The Emmys Could’ve Been an Email
From the moment Eugene and Dan Levy casually strolled on stage — without so much as a pre-taped lead-in video — the 2024 Emmy Awards felt like nothing special. After all, many of the attendees had already been to an Emmys ceremony this year. Getting hyped to watch the same winners, year after year, is a recurring issue for TV’s grandest night, but the challenge becomes that much harder when a chunk of those winners were rewarded less than nine months ago. Similarly buzz-killing is the idea that the new winners are predetermined, as many expected “Shōgun,” “Baby Reindeer,” and “The Bear” to do well at the 76th Emmy Awards, which they did. For the most part.
But despite slight early surprises (Liza Colon-Zayas! Lamorne Morris!) and a major late stunner (“Hacks” putting the “comedy” back in Best Comedy Series), ABC’s telecast was constantly fighting familiarity, if not outright redundancy. Where January’s Emmys sparked to life with low-key charms and reunion after reunion, September’s ceremony felt like a poor imitation. A classic “Happy Days” reunion of two? A modern “SNL” reunion of four? A “West Wing” reunion… again? Meanwhile, the “archetype”-themed presenter groupings were so random they came off closer to a bait-and-switch. You’re telling me the orchestra will play the “Friday Night Lights” theme, Connie Britton will show up to remember Tami Taylor, and the broadcast will tease famous TV “coaches” coming up next, and Coach — the Coach — isn’t there? Neither of them?!
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Oft-puzzling presenter picks aside, the 2024 Emmys (the second one) never felt inspired or inspiring. Anna Sawai gave the best speech, and Richard Gadd made the most of his multiple trips to the stage, but the return of the chyrons to get in extra thank you’s seemed sporadic. Some winners got them, some didn’t, and none seemed to realize it anyway. Plus, honorees are rarely what’s wrong with an awards show. If anything, they tend to rescue shows from the poor decisions made around them, and this year was no different. The closest anything produced by the producers came to a viral moment was when John Leguizamo touted the TV Academy’s diversity efforts… which didn’t exactly hold up to the internet’s immediate scrutiny. But rather than try this or that and risk further criticism, the 76th Emmy Awards didn’t try much at all.
And it started with the hosts. The father-son duo made sure to set the bar low for their opening monologue, reminding everyone from the top that they weren’t stand-up comedians, but actors acting like hosts. “In the true spirit of ’The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes,” Eugene quipped, and while that wasn’t exactly true — Dan delivered a solid jab when he flatly stated that Matt Bomer’s “Fellow Travelers” nomination “proves you can be nominated for playing gay, even if you’re not straight” — they missed a few gimmies. Dan mocking Eugene’s increasingly nonsensical text messages was too easy. Eugene mistaking the “+” in Apple TV+ for the company’s support of LGBTQ+ individuals was too labored. But what really had my blood boiling was when, after Dan said to make sure to pronounce his name “Lev-y,” not “Leave-y,” that Eugene followed up with, “And if things go south, my name is pronounced, ‘Martin Short.'” I’m sorry… what? Eugene, you are literally starring in an Emmy-nominated show with Martin Short right now, but they didn’t cast you to mirror Martin Short, they cast you to mirror Steve Martin. So why not say “Steve Martin”? That makes sense! And it’s about TV! And it promotes your show!
Not that the Emmys needed any additional product placement, Disney-branded or otherwise. The duo dropped “Schitt’s Creek” twice in the first three minutes, and following their perfunctory non-monologue (nonologue?), they called back to their Emmy-winning sitcom to close the show. (Catherine O’Hara, you are always welcome.) In between, there was an egregious mid-ceremony piece of sponsored content, where Ebon Moss-Bachrach — the night’s first Emmy winner — acted out a “scene” with “Red, White, and Royal Blue” star Taylor Zakhar Perez for a scotch company that I will not name here. They got plenty of promotion already, and quite frankly, ABC should be more ashamed of forcing an ad into the actual ceremony than all those unfounded, repeated cuts to Disney CEO Bob Iger throughout the telecast.
To be fair, many of the presenters that weren’t saddled with impossible selling points did great. The “Only Murders” trio was as wonderful as ever, which didn’t quiet the previous calls for them to host. Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson managed to make a jockstrap joke work, even one that called out Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett by name. Candice Bergen made her mark quickly and then punctuated it with a pointed meow. Billy Crystal’s little brown book was almost as winning as his recollection of his first stand-up set on “The Tonight Show.”
Winners were highlighted by smart stars, big emotions, and the few surprises. Jean Smart pretending to mix up HBO and Max, only to quip, “Just what we needed, another network,” made her third straight win for “Hacks” that much more memorable. John Oliver, like his show “Last Week Tonight,” continues to be smart and funny despite succeeding for so long we’d expect to be sick of him. (Yes, the show is still elite TV, but he’s personally won 21 times, and that’s a lot of speeches!) Alex Edelman’s acceptance was sweet, as was his onscreen chyron. (“I want to thank my kids– wait, I don’t have any kids!”) The “Hacks” and “Slow Horses” writers made all writers look good, and the parade of “Shōgun” winners never grew tiring, in part because they were all so sincere, so excited, and so deserving. (Justice for Tadanobu Asano.)
But in the end, the Emmys felt like yet another awards show resigned to its diminishing fate. The vibes were sleepy, the pace was sluggish, and any experimentation was entirely absent. Hollywood has long bemoaned the dwindling audiences for these telecasts, but with shows as lackluster as this, how do you expect to win anyone back? Hell, how do you expect to preserve the audience who’s still tuning in? Ratings for Sunday’s show may prove to be higher than the last ceremony, which weren’t just delayed but also aired on a Monday night, but they’ll pale in comparison to Sunday Night Football and probably a few other of the evening’s TV options. Decline may be inevitable to a certain extent, but with many more shows like this one, and even long-time viewers will only bother finding out who won via email.
Grade: D+
The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The full telecast will be available to stream Monday on Hulu.
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