"As host, Bargatze announced early on that he was going to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of America, with a big caveat: For every second over their allotted 45 seconds each winner spoke, he would deduct $1,000 from the charity donation. And to encourage brevity even more strongly, he'd add $1,000 to the pot for every second under their time."
"But what would have been a really solid one-off joke instead managed to suck more air out of the room and make the show significantly less entertaining as it was stretched out unnecessarily. Bargatze kept updating the audience on how much money was left after each award, and after 45 seconds, a graphic would appear in the corner showing the total dropping by the second as the person onscreen kept talking."
"Besides his opening sketch offering a TV-themed twist on his viral George Washington sketch from SNL, the charity bit was basically Bargatze's only real joke of the night. That's a real head-scratcher (and a shame) because he's such a talented stand-up comic. Feigning horror at how low the donation dwindled throughout the night was a crutch, and the more he leaned on it, the more bizarre it felt"
A timed charity gag tied a $100,000 donation to winners' speech lengths, deducting $1,000 per second over 45 seconds and adding $1,000 per second under. The mechanic initially produced humorous tension as celebrities weighed thanking representatives against reducing funds for the Boys & Girls Club of America. Live updates and a corner countdown graphic tracked the shrinking total and extended the bit throughout the broadcast. Apart from an opening sketch referencing a viral George Washington routine, the timed-donation device served as the primary comic element and grew repetitive, draining energy and diminishing the show's entertainment value.
Read at InsideHook
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