{"id":54947,"date":"2025-09-10T10:35:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/54947\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:35:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:35:10","slug":"nate-bargatze-may-be-the-only-real-surprise-on-emmys-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/54947\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Bargatze may be the only real surprise on Emmys night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards are mere days away and, as someone who regularly writes about them, I\u2019m trying to locate my tenterhooks, but it\u2019s a bit tough this year.<\/p>\n

Though it would never do to discount \u201cThe Bear,\u201d there should be plenty of self-love from the entertainment industry as \u201cThe Studio\u201d and \u201cHacks\u201d face off in comedy \u2014 with three previous Emmys for \u201cHacks,\u201d Jean Smart is poised to become the new Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won six for \u201cVeep.\u201d There is some competition in the male drama-lead race \u2014 if there is a God, Gary Oldman<\/a> will win for \u201cSlow Horses,\u201d though \u201cThe Pitt\u2019s\u201d Noah Wyle<\/a> is the odds-on favorite \u2014 but \u201cMatlock\u2019s\u201d Kathy Bates<\/a> appears to be a lock among the women. In the supporting acting categories, it\u2019s pretty much \u201cWhite Lotus\u201d vs. \u201cSeverance,\u201d and the limited series or anthology space will undoubtedly be shared by \u201cAdolescence\u201d and \u201cThe Penguin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nate Bargatze thing, though, that\u2019s a bit of a wild card. Not his two nominations for his Netflix\u2019s special \u201cYour Friend, Nate Bargatze<\/a>,\u201d but the fact that he is hosting.<\/p>\n

After years of quietly growing his success in the stand-up circuit, Bargatze has recently achieved genuine hot property status. Even so, he is an unusual choice. And unusual choices \u2014 remember the no-host Emmys of 2019 or the 2008 disaster of the reality-show hosts? \u2014 can be perilous.<\/p>\n

As a big Bargatze fan, I\u2019d be lying if I said I wasn\u2019t a tiny bit worried.<\/p>\n

Unlike most of his predecessors, Bargatze\u2019s experience in television is limited to his comedy specials, his CBS \u201cNashville Christmas\u201d special, and appearances on late-night shows, including those of former awards show hosts. Yes, he recently hosted \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d<\/a> twice and with success, but the Emmys is a very different beast, and one not immediately associated with Bargatze\u2019s brand of deadpan and micro-domestic comedy.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Carrie Underwood and Nate Bargatze in his \u201cNashville Christmas\u201d special that taped at the Grand Ole Opry and aired on CBS last year. The comedian\u2019s TV appearances have mainly been on comedy specials and late-night shows.<\/p>\n

(Jon Morgan \/ CBS)<\/p>\n

In contrast with the glib, high and very Hollywood energy of most previous Emmy hosts, Bargatze is a wide-eyed \u201cwhat is going on here?\u201d slow talker who eschews politics, current events and cultural moods in favor of contemplating marital spats, mishaps at the hotel breakfast buffet and his own limited understanding of the world \u2014 \u201dEvery history movie I watch, I watch on the edge of my seat,\u201d he says in \u201cYour Friend, Nate Bargatze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bargatze does not sing or dance, and during a recent appearance<\/a> on \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert,\u201d flatly resisted the idea that he would attempt to do so for purposes of the Emmy broadcast.<\/p>\n

Nor does he regularly engage in the kind of snark, satire, industry commentary and A-list name-checking that has become standard for an awards show host. No doubt he knows far more television luminaries than do I, but it\u2019s difficult to imagine that he has the kind of longtime relationships that could lead to on-camera \u201cfeuds\u201d or other call-out bits with beloved stars. (Though a reprise of his \u201cSNL\u201d George Washington<\/a> is certainly possible.)<\/p>\n

Indeed, the most obvious characteristic he shares with most past hosts, beyond a proven ability to make large numbers of people laugh, is that he is a man. (This is where I point out that only two women have hosted the Emmys during this century \u2014 Ellen DeGeneres in 2001 and 2005, and Jane Lynch in 2011 \u2014 and what the hell is up with that?)<\/p>\n

Humor is essential to a good awards show host, and as someone who also grew up in a small town, swimming in dubious \u201ccricks\u201d and wearing the cheapest versions of the latest fashion trend, I love Bargatze\u2019s evocations of the kind of life too often mocked or overlooked in popular culture. His Old Hickory, Tennessee pronunciation of oil (\u201cool\u201d) makes perfect sense to me.<\/p>\n

But the Emmys are about honoring achievements in television and the glammed up, A-list audience that will gather Sunday in the Peacock Theater is not looking for a set. Or at least not one that does not directly relate in some way to the nominees and the event at hand. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

During his first stint as \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d host in 2023, Nate Bargatze, center, had a breakout sketch where he played George Washington.<\/p>\n

(Will Heath \/ NBC)<\/p>\n

Still, there is no denying that, like all awards shows, the Emmys are in a ratings free fall. More than 1 million people paid cash money to see Bargatze perform last year and CBS is clearly betting that enough of them will tune in to dramatically goose up telecast viewership.<\/p>\n

That very well may happen. Bargatze is a change-up who is also a relatively safe bet. He may have never hosted an awards show before, but he is very used to simultaneously playing to a large live audience and a bank of cameras.<\/p>\n

In many ways, he is the perfect comedian for this moment. At a time when a perpetual spray of furious outrage has become our lingua franca and even the president drops F-bombs, Bargatze\u2019s humor is mild, clean and inward-facing. His small-town, red-state credibility is rock solid but never weaponized. He is an observational comedian, with an eye to the foibles of everyday life \u2014 long-term marriage, encounters at airports, the temptations of junk food \u2014 but he never pokes fun at anyone but himself. The title of his recently released book and current world tour is \u201cBig Dumb Eyes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even then, his humor is gentle and forgiving. Bargatze presents himself as a flawed person who needs to do a bit better \u2014 in recent years, he has lost some weight, quit drinking and smartened up his wardrobe \u2014 but far from engaging in the narcissistic self-lacerations of many comics, he essentially accepts himself as he is, which gives his audience permission to do the same.<\/p>\n

That, in addition to years of consistent hard work, goes far in explaining his recent ubiquity. As so much of the culture divides itself into fomenting herds, Bargatze offers his fans the relief of a non-divisive presence. The chance of him saying something offensive or provocative during the Emmy telecast is close to zero. (Those hoping for some reference to the Trump administration\u2019s war on Los Angeles and culture will do better to look elsewhere.) But it is impossible to imagine that he won\u2019t get at least a few big laughs \u2014 I\u2019m hoping for at least one breakfast buffet joke aimed at a crowd that hasn\u2019t dealt with make-your-own-waffles in years. <\/p>\n

Bargatze\u2019s everyman persona may wear thin as his fame continues to grow \u2014 with $82.2 million in gross earnings, he topped Billboard\u2019s 2024 ranking of comedy tours by a wide margin \u2014 but at this moment, he could bring a refreshing fish-out-of-water view to the Emmys. This year\u2019s awards might seem predictable to longtime watchers, but it will all be new to him.<\/p>\n

Maybe through Bargatze\u2019s big dumb eyes even the Emmys will look new again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards are mere days away and, as someone who regularly writes about them, I\u2019m…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[7976,39925,39929,434,17733,39932,18,39926,117,39933,9437,19,17,39930,3255,18985,39927,39931,39928,3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-54947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-award","9":"tag-bargatze","10":"tag-bit","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-commentary","13":"tag-current-event","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-emmys-night","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-hack","18":"tag-humor","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-kind","22":"tag-life","23":"tag-los-angeles-times","24":"tag-nate-bargatze","25":"tag-popular-culture","26":"tag-reality-show-host","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}