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“The Tennessee Kid” is heading west.
Nate Bargatze, the comic with the highest-earning tour of 2024, is bringing his brand of nice-guy humor to the Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14 (CBS, Paramount+ at 8 ET/5 PT). Thanks to his clever punchlines that carry zero sting, the biggest names in TV can leave the ceremony with unbruised egos. (At least when it comes to Bargatze’s quips. Of course, being nominated is another story.)
“I don’t want to be mean,” says Bargatze, 46. “I don’t want to make someone sad that’s there.” That means having to cut jokes that don’t fit his do-no-harm MO.
“I’ve had a couple that I was like, ‘I don’t want to say that. I wouldn’t want to do that,'” he says. “(You’ve) just got to trust yourself.”
Which is the message Bargatze received in chats with comedians Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien and “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels (Bargatze has hosted “SNL” twice).
“It’s all just kind of ‘Be yourself,'” Bargatze says. “It’s a good reminder to just stick to what I do, and that gives you the best chance for it to be a great night.”
So the Grammy and Emmy-nominated comic will poke fun at himself, in addition to delivering jokes about the TV shows. For the Nashville native, serving as Emmys emcee is “one of the dreams that I’ve been embarrassed to say out loud.”
“You just have it sitting there and you don’t really say anything because you’d feel stupid just going, ‘I want to do this,'” he says. “You just work and try to put yourself in a position where eventually, you get asked to do it.”
Emmys host Nate Bargatze teases awards show open
Sunday he’ll walk onto the stage of Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, after performing three standup shows at Denver’s Ball Arena (home of the Nuggets NBA team) on Friday and Saturday, hoping to ease the tension for nervous nominees. Apple TV+’s drama “Severance” leads with an impressive 27 nods, followed by HBO Max’s “The Penguin” with 24. Apple’s “The Studio” and HBO’s “The White Lotus” tied for third place with 23 honors.
“I’m excited for it right now, but I know right when I go out, it’ll be pretty wild and you get pretty nervous,” Bargatze says. The Emmys team has “a good way to start the show. So I’m excited about that, and a comfortable way that I’m starting the show. So it’ll ease me into the night.”
“It’s very familiar,” Bargatze teases. A reprisal of his popular “SNL” George Washington? Not likely, since it’s a different network, but Bargatze still plays along. “The whole thing’s George Washington,” he jokes.
But viewers can count singing and dancing out, Bargatze is nearly certain.
“I would be terrible at that stuff,” he admits. “And I don’t want the show to be bad. I want it to be good. So I don’t plan on singing. I hope I don’t. I mean, man, there could be something. I’ve got a wardrobe change … I don’t think it’s going to be too crazy, but it’s definitely a joke.”
Bargatze’s $100,000 Boys & Girls Clubs of America donation hinges on short speeches
Bargatze is putting his stamp on the ceremony in one unique way. He’s incentivizing winners to keep their speeches within the 45 seconds allotted with a $100,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
“Every second you go over, we take away $1,000 from the Boys & Girls Club,” Bargartze explains. “I’m not taking it away. It’s you, if you want to thank your agent and your fifth agent and all this kind of stuff.”
When an honoree goes under their time limit, money is added to the pot. “If you do 20 seconds and you leave 25 seconds on, then we’re adding $25,000 to the Boys & Girls Club,” Bargatze says before adopting a playful tone. “I want to give money to the Boys & Girls Club, (but) this is my money. Go over a little bit. Let’s not be insane. It could get out of control. I’ll be sweating that, if some reason we find out they just all become super, super nice Sunday night.”
Kids from the organization will be on hand “to add as much pressure to it,” Bargatze says. “I hope (attendees) don’t think this is a joke. It’s not. It’s truly what the Boys & Girls Club gets that night, it’s on them. It’s out of my hands.”
And if winners want to go over, they better come with cold, hard cash. “If they want to buy time,” Bargatze says, “I would like to be delivered the cash to give to the kids.”
Nate Bargatze’s Emmy Awards prep: ‘My wife said I needed to get a manicure’
Prior to Sunday, Bargatze’s got some work to do. As of a Sept. 9 interview, he’s seen trailers for shows, but not many programs in their entirety.
“I’m going to watch them all starting right after this,” Bargatze says lightheartedly. “I’m going to binge until Sunday, so I should be completely caught up.”
In between meeting with show writers, of course, and rehearsals on Thursday and Friday. And preparations to be TV-ready.
“My wife said I needed to get a manicure. So I’ve probably got to figure that out,” Bargatze says, slipping into his brilliant bumbling “Greatest Average American” act. “I don’t know how to go about that, but I’m going to − I’ll make some calls, see where that can be done.”
Perhaps there will be time in Denver for a facial. “I’ll do that, you know, whatever that is,” he adds. “I’ll go, ‘Give me all the stuff. I’m hosting the Emmys. So, uh, load me up!'”