. This sketch was at best half-baked.

Cold Open: Fox Dominion

The simplicity of this one was refreshing. It's always great to see "SNL” spoof Fox & Friends. They make some hilarious comments at Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt, and Ainsley Earhardt, who mistakenly think Dominion is talking of the "Minions." And that Alex Murdaugh is their boss at Fox, not Rupert Murdoch. James Austin Johnson was a great actor as Mike Lindell. He made totally absurd accusations about the Dominion voting machines which got Fox into legal trouble. O.J. was also thrown it. Simpson was the cherry on top.

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Another sketch that failed to end. It was clear that the writers and cast did not have enough faith to give Travis a leading role in this sketch. However, Travis still managed to get a few of his lines in. We enjoyed James' solo guitar playing and the overall concept. Ego and James, parents to three children, explained Travis' character and their marital status. They also explained how Devon, Chloe and Marcello could be their children. Travis' poor performance and another dud ending ruined this great sketch.

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Monologue: Travis Kelce

It's impossible to predict what will happen when an athlete hosts. But Travis delivered a great monologue. Travis was comfortable in front of the camera and self-deprecating in an entirely charming way. He also used the fact that his brother Jason, a Super Bowl opponent, was there to great comic effect. We didn't know how he would do in sketches but we were confident that he would enjoy the experience. With the personality he displayed, we believed he could charm his way out of any mishaps. Unfortunately, it didn't last the entire night. We've seen this on this list again.

Hinge

Travis struggled his way through another sketch of a "hot guy", but Bowen, Heidi and Hinge were great as a woman. Heidi set up a date through Hinge with Travis and he stood up. It almost seemed like it could have gone even further, as Bowen kept going to the bathroom and threatening to kill them in the mirror. These dark premises are explored in sketches for "SNL", but they don't go as deep or darker than past casts. Sometimes, the most bizarre conclusion is stronger than one like this.

Straight Male Friend

Bowen was the ideal cast member to perform this hilarious parody of straight male friendships. They never get vulnerable, emotional or real for any reason. Let's just ignore the deepest feelings and pretend it's only surface-level nonsense. Travis' "SMF", which briefly revealed his father's death, only to then brush it off and apologize later. This perfectly illustrated both the toxic expectations men place on themselves (and on Travis), while also balancing it against the emotional work that comes from having female friends. This piece was full of cultural insight and hilariously played for laughs.

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American Girl Cafe

Although they did not finish the sketch as planned, it was a hilarious and funny way to be uncomfortable. The sketch's careful lines were appreciated by all. Travis' cafe visitor, along with his dolls, was extremely creepy but not too inappropriate. Kenan Thompson was very accurate in his reactions as a patron there with his daughter. Sarah, however, was a little too extreme. Mikey Day, the server, was the star. He was so responsive to all that Travis said and did. The whole thing was a bit too bizarre to be offensive, so it stayed uncomfortably funny.

NFL Gives Back: Time is Cut

This one was hilarious and a parody of the NFL Gives Back charity promotions. This one is for the little guys who are unable to lift their women in the air. There are a lot of men who will gladly do this for you. This one is even more respected because they did not go for the easy way of making this a sexual thing. They stayed true to the idea that women like to feel small and light. Is this too much to ask? It's not!

Abby the Ex

Heidi is the best at playing these types of desperate characters. When she got up to meet Kelse we could see the tube running down her dress. We knew there was going to be a fluid explosion. It was actually a good thing, or else we wouldn't have known when the cartoonish tears began. It would have been a great visual gag in any color except black, so that we could see the tears soak the fabric and put emphasis on how much. It was a little flat. However, the detail about Travis' relationship with Chloe made it worth it. Heidi sucked every last bit of humor out of this piece. There were even fake tears at one point that caused them all to break. Breaks can be disastrous for sketches, but they are often a good thing. This is exactly what happened here. We won't spoil the adorable cameo at the ending.

Mama's funeral

We were initially disappointed that Ego Nadim was playing the dead Mama in this funeral piece. But we quickly learned our mistake. Travis blew on Travis' head like a Nintendo cartridge, and Travis pulled on her back like a talking doll. Ego, the center of this, was the star of this. She brought a spectacular performance despite all the chaos going around her. This was not the only problem. There were also timing issues between Travis' speech on the dais and the family sitting in the seats. It is possible that these events took place on two separate stages. This really slowed down the momentum. We were disappointed that it ended so quickly after Ego took control.

Weekend Update

Colin Jost delivered the hilarious references. He performed "Madea Goes to Jail" to respond to Tennesse's ban on drag shows, while he claimed Dilbert was being replaced by newspapers because of Scott Adams' racist comments. This comic strip, which was Black-led, was funny. Add in some strong jokes about Murdaugh's sentencing, George Santos, and a TikTok performance by Jost and "Update" is off to a strong start.

Although the commentary had some funny moments, and a few deliberately unfunny ones that worked well, we couldn't get over how amazing (and disturbing!) it was to make Michael Longfellow look like Dilbert. Even Che couldn’t keep a straight line when Michael turned to look at Che. Although we wish the commentary had been more harsh on Scott and the whole controversy, we understand that they were trying to convey the lighthearted, uninformed humor of the comic strip.

The boys' hot streak continued with Jost making jokes about non-gendered acting categories. Che suggested that the jail being converted into an Airbnb would become the first jail to refuse to accept Black people. The boys even managed to get away with a Pontius Pilate Lizard joke. This shows how much trust they have built with their audience through great "Updates."

After Punkie and Mikey's guest spots (below), the guys made one last joke. Che could talk about a pornstar's broken penis, while Jost could discuss how some McDonald's franchisees took issue with Carid B's and Offset's special meal deals.

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Everyone has a friend who manages to navigate life without ever meeting any famous people. But we doubt we would have thought of making it a segment on "SNL." This worked well, with Mikey being astonished at the names of famous people Punkie Johnson doesn't know about. It was even turned into a game, with Mikey trying to guess her meaning using bizarre names and descriptions like Rick Bernstein -- or Bruce Sprinsteen! This was even more hilarious because it was completely real.

As a birthday treat, Jost invited Sarah Sherman back to berate him. He makes Sarah look horrible and misogynistic, and like he sexually harasses her in her "Sarah News". Jost is always amused by her outrageous "cutesy", which makes it easy for her to make such off-color jokes. We feel like we could get a regular dose of "Sarah News" right now, though we wonder if that would be too much. Imagine her anchoring "Update." Talk about a shift in tone (though it would likely be quite funny).

Please don't destroy: Confidence

Each beat of this pre-taped clip was delivered with precision comedy. The sketch was full of laughs, which kept coming from one minute to the next. It was hilarious that Travis had to have the older woman punch Travis out. As the guys tried to gain their confidence for standing up to the "SNL' interns, the build was incredible. We didn't see the last sucker punch coming. This is one of the best "PDD" sketches and Travis' performance was pure lunacy.

PLAYER OF THOUGHT

Sarah dominated this episode out of nowhere. Although most of her roles were supporting, she was able to dominate the episode with her "Sarah News” segment. It wasn't enough to take on strong, leading roles from other performers.

Ego and James were hilarious as the singing couple, and both had great nights. But it was another pair who seemed to dominate the show and steal the show with their quirky and memorable characters. Heidi and Bowen were both on the episode this week, and shared the stage in "Fox & Friends Cold Open" and later in the evening's bizarro Hinge sketches.

Heidi has to be credited with this week's win, even though she also did a ridiculous crying sketch. She kept her cool in spite of all the crying gear and the chaos that was surrounding her.

Heidi is an integral part of the show's success. Heidi is the sixth season's senior female cast member and continues to improve her acting skills. She was always a joy on the show and is now a scene-stealer.

Next week, Saturday Night Live returns with Jenna Ortega as host and The 1975 as musical guest.

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Title: Travis Kelce SNL Sketches Ranked: Fox Dominion Scandal, Dilbert Creator Racism and More
Sourced From: toofab.com/2023/03/05/saturday-night-live-snl-recap-travis-kelce-fox-dominion-dilbert-creator-racism/
Published Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2023 08:42:31 +0000

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