By paying tribute to the great shows of yesteryear, the ceremony argued for television as a shared culture.
For all the glamorous stars and standing ovations, last night’s Emmys were a rather muted affair. The host, Anthony Anderson, didn’t blame his writers for misfiring jokes. The speeches were appropriately emotional. Elton John became an EGOT winner; he didn’t show up to accept his trophy, but everyone seemed extremely happy for him.
That there weren’t many surprises perhaps came as no surprise. Because of the dual Hollywood strikes by writers and actors in 2023, the ceremony had been postponed from its original air date in September. That meant it was honoring shows that had long been off the air, that had since aired new seasons that won’t be considered until the next round of Emmy voting, or that had just been lauded at the Golden Globes last week. The Bear, Succession, and Beef began the night as favorites to win in their categories—comedy, drama, and limited series, respectively—and all three did.
If the gala had a remarkable element, it was the show’s attempt to connect its present with its past. TV, as critics and viewers alike have noted for years, has become a medium that appears to include everything. But the 75th prime-time Emmy Awards repeatedly made creative choices to illustrate that television has always offered a breadth of worthwhile programming—a history lesson that lent the show a welcome, if imperfectly executed, structure and thematic through line. Great television, the Emmys argued, doesn’t have to contain surprises or shocks; it just has to be thoughtfully made. (A heavy dose of nostalgia helps too.)
First came the reunited casts of major series: Actors from programs such as The Sopranos, Cheers, Martin, and Ally McBeal appeared onstage in good-natured skits before announcing nominees for various categories. Then came the intergenerational pairings of presenters: Dynasty’s Joan Collins and Empire’s Taraji P. Henson walked out together, for instance, cementing their places as two of TV’s biggest divas (a compliment!). And to top it off, performers who had been child actors—Christina Applegate, Jason Bateman, Jodie Foster—spoke about their first TV roles while the screens behind them showed photos of their pint-size selves. Numerous presenting stars got more time onstage than the winners, who were cheekily encouraged to wrap up their speeches by Anderson’s very game, very punctual mother.
Read: The most truthful moment of the Emmys
For the most part, these moves gave the gala a sense of gravitas without smelling of self-importance. Here were the people who made shows that once captured viewers’ attention, had a regular presence in their living rooms, and paved the way for the current cohort of winners to exist—and they were there to celebrate. The Ally McBeal cast danced, the Grey’s Anatomy ensemble thanked its fans, and Dylan McDermott represented American Horror Story while accompanied by the hardest-working fog machine of all time. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, reunited behind a “Weekend Update” desk à la their days on Saturday Night Live, even told jokes about every nominee they introduced.
Still, the linkage between TV shows of past and present can be tenuous. The logic of which titles got the spotlight treatment was murky: Some of the series being revisited, such as Martin, never won a single Emmy. I Love Lucy and Cheers are both television classics; Grey’s Anatomy is still airing. And the montage that played midway through the show—purported to be a collection of some of TV’s most memorable moments, in honor of the Emmys reaching its 75th year—was more jarring than stirring. The truncated version of the package that aired included clips from critically acclaimed series, such as the pilot of Breaking Bad and the series finale of The Sopranos, but also showed footage of the Twin Towers up in smoke on 9/11, because TV, as Television Academy Chair Frank Scherma said in his vague introduction, “goes beyond entertaining and informing.”
The effect, then, was a sense that there indeed has been a lot of television—and a lot of people involved in getting so much on air. Highlighting the work was a pivotal point to make for viewers, given what Hollywood has gone through since the previous Emmys ceremony. The strikes weren’t just about the wages actors and writers earned; they were also about how workers are valued by their own industry. Even though Anderson and the presenters never referenced the labor unions by name, the Emmys’ insistence on highlighting the legacies of retired shows felt notable in an era of haphazard show cancellations, fuzzy viewership data, and overworked creative talent.
As much as awards shows tend to be opportunities for celebrities to get gussied up, they can also demonstrate how those very stars—along with the writers, directors, crew members, assistants, producers, and everyone else thanked onstage—become a part of people’s lives through the projects they make. The Emmys understood, then, that however much television evolves, the medium will always offer something formative to viewers. To become a part of a shared tradition is an honor, with or without a trophy.
The Emmys Tried to Time Travel
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16.01.2024
By paying tribute to the great shows of yesteryear, the ceremony argued for television as a shared culture.
For all the glamorous stars and standing ovations, last night’s Emmys were a rather muted affair. The host, Anthony Anderson, didn’t blame his writers for misfiring jokes. The speeches were appropriately emotional. Elton John became an EGOT winner; he didn’t show up to accept his trophy, but everyone seemed extremely happy for him.
That there weren’t many surprises perhaps came as no surprise. Because of the dual Hollywood strikes by writers and actors in 2023, the ceremony had been postponed from its original air date in September. That meant it was honoring shows that had long been off the air, that had since aired new seasons that won’t be considered until the next round of Emmy voting, or that had just been lauded at the Golden Globes last week. The Bear, Succession, and Beef began the night as favorites to win in their categories—comedy, drama, and limited series, respectively—and all three did.
If the gala had a remarkable element, it was the show’s attempt to connect its present with its past. TV, as critics and viewers alike have noted for years, has become a medium that appears to include everything. But the 75th prime-time Emmy........
© The Atlantic
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