Posted in: NBC, Preview, TV, YouTube | Tagged: nbc, saturday night live, snl, travis kelce

Saturday Night Live/NFL Comparisons, Coach Gardner & "Kelce Ballerina"

Here's Saturday Night Live host Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), musical guest Kelsea Ballerini & SNL's Heidi Gardner in this week's promos.

With only a little more than 48 hours to go until Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and musical guest Kelsea Ballerini take the stages of Studio 8H, it's time for NBC's Saturday Night Live to roll out this week's on-stage promos. Joining them for this go-around is SNL cast member Heidi Gardner (who made her love of the Chiefs known at the end of last Saturday's Woody Harrelson-"hosted" edition by sporting a jersey). In the first promo, a little "name game" leads to a confession on Kelce's part. Following that, Kelce sees a lot of similarities between the NFL & SNL – we're just not quite sure that they're real similarities. And then, to wrap things up, "Coach Gardner" won't let Kelce slide with a weak promo.

And don't forget that next Saturday, March 11th, sees Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) hosting with musical guest The 1975. Now, here's a look at Kelce, Ballerini, and Gardner during this week's on-stage promos:

And here's a look back at what SNL had to share over its Instagram Stories account on Wednesday night, followed by the official post of Kelce clearly liking what he's reading.

And here's a look back at Kelce, Marcello Hernandez, Ego Nwodim, and Bowen Yang during the midweek sketch, where Kelce got to channel his inner "Indiana Jones":

And here's a look back at SNL's welcome/intro video for Kelce & Ballerini from earlier this week:

NBC's SNL Season 48 includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, and Bowen Yang. Executive produced by Michaels, SNL is directed by Liz Patrick, with alum Darrell Hammond announcing. Based out of Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series is produced by SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video.

Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live Season 48, SNL's Future & More

Speaking with The New York Times, SNL creator Lorne Michaels addressed the casting changes, labeling the upcoming season as "a year of reinvention" that could lead to some "exhilarating" change. He also had some reassuring words for "Weekend Update" fans and teased what's in store for SNL's big 50th-anniversary celebration. Here are some of the highlights:

COVID-19 Fallout Resulted in Much Larger SNL Cast Than Usual: "The pandemic had put us in this position where no one could really leave because there were no jobs. And at the same time, if I don't add new people every year, then the show isn't the show. There have to be new people, for both our sake and also for the audience."

Michaels Believes Cast Departures are Good Things for SNL: "We got to a point where we had a lot of people, and people weren't getting enough playing time. The way the series has survived is by that level of renewal. The price of success is that people go off and do other things; their primary obligation is to their talent and to keep pushing that. And there's something so much better about the show when all that matters is the show. There's a time to say goodbye, and there's a natural time for it, but the natural time just got interfered with by the pandemic."

… Except with Colin Jost, Michael Che & "Weekend Update": "Particularly, coming into a midterm election, I just need that part ['Weekend Update' with Che & Jost] to be as solid as it is."

SNL's 50th Anniversary/Season? Think Big: "The 50th will be a big event. We'll bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that. It will be a very emotional and very strong thing. There won't be as many plus-ones, I can tell you that much."

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