Now that Hollywood is back in action after both the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike came to a resolution late last year, the much delayed and much anticipated 75th Annual Emmy Awards have finally come to pass. While the Emmys are traditionally held in September, they were postponed due to the strikes and landed during Hollywood’s traditional awards season, and, less traditionally, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
This year’s shindig was hosted by actor and comedian Anthony Anderson, who is no stranger to the Emmys, having been nominated for multiple awards himself for his role on black-ish. He had a big job ahead of him as this was the awards’ diamond anniversary and producers were determined to put on a show. He was also following a Golden Globes broadcast where which host Jo Koy’s performance was heavily scrutinized and criticized. Anderson, and producers’ decision to tap him as host, was also subject to criticism himself, as Anderson has previously been accused of assault, allegations which he has denied.
On Monday night, Anderson took a different path than Koy, keeping his opening number largely musical. Throughout the night, in addition to the cavalcade of actors being handed awards, the ceremony paid tribute to the history of television from the 1950s to the present with a number of cast reunions, including for Ally McBeal, Cheers, and Martin.
The night saw winners made of The Bear and Succession, which tied for the most wins with six, and Beef (which took home an impressive five). Many of the wins felt deserved but somewhat anticlimactic, given the unusual timing of the Emmys following the Globes, and the fact that so many of the shows that won swept multiple categories, keeping the number of winning series relatively low overall.
And as always, we saw a whole bunch of strange songs, flopping jokes, surprises and upsets. We are here to recount the good, bad, absolutely hilarious and hilariously awkward moments.
Most Divisive New Time-Keeping Method
Anderson kicked off the show with a little housekeeping announcement. The show was going to give out 27 awards, which means 27 acceptance speeches. To keep those speeches tight, he suggested just thanking “Jesus and your mama,” and to encourage brevity, his own mother, Doris Bowman, would be there to cut people off. To prove it, his mother shouted from the crowd, “Time’s up, baby, cut to the chase!” Some on Twitter, however, chimed in to say they found the bit disrespectful.
The Emmys’ Most VMA Moment
Even though this was the Emmys and not the MTV Video Music Awards, Blink-182’s drummer Travis Barker showed up on stage to play the drum fill from Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” in Anderson’s tribute to Miami Vice.
Best Way to Kick Off A Show
Christina Applegate, who shared her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis in 2021, got a standing ovation as she appeared on stage, mentioning her roles in Married… With Children, Samantha Who?, Dead to Me, and as a baby on Days of Our Lives. She joked the audience was “shaming” her disability “by standing up” and then chided the audience for clapping: “You don’t have to applaud me every time I do something!”
Most Enthusiastic Way to Announce a Winner
When Applegate announced The Bear‘s Ayo Edibiri as winner of Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series—for which Edibiri went on to give a humorous and meaningful speech thanking her family—she opened the envelope and yelled: “Ayo, get your ass up here!”
Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli were invited as one of many cast reunions throughout the evening, as well as to mark the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos and announce the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. The award went to Jennifer Coolidge and when she arrived to accept her trophy, she was reunited with her The White Lotus Season 2 co-star, Imperioli.
Most Disappointing Casting Confirmation
When Coolidge won for her performance in The White Lotus, she naturally thanked creator Mike White. However, fans may not be thanking him in return, because Coolidge confirmed she won’t be back for future seasons. “He says I’m definitely dead, so I’m going along with it,” she said, before taking a moment to “thank all the evil gays” for making her an icon.
Best Beef and Best Bleep
Keiran Culkin started a tiny feud with Pedro Pascal during the Golden Globes and when Pascal came to announce an award at the Emmys, he used his moment to (jokingly) blow it up. Sadly, audiences at home didn’t get to hear exactly what he said about Culkin, because the entire line was bleeped (at least in the telecast), but based on the look on Culkin’s face, the war is not over yet.
Biggest Snub (From Days of Yore)
While Martin was never nominated for an Emmy throughout its run in the 1990s, members of the cast (Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Carl Anthony Payne II, and Tichina Arnold) reunited on stage and pointed out all the reasons they should have been. That’s when Anthony Anderson joined them on the stage to thank them for their contribution to television history and to confirm that, indeed, they were never getting an Emmy.
Most Honest Appreciation
When Niecy Nash-Betts accepted her award for her performance in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, she thanked many people, but then paused and said, “You know who I want to thank? I want to thank me.” She continued, “And I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, ‘Go on girl with your bad self. You did that!’” Nash-Betts said she accepts the award on behalf of Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, and every other Black and brown woman who has gone “unheard yet over-policed,” saying it is her job as an artist to speak truth to power.
Best Use of Stage as Soapbox
When RuPaul arrived to collect the prize for Outstanding Reality Competition Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race, he used the moment to preach. “If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her,” he said. “Because knowledge is power and if someone tries to restrict your access to power they are trying to scare you.”
Most Legit But Unfortunate Excuse
The Bear creator Christopher Storer won awards for both best writing and directing in a comedy, but couldn’t attend the show because he reportedly is home sick with Covid-19. He’s not the only one watching from home: The Last of Us and Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama, also posted to Instagram that she was stuck at home with Covid-19. — TIME
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