When Nate Bargatze said he wouldn’t be doing any political jokes at the Emmys, we said, “Okay, sure.” When he said he was going to keep things fun and silly, we said, “That sounds awesome.” When he spent basically the entire show explaining and then referencing his one (1) bit – a $100,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of America that loses funds every time a speech goes over – we drew a line. Enough is enough: the money bit is not working. In fact, it is making the show less funny, less interesting, and symptomatic of a larger trend where the award show hates itself for no particular reason.
When Bargatze explained the bit to CNN earlier in the week, the money idea was still funny. His convoluted math problem promised to keep the ceremony relatively short and to donate to a good cause. In practice, however, the joke has proven tedious. Bargatze’s bit is predicated on the fact that most awards show speeches are self-indulgent, rambling tributes to other celebrities. In actuality, most awards show speeches are sweaty, nervous, uncomfortable, exceedingly earnest, and grateful. The show has featured a number of first-time nominees and first-time winners like Tramell Tillman, Jeff Hiller, Hannah Einbinder, and Owen Cooper, all of whom have been forced to amend their moment in the spotlight to adhere to the joke. Even John Oliver, who has won several Emmys, took his time on stage to tell Bargatze off for the bit (jokingly, it seems, but still). Bargatze continues to check in every couple of awards to remind the audience of the money they’ve lost without actually contributing anything new. The bit doesn’t escalate. It’s not getting more complicated or convoluted. Bargatze is just hitting the same beat, over and over again, to the detriment of the show. To add insult to injury, the slowest person speaking on the stage at any given time is Bargatze himself.
It seems inevitable that there will be some kind of turn, wherein Bargatze (or a generous corporate sponsor like, say, CBS) will announce that he’s donating the full amount after all or he’s doubling it or something that makes up for the fact that Dan Gilroy thanking his brothers for their time together on Andor lost some children some money. It would be nice to know that no actual kids are losing out on money because of a natural part of awards shows, but it’ll be way nicer to know the bit has finally come to an end.
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The donation countdown is repetitive, slow, and discouraging many first-time winners from having their moment in the spotlight.
