Nate Bargatze's Trying Something New in His Upcoming Comedy Special

Nate Bargatze, the standup comedian and recent Saturday Night Live host is set to roll out his first primetime variety special with CBS this year. Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas will be holiday-themed and produced by none other than Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels.

Bargatze’s move to primetime is just another step cementing him as one of the most successful comedians performing today. Although he’s been doing standup for decades and has four standup specials already out, in 2023 he went mainstream with his SNL hosting debut. He also started his own family friendly production company, The Nateland Company, which will be producing his forthcoming special. 

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While we don’t have a ton of details regarding the upcoming variety special, here’s everything you need to know including when fans can expect to watch it. 

What is the release date for the Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas?

Although there’s no set release date for Bargatze’s special with CBS, it’s confirmed that it’ll air in December. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he plans to film the show on Nov. 21, 2024 at the Grand Ole Opry—a special location for him since it’s where he got his start in comedy.

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What is Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas about?

Bargatze has released other specials before, with Comedy Central, Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, but this will be his first primetime special. It will reportedly run for an hour on CBS as a holiday-themed variety show—a bit of a break from Bargatze’s usual format.

“I’m extremely excited to be creating this special as I have long been a big fan of variety, and we don’t see enough of it,” Bargatze said in a press release in September. “I want to make a great show for families to gather around and watch together and I couldn’t be in better hands than with this team.”

What makes a variety show different from typical standup is the mix of performances. Bargatze will still do standup, of course, but also sketch comedy, pre-taped skits and musical acts could factor in as well. It’ll be done in collaboration with SNL writers Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, who worked with him before on the SNL sketch “Washington’s Dream,” which went viral in 2023. Special guests will likely be a part of the show, but they have yet to be announced. 

Related: The Best SNL Sketch of Last Season Made a Welcome Return in 2024

Who will appear in Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas? 

No special guests have yet been announced for Bargatze’s upcoming variety show. However, due to all the Saturday Night Live connections, it seems likely that at least a few cast members will appear. Given that it is a variety show, it seems unlikely that it would only feature Bargatze alone. 

How to watch Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas

Fans can watch Bargatze’s CBS holiday special live when it airs in December (exact date yet to be announced). 

How to stream Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas

For those without cable, Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas will also stream on Paramount+.

What channel is Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas on?

The upcoming special will air exclusively on CBS. However, you’ll also be able to watch it on Paramount+ after it airs. 

Is there a trailer for Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas? 

Not yet. The variety show doesn’t actually film until Nov. 21, 2024, so we won’t get any kind of trailer until after that. 

Related: Every Saturday Night Live Host of Season 50

How did Nate Bargatze get famous?

Bargatze has been doing comedy for over 20 years. But in the last few years, he went from a relatively not-famous—albeit successful—standup comedian to someone known by millions.

This burgeoning fame can likely be attributed to having a larger platform: He’s done multiple Netflix specials since 2017, hosted SNL twice and was even nominated for a Grammy in 2022.

Variety called him an “everyman comic,” which seems to hold true for Bargatze and may be the reason his career has skyrocketed. “I assume I’m like everybody in the audience, and I could be friends with everyone out there,” he told the magazine in 2022. “We’re all the same. We all have relatives, families, lives. It’s human-to-human interactions, the same problems. Start there.”

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the “everyman comic” now sells out 19,000-seat venues like Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and has grossed around $90 million on the road.

How many comedy specials does Nate Bargatze have? 

To date Bargatze has released four standup specials: Nate Bargatze: Full Time Magic (2015), Nate Bargatze: The Tennessee Kid (2019), Nate Bargatze: The Greatest Average American (2021) and Nate Bargatze: Hello World (2023). However, he has the upcoming variety show Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas coming out later this year and is contracted to record two more standup specials for Netflix. 

Related: How to Watch Every Nate Bargatze Stand-Up Special