Jason Kelce is coming to late night. Once a week. For five weeks.
The show is called They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce. It’s an obscure nod to the first NFL Films first full-length film, They Call It Pro Football.
It will be televised at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning for five straight Saturday mornings, starting on January 4 and lasting through the Super Bowl.
From the press release (which had no quotes from Kelce and reads more like a corporate prospectus than the lighthearted announcement of a sports/comedy show): “The new personality-driven, one-hour program will take its inspiration from traditional late-night television, emphasizing a comedic approach. . . . They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce will be an immersive experience from Union Transfer in Philadelphia, showcasing the Super Bowl champion’s oversized personality and infectious humor mixed with celebrity guests from the football world and beyond, in front of a live audience of NFL fans. The show’s format will position Kelce and his guests to dissect NFL topics and storylines, mainly focused on that weekend’s games, in both conventional and good-humoredly unconventional approaches including active participation from the fans in attendance.”
When word first emerged last month of the shows, it reportedly was not going to be a “highlight or recap show.” It nevertheless sounds like it will be a football show televised at night, on a day when football games aren’t played.
The shows, like the traditional late-night experience, will be live-to-tape, recorded several hours before 1:00 a.m. ET.
If it works, it likely will return. Perhaps for a full season. Perhaps for most of the year, since there’s never a shortage of NFL topics and/or people who want to talk about them.
This is where I’d end the article, but I can’t get over the press release. Folks, you’re announcing a football show, not giving instructions on how to install a dishwasher. It should be fun. And it definitely should have had a quote from Kelce. Something funny. Something self-aware. Something self-deprecating.
“I really look forward to doing the show before a live audience,” he could have said. “Just don’t get mouthy with me, or I’ll grab your phone and smash it.”
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