{"id":229397,"date":"2025-09-15T18:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T18:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229397\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T18:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T18:47:09","slug":"nate-bargatzes-boys-girls-clubs-bit-was-not-that-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229397\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Bargatze\u2019s Boys & Girls Clubs Bit Was Not That Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOne of the biggest challenges an awards<\/a> show host faces is helping the producers keep time, and the No. 1 offender is acceptance speeches. Everything else can be planned out and rehearsed, but the winners\u2019 thank yous are unpredictable.<\/p>\n

\n\tLive awards shows have traditionally battled the issue with music meant to play off the winner when they got long-winded \u2014 a gentle, orchestral nudge. For a while, it worked.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the muzak began to feel more like a suggestion<\/a> than a mandate, awards shows progressively increased the overture\u2019s volume until the winner\u2019s audio became barely audible. It added a bit of an embarrassment factor to going long.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt one point, awards shows experimented with cutting the stage microphone off altogether; the threat front-loaded speeches and put the nominees on notice. But the extreme tactic backfired when the most heartfelt or culturally important moments were literally silenced. It was not a good look, and the boo birds in the crowd could be heard (and felt) all the way through the TV screen \u2014 whether or not the centerstage mic was on.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, what can one do when the consensus says awards shows are way too long as it is? The production can try to get clever.<\/p>\n

\n\tA decade ago at the 66th Emmys<\/a>, host Andy Samberg put up a jet ski to the winner who gave the shortest acceptance speech, which turned out to be Jon Hamm, a person who could afford many jet skis. But it was cute, funny and harmless \u2014 Andy Samberg comedy to a \u201cT.\u201d Last night, as emcee of the 2025 Emmy Awards<\/a>, another very funny and harmless host<\/a>, Nate Bargatze<\/a>, tried something like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the top of the show, Bargatze pledged <\/a>$100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, though that was just the start. Emmy winners got 45 seconds to give their acceptance speech, and for every second they didn\u2019t use, Bargatze added $1,000 of his own money to the donation. However, and as Bargatze put it, \u201cThis part is hard to say,\u201d for every tick of the clock over their 45 seconds, $1,000 was deducted from the total.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe plan was presented early and perfectly by Bargatze to a tickled audience. It was, of course, always going to fail. When have you ever seen an awards show go short? There was no way the bank would end in the black, but the only real failure here was in the bit\u2019s ongoing execution.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tMany viewers, especially the very online viewers, hated the gag from the get-go. But anyone with a brain should have known that Bargatze was never going to stiff the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Not only is he a very rich and very successful stand-up comedian, Bargatze is a family man, a charitable guy and just generally considered to be a good dude. He is very open about his Christian faith, and has always worked clean; this charity bit is as dangerous as Nate Bargatze gets. The only real question was, how much would he tack on at the conclusion of Sunday\u2019s Emmys to guarantee a happy ending? As it turns out, the donation<\/a> was $100,000 of CBS\u2019 money and $250,000 of Bargatze\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid you seriously think he was going to invoice the 501(c)(3)?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat an incredible night! Our heartfelt thanks to Nate Bargatze, CBS and the Emmy Awards<\/a> team for supporting Boys & Girls Clubs in such a big way,\u201d Jim Clark, the president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cIt was a true honor for our Club Kids to share the stage with the night\u2019s winners, especially knowing some of our alumni have gone on to become Emmy winners themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBargatze announced the plan in interviews leading up to the weekend, and clearly, Clark was in on this. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America sent what seemed to be (at minimum) dozens of club kids to the Emmys to serve as seat fillers and stage escorts. The Emmys had multiple cutaway segments to comedian and actor JB Smoove<\/a>, a Boys & Girls Clubs alum, in the crowd with the kids. Club kids served as talent wranglers following each speech, long or short.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are also deeply grateful to all who kept their speeches short in the spirit of this fun challenge and to maximize the impact for our young people,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThe generous $350,000 donation from CBS and Nate is a powerful investment in the dreams and great futures of millions of young people nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd that $350,000 doesn\u2019t even count how much money Sunday\u2019s Emmys raised for the Boys & Girls Clubs via the Hollywood elite (and rich) in attendance, and through viewers. We don\u2019t actually know the grand total that came in on Sunday, Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Boys & Girls Clubs of America did not immediately respond to THR\u2019s request for comment on other incoming donations from Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast year\u2019s Emmy Awards on ABC were watched by nearly 7 million viewers<\/a>. This side of the Oscars or Golden Globes, there could not have been a better stage to raise funds and awareness for such a worthy charity. It\u2019s just that not that it all went off without a hitch. Far from it.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHost Nate Bargatze and JB Smoove speak during The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSonja Flemming\/CBS\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tThe real problem with the recurring bit is that it took far too much stage \u2014 and screen time. The specific set-up demanded very regular check-ins, but with 26 trophies handed out in one evening, those spots proved to be too many and too much. Also, with the money generally trending in one direction \u2014 down \u2014 there were only so many ways for Bargatze to pretend he was happy for the sake of his own bank account. That was kind of the only joke.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, I would argue that the joke really worked for an hour or so. There was just one problem: The Emmys are three hours long (plus three minutes, in this year\u2019s case). The gag became monotonous, and really stifled one of the great comedians of our time. The Smoove parts also fell flat, though it was important for him to be involved.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe idea also had an unintended, though arguably predictable, consequence: It ended up taking too much attention away from the winners. Some of them, like Seth Rogen<\/a>, had plenty of opportunities to present their gratitude. And others, like Jean Smart<\/a>, have given thank-yous aplenty in recent years. But there were plenty of first-time winners <\/a>who have never had the opportunity before and very well may never again. Those people should go (a hair) long, but several of them felt the pressure of the countdown clock and either rushed their speeches or possibly even cut them short. The bit took away from their moment \u2014 or at least it threatened to.<\/p>\n

\n\tLet\u2019s not pretend we all love lengthy acceptance speeches, though. This remains a problem without a (great) solution.<\/p>\n

\n\tOthers, meanwhile, breezed right through the timer anyway. Hannah Einbinder<\/a> (Hacks) was the first winner to say<\/a> she\u2019ll pick up the tab for her extra seconds; others followed. But not everyone in that room and on that stage has Hacks supporting-actress money.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne specific aspect Bargatze would probably like to have back is the declining-balance chyron that started at the 46-second mark. With hindsight, the producers would probably reconsider that bug after the first few appearances drew laughs and made the point. The ticker, visible both to viewers at home and to the winner onstage, was very funny at first, but it became a distraction. It also introduced the possibility of being problematic. The visual of underprivileged kids \u201closing money\u201d as an artist delivers the most heartfelt message of their professional career could easily take a wrong turn. Some critics have argued<\/a> that the bit (and especially the real-time ticker) should have been scrapped at a certain point, but it was way too late and the show was way too live.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo as it is, out of the great Nate Bargatze, we got an excellent cold open<\/a> and a funny concept, but too much personal finance humor. Still, CBS got an unforgettable Emmys and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America got a ton of money \u2014 no harm, no foul.<\/p>\n

\n\tSee THR\u2018s full winners list <\/a>and coverage from the 2025 Emmys.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the biggest challenges an awards show host faces is helping the producers keep time, and the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":229398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5800,47491,30046,90970,171,69068,91246,123700,123420,42702,1746,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-229397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-awards","9":"tag-emmy-awards","10":"tag-emmys","11":"tag-emmys-2025","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-featured-voices","14":"tag-hannah-einbinder","15":"tag-jb-smoove","16":"tag-jean-smart","17":"tag-nate-bargatze","18":"tag-seth-rogen","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115209807468878372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}