5 Things to Know About the Red Nose Day Broadcast

Stars like Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and more gathered in a sound stage at NBC Universal Studios Thursday evening to celebrate Red Nose Day with a mega-fundraising live broadcast to raise money for children and families living in poverty all over the U.S. and the world.

While the cause for the event was serious, the light-hearted spirit of the comedic-centered event was definitely present. InStyle was on hand at the show as the couple, along with Malin Akerman and others answered phone calls from donors, pre-recorded sketches and videos made audience members laugh and tear up, and host Craig Ferguson kept the audience entertained, dancing out on stage to the tunes of Paul Shaffer and the Red Nosed Band before explaining their mission.

“What we’re going to do is entertain the heck out of you and we hope that what you’ll do is give us some cash to save and change the lives of millions of kids,” he said. And they did, raising $30.7 million for the special day as the broadcast came to an end.

Take a peek at our five most notable moments from inside the broadcast.

1. The star-studded telephone swap included plenty of adorable off-camera moments from Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.

Before the broadcast began, Kutcher put on a red nose and Kunis touched up her lipstick before posing for a couple of selfies together and snapping videos of themselves at the show. Kunis danced in her seat as the band played songs like “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” during commercial breaks and chatted animatedly with Girlfriend Guide to Divorce star Retta and Minnie Driver, who were seated near her. When it was time for the first swap of stars on the telephone table, Kunis yelled “bye guys” to the audience, threw on a green jacket and headed out with her husband, who left with a wave as well.

2. There were a ton of A-list cameos.

Although Julia Roberts, Jack Black, Julianne Moore, and other stars weren’t on hand at the show, they appeared in comedic sketches and moving videos throughout the evening. Elton John and Blake Shelton also performed in pre-recorded videos. The show opened with a sketch centered on Jay Leno stalking Ferguson in epic ways (he even popped up in his shower), and also a sketch that showed Paul Rudd trying to block Blake Griffin’s basketball shots after he told him he would donate a huge amount to Red Nose Day for each one the baller got in.

3. Who knew Game of Thrones’s Ramsay could sing?

One of the sketches that got the most laughs from the audience was one in which notorious Game of Thrones’s baddie Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) sang his heart out about being a flower-loving, misunderstood villain who wanted to be a part of Red Nose Day, but couldn’t because of his reputation. Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi also joined him in the mini-musical sketch that had the audience laughing out loud throughout it.

4. The Walking Dead went comedic ... and it was gold.

Walking Dead fans probably needed a little bit of laughter after the creepy April finale, and they got it via a sketch in which several of the show’s stars came together for a lighthearted Red Nose Day makeover. Among other things in the hilarious clip, Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus sip milkshakes in bathrobes and crack jokes about Josh McDermitt, who approaches them speaking like Yoda. This also got plenty of giggles from the in-house audience.

5. The malaria clip was the tear jerker of the night. <

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While there were a ton of laugh-out-loud moments during the show, a clip that showed children battling malaria in Africa was the one that brought audience members and stars on hand to tears. Craig Ferguson told the audience it was the hardest video for him to watch, and his voice cracked as the clip went off. The late night host urged viewers to donate, citing that the children could’ve avoided malaria - and death—if their parents had had access to a $4 mosquito net.