On August 5, 2025, the Las Culturistas Culture Awards aired for the first time on national television, marking a major milestone for the irreverent and highly original awards show created by comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. Broadcast on Bravo during a two-hour primetime slot, the event signaled a growing appetite for alternative and comedic takes on traditional entertainment ceremonies. With a blend of satire, cultural commentary, and star power, the Las Culturistas Culture Awards stood out as a unique voice in the crowded landscape of awards programming.
Originally launched in 2022 as an offshoot of the popular podcast Las Culturistas, the awards were conceived as a humorous response to what the creators viewed as the predictability of mainstream awards shows. Yang and Rogers—who began their friendship at NYU and have collaborated on projects across television and comedy—transformed what was initially an inside joke for podcast listeners into a full-blown cultural event. Over the years, the show grew in scale and ambition, culminating in this year’s Bravo broadcast that introduced their signature brand of satire to a national audience.
The ceremony was pre-recorded on July 17 at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The venue, known for its ornate decor and long entertainment history, provided an ideal setting for the show’s blend of camp and elegance. A-listers and cult favorites alike gathered on the red carpet, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Mindy Kaling, Ben Platt, Quinta Brunson, Kristin Wiig, Jeff Goldblum, Allison Janney, and Alison Brie. Their attendance underscored the show’s growing credibility in the entertainment industry, despite—or perhaps because of—its unorthodox approach.
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One of the defining features of the Las Culturistas Culture Awards is its whimsical and often absurd category list. With over 100 awards presented, categories ranged from the oddly specific, such as the “Worst Sticky Feeling Award,” to the delightfully hyperbolic, like the “Eva Longoria Award for Tiny Woman, Huge Impact.” These categories, many of them recurring from previous years, are deliberately tongue-in-cheek and reflect the podcast’s ethos: that pop culture is worth celebrating not just for its high art, but for its quirks, weirdness, and inside jokes.
What sets the LCCAs apart is not only its humor, but its structure. Unlike traditional awards shows, where the focus is on celebrity speeches and predictable winners, the Las Culturistas format embraces surprise, rapid-fire pacing, and sheer comedic density. According to Rogers, this year’s show contained around 500 original jokes written by the hosts and their creative team, showcasing a staggering level of preparation for what appears, on the surface, to be chaotic fun. The broadcast itself maintained a brisk rhythm, rarely lingering too long on any one segment, and was interspersed with musical performances, video sketches, and elaborate presenter bits.
The broadcast was made available to a wide audience through multiple platforms. In addition to airing on Bravo, the awards were available the following day on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. For viewers who preferred live streaming, access was offered through cable-replacement services such as DirecTV, Sling TV, and FuboTV. This multi-platform rollout ensured that fans across the country could experience the show on their own terms, a fitting approach for an awards show born from the freedom and accessibility of podcasting.
Yang and Rogers, who have both enjoyed rising careers in television—Yang as a breakout star of Saturday Night Live and Rogers as a performer and writer on various projects—used the awards as a vehicle to not only lampoon the culture they love but to build community around it. Their longstanding friendship and shared comedic voice were evident throughout the broadcast, with seamless banter and genuine affection for both the art form and each other. The production, executive-produced in partnership with Lionsgate Alternative Television and NBCUniversal, demonstrated how a once-niche idea could scale to mainstream success without sacrificing its identity.
In interviews leading up to the broadcast, both hosts emphasized the importance of honoring cultural moments—whether highbrow or lowbrow—with equal enthusiasm. The show aims to validate the obsessions and passions of pop culture fans, from niche internet moments to blockbuster cinema. Yang noted that the LCCAs were about celebrating the “silly and sacred” in equal measure, while Rogers expressed pride in creating a show that “feels like a party and an inside joke shared with the audience.”
Critics and fans alike praised the awards for bringing a fresh, comedic perspective to an increasingly formulaic genre. In a media landscape where awards shows often struggle to maintain relevance or viewership, the Las Culturistas Culture Awards offered a much-needed reminder that celebration can be both joyful and absurd. By embracing the chaotic energy of the internet age and combining it with genuine appreciation for culture in all its forms, the show captured the zeitgeist in a way few others have.
As the first nationally televised edition wrapped, it became clear that the Las Culturistas Culture Awards are more than just a parody—they are a reflection of a new cultural sensibility that values authenticity, humor, and inclusivity. With its successful Bravo debut, the future of the LCCAs looks bright, potentially setting a new standard for what televised award ceremonies can be.