When it comes to the saturation point of Travis Kelce content, the limit has yet to be found.
The future Hall of Fame tight end has seen his fame quotient multiply throughout the past year, most notably as the beefy beau of one-woman economy Taylor Swift. But his influence expanded beyond gossip rags and breathless fan Tweets. He won a Super Bowl, bombarded televisions with ads for State Farm and Pfizer and drove page views for websites thirsty enough to cover his Coachella appearance (it’s us, hi, we’re the problem, it’s us).
This led, naturally, to the demand for more Kelce. So, for the first time since E!’s non-beloved dating extravaganza Catching Kelce, he’ll be hosting a reality(ish) show. And since Jeff Foxworthy’s legacy cannot be approached, Kelce won’t be hosting Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?; he’ll be hosting Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?
“I grew up loving game shows, and I’m excited to be following in the footsteps of so many TV icons by hosting my very first one with Are you Smarter than a Celebrity,” Kelce said in the press release boasting Amazon’s newest avenue to funnel money toward the NFL’s next media rights deal. “The original show is a great success, so to be bringing a new format with everyone’s favorite celebrities to the screen, will definitely be entertaining. I’m just happy to be on the hosting side of the equation here and excited to see how these famous faces keep up.”
You know what? It’s … fine. I’m excited to see which celebrities show up to have their brains tacitly compared to an 11-year-old’s. It’s also a tried-and-true game show narrative, as Hollywood Squares was effectively tic-tac-toe that hinged on how stupid contestants thought various D-list celebs were. It’ll probably be inoffensive summer night viewing, the kind you watch at a family vacation before all the kids go to sleep.
And Kelce is a charismatic, likable person who’ll do just fine as host of a fairly basic quiz show. He’s not being asked to process Jeopardy! answers. The toughest thing he’ll have to do is explain the Pythagorean theorem to Logan Paul or whatever.
It’s just, hoooo buddy, this is so much Travis Kelce. Ah well. Can’t blame the guy.
