In an apparent attempt at being innovative, the NFL on Prime welcomed comedian Nikki Glaser to their Thursday Night Football postgame show for an awkward comedy bit.
After watching Glaser’s widely praised performance at the Tom Brady roast for their competitor over at Netflix, someone from Amazon had the vision of bringing the comedian to their side of the streaming service spectrum. As it turns out, Glaser and Thursday Night Football go together about as well as Aaron Rodgers and The Pat McAfee Show, you can’t really enjoy it, but you can’t turn it off either.
In a segment called Late Hits with Nikki Glaser, the comedian joined the set of Amazon’s postgame show and rattled off joke after joke. Rodgers, Robert Saleh and Bill Belichick were among her targets. Glaser even saved room in her five-minute comedy bit for the people she was on set with, Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman.
Late Hits with Nikki Glaser.
Part 2 of 3. pic.twitter.com/awRqFpfwBz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2024
“The Jets have a new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, or as I like to call him, ‘Throw Rogan,’” Glaser said to poke fun at Rodgers’ appreciation for podcast host Joe Rogan.
“It’s ironic that he goes to silent retreats because he can’t stop talking about it,” she added about the polarizing quarterback.
And as a bonus, we learned that we’ll be getting Late Hits with Nikki Glaser — four more times. pic.twitter.com/ZFSVNF85FU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 20, 2024
In terms of content, putting together a five-minute roast about a game that just happened was pretty impressive. But for the TV audience, it was awkward. Glaser can only rely on so many laughs from the five people she was on set with. The chants of “Jets” from the remaining fans at MetLife Stadium were significantly louder than the laughs Glaser was garnering, which made the setting uncomfortable.
The segment may have been better if they just allowed Glaser to join in a conversation with the Thursday Night Football postgame crew, allowing her to be unfiltered and off the cuff. But if they prefer a prewritten five-minute bit like she delivered Thursday night, they need to get an audience in front of her, because the five minutes of empty reactions made it seem like every joke was falling flat.
When Glaser was finished, she revealed her Late Hits segment was slated to make four more appearances this season. Which at a minimum, means they have four more chances to make it better.
