This year's Emmy Awards arrived later than normal, but the winter timing didn't seem to have any adverse effect on the 75th annual ceremony, which wound up being one of the most enjoyable and respectfully breezy award telecasts in years. (Check out all the winners here.) With Anthony Anderson bringing his hosting credientials to television's biggest night of honors, the event wasn't exactly a hype-fest, but I spent so much less time counting down the minutes than usual.
Perhaps it's because the Golden Globes a week prior were plagued by awkward and unfunny presenter segments and the semi-controversial jokes about Barbie and more that filled host Jo Koy's monologue and sporadic appearances. But I can only hope that the next year of awards shows lives up to the first Emmy Awards show of 2024, and here's a quick rundown of the reasons why I think it went so well.
Anthony Anderson Hosted Without Being A Jerk
Anthony Anderson can dish out and take roast-worthy barbs with the best of them, but that wasn't really on the agenda this time around. Rather than honing in on snark and catty comments, the black-ish vet largely kept the humor as light as could possibly be, both in tone and frequency. It was all about honoring the television medium, which is what it should be. And if someone is going to stand there and be affable AF every so often for 3 hours (even in American Horror Story's rubber suit garb), Anderson knows how to deliver.
All The Cast Reunions
The whole point of the Emmys is to celebrate the most memorable actors and shows of that era, and this year's telecast paid tribute to the big winners of past years with a variety of former co-stars reuniting on stage as presenters, sometimes within some very familiar looking settings. Seeing much of the surviving Cheers crew alongside Kelsey Grammer again just makes me want it to happen for real on Frasier even more. Martin's stars getting back on stage together hopefully means things remain on good terms, with fans still hoping for a revival to happen, which Tisha Campbel has discussed previously.
The Grey's Anatomy cast reunion with Katherine Heigl was a winner for all the most positive reasons, the Ally McBeal dance was kept short and sweet, and who doesn't love it when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are able to jump back behind the "Weekend Update" desk for whatever reason? While it maybe doesn't quite count as a proper cast reunion, I did also love seeing A Black Lady Sketch Show vet Quinta Brunson alongside Season 1 guest star and TV legend Marla Gibbs. More of that, please.
Past And Present Co-Stars As Presenters
It never fails to confuse me whenever award shows' approach to presenters is pairing up actors whom audiences have never seen on-screen together before, as opposed to groups of celebs who have years' worth of chemistry together. This year's Emmys did feature a bit of that, as well as some one-off presenters like Peter Dinklage and Carol Burnett.
But how fun was it to see the gang from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia take the stage as a group to poke fun at their annual snubbing? Or to see Ke Huy Quan excitedly presenting next to his cucumber-cool Loki co-star Tom Hiddleston? And while it would have been great for a larger reunion to happen, it was an emotional treat to see The Sopranos' Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli together again.
Recreated Sets And Other TV Callbacks
A moment that may have flown far over the the heads of younger Emmy viewers (which exist, right?) came when Arsenio Hall's name was announced similar to how he came out on his late night talk show, whose set background was one of several ways the set designers paid loving homage to familiar TV sets. Regardless of others' familiarity, I loved seeing Hall back in his hosting vibe as much as I loved seeing Ted Danson and George Wendt at the Cheers bar or Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers in the Bunkers' living room from All in the Family. Even the Twilight Zone homage to introduce AHS' Dylan McDermott was solid enough, even if we didn't actually see the show's Murder House as advertised.
Even beyond the sets, it was adorably quaint for some presenters such as Jason Bateman and Jodie Foster to have photos from their childhood days in the industry, with other moments featuring surprisingly brief montages from TV history. (I can't be the only one who thought the entire "75 moments" retrospective was being teed up.) The "In Memoriam" segment was also kept simple and subdued, though perhaps he most awkward moments of the night came with the stretches of silence without applause as the lesser-known departed were shown.
Limited Time Wasted On Goofy Skits
Something that often mucks up award shows is a seemingly endless line of pointless skits that have little to do with TV, and are seemingly geared for attempts at internet virality. Given how low-key and praise-laden everything was, truly awkward segments were few and far between. The fact that Natasha Lyonne and Tracee Ellis Ross' chocolate-chomping homage to I Love Lucy came in the last 15 minutes of the broadcast, and didn't suck all the life out of me, was a revelation. It was ridiculous, mind you, but hats off to Ross for bringing 1000% to her Lucy, and to the show for giving viewers a mini-black-ish reunion on top of all the others.
Anthony Anderson's Mom Doris > Music
As a way of getting longer-winded award winners off the stage, I had my reservations whenever Anthony Anderson revealed that his beloved mom Doris Bowman would be replacing the musical interruptions that traditionally (and rudely) urge talents to wrap it up. But I'll be damned if it wasn't a joy each time she popped up with her clock sign in hand, especially since the night went so smoothly that barely anyone required her efforts. Though John Oliver hilariously requested them directly during one of Last Week Tonight's wins.
It Actually Ended On Time
Regardless of whether awards shows are fantastic or terrible, viewers' takeaway opinions of them rest largely on whether or not the damned things actually end when they're supposed to. At this point, audiences are generally aware that a built-in buffer of 10-15 minutes is often required to see who wins the biggest awards of the night. But the 75th Primetime Emmys made such pessimistic expectations moot by not only ending EXACTLY on time, but also by paying tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. whose speech, included in the 75 most impactful moments in TV history, aired over the closing credits.
So again, it wasn't the most groundbreaking or jaw-dropping Emmys night by any stretch, but for an evening where most of the awards were already a lock for The Bear, Succession and Beef, power to all involved for not being an offensive bore between all the predictable results. So let's hope we'll see more of this in the future, not only from the TV Academy but also at the Oscars.
