The Emmys opened with a short comedic sketch in which Bargatze plays Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television, alongside Saturday Night Live cast members Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and James Austin Johnson. In the sketch, Farnsworth imagines a future of TV: “shows that inform and educate,” shows that make people laugh and cry, and a proliferation of channels that cater to every niche.
After the sketch, Bargatze returns to stage in his hosting role. He makes some self-deprecating jokes, including wondering aloud: “Why am I hosting?” implying modesty about being chosen. He emphasizes that he wants the evening to be fun and not mean-spirited. He mentions that though there were jokes that were more roast-style or edge-oriented in earlier versions, they decided to pull back and keep it lighter.
The centerpiece of the monologue is a setup involving a charity pledge: he pledges $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. But there’s a catch: winners’ acceptance speeches are limited to 45 seconds. For each second over that limit, $1,000 will be deducted from the donation; for each second under, $1,000 will be added back. Bargatze jokes about the difficulty of that rule (“It’s brutal,” etc.), noting winners should try to stay under 45 seconds but that he is footing the bill. The charity speech-length rule generated a lot of discussion: some saw it as clever, others thought it overshadowed opportunities for emotional or meaningful speeches.
Despite that, by end of night, Bargatze pledged to increase his own donation & CBS chipped in so that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America got a larger total donations amount. The final numbers reported were: Bargatze would donate $250,000 personally, CBS adds $100,000, making total $350,000.
