The 76th annual Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 15 at 8 pm on abc. Hosted by father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, they provided just the right amount of humor making it fun for nominees and watchers alike.
To kick off the night, they highlighted the many impressive shows of the 2023-24 season. American Historical drama “Shōgun” won fourteen Emmy’s, and later added four more, making it the most Emmy’s won for a single season; American psychological comedy-drama “The Bear” was nominated for 23 Emmy’s this year, making it the most nominated comedy of all time. Additionally, the Levy’s praised some of the most popular shows such as “Abbott Elementary”, “Hacks”, and “The Crown”
The first presenters were the stars of “Only Murders in the Building”, Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short. They joked around, poking at Martin and Short for being nominated in the same category, and Selena Gomez was applauded for her first nomination for outstanding comedy actress. They presented the award for best supporting actor in a comedy series, and taking the award again for the second year in a row was “The Bear”’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Following Moss-Bachrach’s speech thanking the cast and his family, Colin Ferell came to present the award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series. This went to Billy Crudup from “The Morning Show”.
A fun part of the show was different sets with various actors and actresses paying tribute to the careers they played on their respective shows. “TV dads” George Lopez, Damon Wayans, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson came out in a dad-like den set, gave a shout out to their TV spouses, and presented the award for best lead actor in a comedy series. Once again, the award went to Jeremy Allan White for his character of Carmen in “The Bear”, emphasizing in his speech how the show changed his life.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” stars Rob McElhenney and wife Kaitlin Olsen were the next presenters for best supporting actress in a comedy, going to Liza Colon-Zayas for her role in “The Bear”. This gave the show three consecutive wins of the night.
The next award was for best supporting actress in a drama presented by previous Emmy winner DaVine Joy Randolph. This went to Elizabeth Debicky for her portrayal of Princess Diana in “The Crown”. Immediately following was five time Emmy winner Candice Bergen to present the award for lead actress in a comedy series. This went to Jean Smart for her critically acclaimed role in “Hacks”, making it her sixth Emmy win in her career.
The next eight awards were for smaller categories, such as for talk show hosts, variety specials, writers for variety specials, and limited and anthology series. A majority of the awards for the latter went to Netflix series “Baby Reindeer”, with Jessica Gunning winning best supporting actress presented by iconic TV villains like Cathy Bates, Giancarlo Esposito, and Anthony Starr. Nicola Coughlan and Nava Mau presented best supporting actor for the limited or anthology series, with the award going to Lamorne Morris for “Fargo”.
The skits continued; TV doctors, like Zach Braff from “Scrubs”; TV police officers like Jimmy Smits from “NYPD Blue”; and others made the audience laugh while paying homage to some iconic television characters. Additionally, Ebon Moss-Bachrach had a skit with Taylor Zakhar Perez coming out to talk to him, later leading into the best writing for a limited or anthology series, going to Richard Gad for “Baby Reindeer”. This was his first of two awards he won in the night, the second being best actor in a limited or anthology series.
“Happy Days” stars Ron Howard and Henry Winkler came out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, giving just the right amount of nostalgia for the audience. John Leguizamo followed them, highlighting how Latin representation in Hollywood has improved since he was a child.
Other celebrity pairings included Joshua Jackson and Matt Bomer, TV coaches Jane Lynch and Brendan Hunt, Lily Gladstone and Greta Lee, and TV lawyers Viola Davis, Gina Torres, and Christine Baranski.
Alona McCluney and Jade Davis alongside singer Jellyroll paid tribute to the influential actors that have passed in the past year, followed by Jimmy Kimmel positively remarking the career of Bob Newhart.
Gladstone and Lee came out to present lead actress in a limited or anthology series, which went to first time Emmy winner Jodie Foster for her role in “True Detective”.
The cast of “The West Wing” were the second-to-last skit to come out, and they commented on the use of AI, emphasized the importance of people registering to vote, and presented the best drama series, going to “Shōgun”.
Finally, with the very last skit of the night, “Schitt’s Creek” star Annie Murphy joined her former co-stars to bring out their on-screen mother, Catherine O’Hara, who presented the award for best comedy series going to “Hacks”.
With extremely influential and critically acclaimed shows like “The Bear”, “Hacks”, “Shōgun”, and “Baby Reindeer”, the Emmy’s brought just the right amount of humor and fun as it always does, while adding its own spin. The evening was closed out by the “Schitt’s Creek” family, providing a satisfying conclusion to another successful night of the Emmy’s.
