2 hours ago
3
Photo: Getty Images
Nate Bargatze kicked off the 2025 Emmys with a sketch that poked fun at television in general, saving his biggest burn for the network that had hired him to host the show, CBS.
Instead of a normal monologue, Bargatze opened the 77th annual Emmy awards with a sketch that evoked his recurring “George Washington” Saturday Night Live skits where the Tennessee-bred comic pretends to predict the most nonsensical parts of American life back in 1776. For Emmys night, however, Bargatze played the fictional inventor of television, Philo T. Farnsworth.
On stage, Bargatze was joined by SNL faves Bowen Yang, James Austin Johnson, and Mikey Day. All three played techs working in Philo’s workshop, asking their boss questions about the future of their invention.
Bargatze’s character poked fun at Severance‘s baffling concept, The Bear‘s super serious subject matter, and the mystery behind what exactly producers do before mocking hyper-specialized cable channels. After joking about how there’s never any learning on The Learning Channel (TLC) or real history on the History Channel, Philo talks about how one day there will be something on television for everyone.
“Networks like Telemundo for Spanish speakers and BET, Black Entertainment Television,” Bargatze says.
“Will there be a network for white people, sir?” Mikey Day’s character asks.
“CBS, of course,” Bargatze answers to the sketch’s biggest laughs.
“The Caucasian Broadcast System,” Day replied.
It actually stands for “Columbia Broadcasting System.”
“Yeah, I guess so, yeah,” Bargatze said.
The rest of the sketch went on to poke fun at streaming, calling it a “new way for companies to lose money,” while also laying into subscription services that still run ads.
2025 EMMY AWARDS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Photo: Getty ImagesCan’t get enough of the 2025 Emmy Awards? Follow along with Decider’s coverage, including:
- Emmys 2025 host Nate Bargatze blackmails Hollywood elite to keep their acceptance speeches short with epic charity challenge
- Seth Rogen wins Best Lead Actor in a Comedy, regrettably forgets to thank Sal Saperstein
- Emmys 2025: The 77th Primetime Emmys Winners [Complete List]
- Check out the full list of nominees for the 2025 Emmys
- How to Watch 2025 Emmys for Free: Time, Live Streaming, Host and Nominees
After the cold open, Seth Rogen took home the first Emmy of the night for his work as Lead Actor in Apple TV+’s The Studio. Bargatze then returned to the stage to reveal his dastardly brilliant method to keep the night’s winners’ speeches under 45 seconds. Bargatze promised to donate $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America at the end of the night, but only if the winners stuck to their time limit.
“If you stay at 45 seconds, it stays at $100,000,” Bargatze said. “Every second you go over, we will deduct $1000 away from the Boys and Girls Club.”
Bargatze also said that for every second the night’s winners go under, he’d add $1000.
“Don’t go crazy because I’m paying for this,” he said. “Some of you go over a little, some go under. Do the right thing.”
English (US)