I'm a Texans fan. My wife is a Chiefs fan (of the pre-Taylor Swift variety, I should note) who is currently experiencing the kind of disappointment that she hasn't experienced since we were still living in a tiny, college town apartment. We both love reality television. So when we heard that Peacock was going to air Reality Hot Seat, an alternative broadcast of the Chiefs vs. Texans game that features Boston Rob and Kate Chastain in the booth, it was immediately obvious that we had to watch that version of Sunday Night Football.
So, we did. Or, well...we tried to. And after that attempt, I have takes. Some about football. Some about reality television. Some about our culture as a whole and what broadcasts like this mean for the greater sports media landscape. Let's talk about Reality Hot Seat.
The future of the NFL might be alternative broadcasts
The NFL has been doing its kids-focused alternative broadcasts for a few years now, from the Nickelodeon games where SpongeBob was the goal post to Disney's 2023 Falcons-Jaguars game that rendered the players as Toy Story characters. There's been varying levels of success here, but it's clear that networks like this kind of cross-promotion.
So moving into the reality television realm made sense. The NFL is a reality show, after all. We have the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce storyline. We have the drama of the playoff race. There's probably some way to connect NFL referees blowing calls to Tom Sandoval blowing up his career, but I'm writing this at 5:40 a.m., so I'm not ready to connect those things.
The point is, sports are a reality show. I know some football purists out there are going to read that and say, "WHAT THE **** BRO," but televised sports are reality television! We have storylines, but also unpredictability that the editors have to contend with, much like when a contestant on Big Brother has a sudden meltdown and the crew has to scramble to figure out how to fit it into the overall narrative. And isn't a sideline interview the same thing as when a contestant is called to the diary room to give commentary?
We love drama. Maybe some people don't, but as a collective group, humans love drama. Reality television and professional sports are two sides of the same cube, two ways that people engage with the dramatic. Bringing them together feels natural.
Was the Reality Hot Seat broadcast good?
No, not really! We made it one quarter before giving up. I guess I expected one thing — Boston Rob and Kate Chastain talking about football — but instead we got something that was just too awkward. When Wanya Morris went down on the first drive of the game, it was clear that this alternate broadcast didn't know what to do about it. The panel was answering questions about rookie mistakes on reality shows and was basically just like "oh, a guy's hurt," and there was an awkward silence before they went back to what they were originally discussing.
It was weird. It wasn't what I was expecting. It felt like watching the Andy Cohen-hosted Watch What Happens Live but without Andy Cohen. The game was too backgrounded. Like, I knew I wasn't going to be tuning in for hard-hitting NFL analysis, but I thought I'd at least get to watch the game. Instead, there were times when it felt like the game was just noise. Or not even "noise," because we didn't hear it. It was more like...being in a really busy bar and trying to watch the football game that's muted, but it's hard to pay attention because the DJ is playing something really dance-y and there are people climbing on top of tables. It was like a busy night at a college bar, basically.
I also felt bad for Boston Rob. He seemed like the only person who understood football. I would have loved to have just watched, like, a normal broadcast with him and some other reality people trying to give commentary on the game. What we got instead was something that didn't seem like it understood who its audience even was.
There was potential here. Just rearranging the format so that the game always took up at least two-thirds of the screen with the reality personalities relegated to a smaller box would have solved most of these issues. That's where the Nickelodeon games have gotten things right — you're watching a football game that's been Nick-ified. I wanted a football game that had Bravo-ified, but instead got a Bravo talk show where football was backgrounded.
What other alternate broadcasts could work?
Like I said, this one could have worked if it foregrounded the game more. I like the change-up of getting to hear people who I follow from the non-sports world suddenly thrown into the sports world, but the structure didn't quite land. It was good thinking, though, on the part of the network executives, so here are three quick ideas that could be fun to try out, as long as there is more focus on the game itself than there was on Reality Hot Seat. I can't stress that part enough. If it hadn't felt like I was missing important game action, I would have stuck around on this feed for the whole game.
Reality Hot Seat, but with the game taking center stage
I would watch this again if I was guaranteed to actually get reality figures trying to analyze a football game.
Ghosts, the football game
Hear me out: I love the CBS sitcom Ghosts, which features a bunch of ghosts from various time periods all living in a mansion. There's a human character who can see them, blah, blah, blah. What's important here is that an alternate broadcast with the Ghosts characters talking about the game while in character could be a lot of fun. Heck, this could be true for any sitcom. Obviously, you'd need a cast that was good at improvising, but one of these broadcasts that was aimed at making people laugh would probably work.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce talk about football
Taylor Swift's been to a lot of Chiefs games. She's probably absorbed a lot of football knowledge. What if, after Travis Kelce retires, there was a broadcast where the two of them were the booth? You could even expand and have Kylie Kelce on the sidelines or something. Does anyone have enough money to throw at Swift to make this happen? Probably not, but I firmly believe it would draw a big audience.
Some thoughts on the actual football game
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the game itself here, which the Texans won 20-10. Houston's defense is just so good — Super Bowl quality, really. The offense had its moments as well, and C.J. Stroud looked sharp. With Daniel Jones out for the year in Indianapolis, the Texans are in a good position to make the postseason.
As for Kansas City, the Chiefs have to execute a little better. Yes, the team was facing a nightmare defense, but KC's playoff lives were on the line here and the team managed to score zero first half points. Kansas City is now in must-win territory for the rest of the season if the team wants to keep its playoff streak alive.
Those are fun storylines for the final stretch of this season. Tune in to the reality television program The National Football League to see how these storylines conclude.