LOS ANGELES — The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards are mere days away and, as someone who regularly writes about them, I’m trying to locate my tenterhooks, but it’s a bit tough this year.
Though it would never do to discount “The Bear,” there should be plenty of self-love from the entertainment industry as “The Studio” and “Hacks” face off in comedy — with three previous Emmys for “Hacks,” Jean Smart is poised to become the new Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won six for “Veep.” There is some competition in the male drama-lead race — if there is a God, Gary Oldman will win for “Slow Horses,” though “The Pitt’s” Noah Wyle is the odds-on favorite — but “Matlock’s” Kathy Bates appears to be a lock among the women. In the supporting acting categories, it’s pretty much “White Lotus” vs. “Severance,” and the limited series or anthology space will undoubtedly be shared by “Adolescence” and “The Penguin.”
The Nate Bargatze thing, though, that’s a bit of a wild card. Not his two nominations for his Netflix’s special “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze,” but the fact that he is hosting.
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 — remember the no-host Emmys of 2019 or the 2008 disaster of the reality-show hosts? — can be perilous.
As a big Bargatze fan, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tiny bit worried.
Unlike most of his predecessors, Bargatze’s experience in television is limited to his comedy specials, his CBS “Nashville Christmas” special, and appearances on late-night shows, including those of former awards show hosts. Yes, he recently hosted “Saturday Night Live,” twice and with success, but the Emmys is a very different beast, and one not immediately associated with Bargatze’s brand of deadpan and micro-domestic comedy.
In contrast with the glib, high and very Hollywood energy of most previous Emmy hosts, Bargatze is a wide-eyed “what is going on here?” 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 — ”Every history movie I watch, I watch on the edge of my seat,” he says in “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze.”
Bargatze does not sing or dance, and during a recent appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” flatly resisted the idea that he would attempt to do so for purposes of the Emmy broadcast.
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’s difficult to imagine that he has the kind of longtime relationships that could lead to on-camera “feuds” or other call-out bits with beloved stars. (Though a reprise of his “SNL” George Washington is certainly possible.)
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 — Ellen DeGeneres in 2001 and 2005, and Jane Lynch in 2011 — and what the hell is up with that?)
Humor is essential to a good awards show host, and as someone who also grew up in a small town, swimming in dubious “cricks” and wearing the cheapest versions of the latest fashion trend, I love Bargatze’s evocations of the kind of life too often mocked or overlooked in popular culture. His Old Hickory, Tennessee pronunciation of oil (“ool”) makes perfect sense to me.
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.
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.
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.
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’s 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 — long-term marriage, encounters at airports, the temptations of junk food — but he never pokes fun at anyone but himself. The title of his recently released book and current world tour is “Big Dumb Eyes.”
Even then, his humor is gentle and forgiving. Bargatze presents himself as a flawed person who needs to do a bit better — in recent years, he has lost some weight, quit drinking and smartened up his wardrobe — 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.
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’s war on Los Angeles and culture will do better to look elsewhere.) But it is impossible to imagine that he won’t get at least a few big laughs — I’m hoping for at least one breakfast buffet joke aimed at a crowd that hasn’t dealt with make-your-own-waffles in years.
Bargatze’s everyman persona may wear thin as his fame continues to grow — with $82.2 million in gross earnings, he topped Billboard’s 2024 ranking of comedy tours by a wide margin — but at this moment, he could bring a refreshing fish-out-of-water view to the Emmys. This year’s awards might seem predictable to longtime watchers, but it will all be new to him.
Maybe through Bargatze’s big dumb eyes even the Emmys will look new again.
(Mary McNamara is a culture columnist and critic for the Los Angeles Times.)
