When Nate Bargatze hosted SNL for the first time in Season 49, it was a pretty big moment for the stand-up. He was gaining popularity, but this episode and exposure solidified him as a marquee entertainer. It was a fantastic episode, thanks in large part to Bargatze heading up one of the year's best and most viral sketches, titled “Washington’s Dream,” which focused on one of our founding fathers’ thoughts on competing systems of measurement. While it was definitely a bright spot of Season 49, apparently Bargatze had to fight, so to speak, to get the sketch approved by a less-than-enthused Lorne Michaels.
The comedian, whose latest Netflix special is now available to stream, appeared on the Good One podcast and opened up about what is widely known as the George Washington sketch, and how it went from the table read to air after being initially written up by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. The sketch apparently wasn’t ultra-popular at the table read, and wasn't yet a lock for Bargaze’s episode in the days leading up to the episode. As he put it:
When you go up to pick what we are gonna do at dress rehearsal, I remember [Washington’s Dream] was [in between] out versus in, it was the maybe.
The Nashville native also said while he was at first shy to speak out in defense of sketches where the show creator was concerned, he definitely wanted to express his positive opinion on the sketch. As a Season 49 SNL host, he had a unique system of power to utilize when it came to the show's lineup, and when it was up to him and Lorne Michaels to decide, he decided this was the best moment to speak up.
After first bringing up the fact that his only history with sketch comedy was watching the lone season of Aaron Sorkin's sketch-show-within-a-show drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and then regretting those words, Bargatze said he made the call to speak up for George Washington, and the consensus was that it probably wouldn't have made the show had it not been for that part of their conversation. As he put it:
I just remember Lorne… he looked back at me, and I was like, ‘I like that Washington sketch,’ and he said, ‘Alright,’ and he put it last.
Michaels may have wanted to take Bargatze’s opinion into account, but still wasn’t confident enough in the piece to put it early on in the show. While its post-monologue placement may seem like a no-brainer now, there was a lot about the sketch that made it difficult to perform. The entire sketch hinged on Bargatze’s delivery and cadence, and he was definitely capable of this as a stand-up comedian, but it also required large efforts from the costuming and art direction crew members, which made things trickier. As he put it:
I think it was like getting into the Washington stuff, too. It was like the biggest costume thing. So it was like you could cut out a lot of stuff. Like if that one works… you have to jump into all this stuff, everyone’s gotta change.
The sketch ended up being a massive audience favorite at dress rehearsal and made it to the live show. Bargatze clearly advocated for the right sketch, because “Washington’s Dream” became one of the most viewed SNL sketches of Season 49. His comedic timing is perfect, and it partially earned the comic an invitation back to host in Season 50. They even did a second part to the sketch because audiences loved the first installment so much, and Bargatze’s latest hosting stint had some of the best sketches of the season so far.
Thankfully his instincts were so great, because we could’ve all been robbed of great comedy material that will likely live on in SNL history. Not every host would’ve sold “Washington’s Dream,” which made it the perfect sketch to be written specifically for Bargatze. If this story says anything, it’s that SNL is a well oiled machine, and requires all voices working together in order to create television magic week after week. Also it’s the new, changing voices that keep the show fresh and inventive.
You can revisit Nate Bargatze’s hosting stints on SNL by streaming episodes of the iconic show now with a Peacock subscription. Fans of the show can also watch the show live on Saturday nights at 11:30pm on NBC. SNL has some great Season 50 hosts and musical guests lined up for the new year's episodes, so make sure to check it out.
