As networks lined up to talk with Jason Kelce about an NFL analyst role, the retired football star declared that no matter where he ended up, “there’s one thing I want to do: I want to make a late-night show.”
That’s according to Keith Cossrow, Vice President and Head of Content at NFL Films, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter for a new feature article about Kelce’s upcoming show and Hollywood’s ever-increasing hunger for NFL-themed content.
While Kelce had a number of other ideas about how he’d craft a late-night show in his own image, there was one point he was insistent on.
“I want to have a live band with horns. It’s got to have a horn section,” Cossrow recalls Kelce telling him.
Why horns? For one thing, the former Philadelphia Eagle is a horn player himself, having grown up playing baritone saxophone in the jazz band symphonic winds ensemble at Cleveland Heights High School. He even sat in with students after becoming a football star.
For another, his two talk show heroes, Conan O’Brien and David Letterman, both had brass-forward bands during their legendary runs in late-night.
While Kelce may be new to late night, late night is not new to Kelce. “I love late-night shows. I’ve always loved them. I remember at sleepovers watching Conan O’Brien with my friends,” Kelce explained two weeks ago as he announced his new show during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
So what else can we expect from the Kelce-hosted They Call It Late Night when it begins its five-week run Friday nights on ESPN next month?
According Cossrow, another reference point is HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher. Apparently Kelce loves what Bill Maher does with his panel on the weekly HBO series. “We’re going to have a bunch of guys up there,” Kelce told Kimmel last month. “Legends of the game, friends that I played the game with, coaches, celebrities.”
Unlike most late-night shows, They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce will not orginate from New York or Los Angeles. Instead, at Kelce’s request, it will be taped in front of a live audience in his adoped hometown of Philadelphia, making it perhaps the highest profile nationally televised series since American Bandstand to broadcast from the City of Brotherly Love. [Correction: As Aaron B. points out,The Mike Douglas Show was broadcast from Philadelphia from 1967-1978.]
Untraditional? Daring? Yes. But as Cossrow recalls, the execs at NFL Films (which is producing Kelce’s new show for ESPN) were eager to give the project a greenlight, saying of Kelce’s out-of-the-box concept, “We were like, ‘we’re in, we’ll figure this out.’ I got goosebumps.”
Another senior exec at NFL Films, Ross Ketover, calls the new project “scary and nerve wracking… Totally high-wire for us without a net.”
“Comedy is hard, sports and comedy is hard, us doing essentially a live studio show is something very new and exciting, but Jason is just a force of nature, and we’re so excited to be in business with him,” adds Ketover.
And yes, Kelce is getting his horn section. Philadelphia’s own seven-piece SNACKTIME is set to serve as the show’s live house band.
They Call it Late Night With Jason Kelce premieres Friday January 3rd on ESPN. It will be carried simultaneously on ESPN+ and on the ESPN and Jason Kelce YouTube channels.
What was Mike Douglas, a potted plant? Don’t answer that…, anyway, Mike’s syndicated afternoon talk show was in Philadelphia long after Dick Clark left. That famous John and Yoko cohosting week we’ve all seen on YouTube was shot in Philly where the show originated from 1967 to 1978.
D’oh! Of course you’d know that, Aaron. Thanks. Added a note.