Nate Bargatze vowed to keep politics out of his Emmy hosting gig — and he stuck to it on Sunday night. The stand-up comedian, a first-time host on television’s biggest awards show, kept things light, inoffensive and moving along, but it took time to find his rhythm.
Bargatze seemed nervous out of the gate during the CBS telecast. Luckily, he had a clever gimmick in his pocket: a running bit about keeping acceptance speeches to their 45-second limit. It added just enough structure — and a few well-timed punch lines — to help the evening flowing.
Bargatze, who is currently on the road with his Big Dumb Eyes World Tour, may not have brought the one-two punch of a veteran like Jimmy Kimmel, who’s been praised for hosting the show in years past, but he still delivered some laughs — and not just for wearing a denim tuxedo.
Here were a few of his most memorable lines …
“Most people will watch football and ‘Yellowstone’” rather than the shows nominated at the Emmys, a nod to the gap between popular taste and critical acclaim.
The show opened with a sketch with Bargatze as Philo T. Farnsworth, the “father of television,” along with Saturday Night Live cast members Bowen Yang, Mikey Day and James Austin Johnson. It was a take on his own SNL sketch called “Washington’s Dream” reimagined for the Emmys. The segment poked fun at the current state of modern TV, including how the History Channel had shows about aliens, there was “no learning” on the Learning Channel (just hoarders and Dr. PimplePopper) and streaming was a “new way for companies to lose money” with shows starring “real-life murderers mostly.”
“I can’t change it. This is a game I made up, and these are the rules.”
At the top of the show, Bargatze announced he would be donating $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America — but with a twist. He warned the night’s winners that if their acceptance speeches ran over the 45-second limit, he’d deduct money from the donation. The audience was visibly stunned by the stakes,
and Bargatze acknowledged the rules were “tough” and “brutal,” but he added that money could also be earned back if another winner gave a particularly short speech. Making it even higher stakes, kids benefiting from the charity were in the audience.
“That was a show called ‘Adolescence’ that did that to adolescents.”
While some stars purposely kept their speech time down — like big winner Seth Rogen (The Studio) and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series winner John Oliver — not everyone followed suit. After a particularly long speech by Adolescence star Stephen Graham, knocking money from the total, Bargatze delivered the deadpan jab, earning laughs from the crowd.
“So the in memoriam went a little long.”
Bargatze quipped that even the tribute to television stars who died over the past year had gone over time — a joke, of course, as it hadn’t — which landed in the room.
“I honestly probably wouldn’t be here hosting if it wasn’t for you. Thank you very much for that.”
When SNL50: The Anniversary Special won Outstanding Live Variety Special, Bargatze took a moment to thank the show’s executive producer, Lorne Michaels, for having him host the sketch show in both 2023 and 2024 — the opportunities that helped lead to his Emmys hosting gig, for better or worse.
“I can’t imagine ever doing this again.”
At the end of the show, as the donation pot had taken a hit from long-winded speeches, Bargatze reassured the audience that all was not lost. CBS would be donating $100,000 to the charity and he’d give another $250,000, bringing the total to $350,000. And judging by his final words, he may have just hosted his first — and last — Emmys.
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