This Emmy season was supposed to be boring. The Drama Series field was supposed to be an embarrassment. The Comedy Series was decidedly weak. In the end, that did not turn out to be the case. A season that saw “Shogun” switch from Limited to Drama Series and unexpected players such as “Baby Reindeer” and “Fallout” rise out of nowhere had a ceremony that mirrored those surprises. Who knew? Keeping that in mind, here is a rundown of some of the best and worst moments of the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards.
READ MORE: “Hacks” shocks as “Shogun” and “Baby Reindeer” also triumph
Best: Eugene and Dan Levy
It took a minute, but the Levys eventually started dropping zingers in their opening monologue. Eugene Levy foreshadowed the end of the night by joking, “I know some of you will be expecting us to make a joke about whether ‘The Bear’ is really a comedy, but in the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes.” Cue a roar from the crowd. Dan Levy, after listing a number of gay actors nominated this year snapped they all were, “proving you can get nominated for playing gay even if you’re not straight.” Preach Dan. Also, the pair, thankfully, didn’t disappear throughout the show like some previous hosts and the “fun fact” and wrong aisles in the theater bits were cute. We’re not sure the next rotating network (either NBC or CBS) would do it, but we’d suggest bringing them back.
Best: Awards shows get political again
Billy Cudrup couldn’t help mentioning his wife, Naomi Watts, is an immigrant who runs a business. Liza Colón-Zayas remarked, “To all the Latinas looking at me: keep believing and vote. Vote for your rights.” Candice Bergen, no stranger to political attacks, zinged, “A Republican candidate would never attack a woman for having a baby, Meow.” Yes, meow, Candice. And John Leguizamo, out to discuss his ad asking Emmy voters to up-lift nominees of color, “I’m one of Hollywood’s DEI hires.” Speaking of Leguizamo…
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Best: Standing ovation for Jean Smart
It’s not just that Smart deserved her Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy. That was a given. It was the fact her peers rose up to salute her after she endured two years of personal challenges including a major health scare. They knew and they wanted to make sure she knew she was loved.
Worst: John Leguizamo says the quiet part out loud, in the spotlight
At first, it seemed like Leguizamo was going off script, but as he continued to speak it was clear he was given time in the ceremony to make a very poignant and important speech. Over the past 20 years, many different minority groups have been uplifted in the Hollywood ecosystem. Sometimes it hasn’t lasted long, sometimes it has, but one group that always felt like the stepchild, was the Latino community. Right before nomination voting began, Leguizamo paid for an ad in the New York Times titled “An Open Letter to The Television Academy” asking for more diversity in the nominations. And, specifically, in Latino representation. His speech during this telecast was an invitation to recognize all minority groups but it was his striking remarks about characters such as Speedy Gonzalez being the only Latino character he’d seen on TV as a kid that resonated the most. It was smart, it was a call to action, and, fingers crossed, the executives in the audience and watching at home were paying attention.
Best: Richard Gadd’s acceptance speech
After already winning the Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series Emmy earlier in the show, Gadd took to the stage to win the Lead Actor in the field and could not have been more endearing. He fanned out over beating Jon Hamm and rectified the “glaring omission” of forgetting his parents the first time around. He shared, “They never told me what I needed to do with my life and they never told me who I needed to be. And I think that’s the greatest gift a parent can give a child. They always said, ‘Follow your heart and the rest will fall in place.’ And I think it’s good advice.”
Worst: Bringing back the tributes
Having actors reprise their popular characters by theme (TV Dad, villains, etc.) is fun in theory, but is getting a bit tired. The telecast has done this numerous times in the past, including just eight months ago, and it just feels lazy at this point. Sort of like when the Oscars became over-reliant on themed montages. Did we need a “Happy Days” reunion with just Ron Howard and Henry Winkler? Really?
Best: “SNL” actors clap back to Lorne Michaels
The only reunion that really worked saw Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Kirsten Wiig, and Bowen Yang take the stage to celebrate “Saturday Night Live’s” 50th Anniversary. Their bit attempting to reassure producer Lorne Michaels over his 80+ Emmy losses killed. It was also a reminder of how so many awards shows benefits when any “SNL” alumni take the stage.
Worst: Complacency
Listen, we completely understand that because of the strikes in 2023, the Television Academy was effectively putting on two ceremonies in eight months. But outside of the inclusion of the Levys as hosts, it was effectively the same formatted show as in January. Considering it was on two dramatically different networks, FOX and ABC, and this is the organization that delivered the groundbreaking COVID stay-at-home ceremony just four years ago, this was disheartening. If the Television Academy and the production team don’t mix it up in 2025 the ratings slide will only continue.
Worst: Integrated Ad
What. Was. That. Who on Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Taylor Zakhar Perez’s teams approved them to appear in an integrated whiskey ad in the middle of a “prestigious” awards show? Making matters worse was how awkward Moss seemed in participating in it after already winning an Emmy (hey, who wouldn’t be?). Was the bad spend worth it for ABC or The Academy? Will the whiskey company be happy with the negative social media reaction? Times are tough in the biz in some respects, but this door needs to be closed moving forward. This was not it.
Worst: The middle of the show
Every awards show has a lull and most producers and directors plan for it, but this Emmy telecast almost drowned in it. Placing the in Memoriam and honorary Oscar for uber-producer Greg Berlanti right next to each other was a pacing mistake. Jellyroll’s performance was fine, but Berlanti’s presentation made it clear the Governors Awards held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences serve a much-needed purpose and, perhaps, the TV Academy should consider their own version. Berlanti’s acceptance speech was notable and made excellent points about LGBTQ+ representation (and, trust, we’re all for it), but it was simply too long for a show that gave winners just 45-second acceptance speeches. It felt unfair, and Berlanti is not enough of a legendary figure to get so much airtime on the Primetime Emmys telecast.
Best: Upsets
Liza Colón-Zayas over Hannah Einbinder in Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series? Upset. Billy Crudup over Takehiro Hira in Supporting Actor in a Drama Series? Upset. Lamorne Morris over Jonathan Bailey in Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie? Massive upset. “Hacks” winning Writing for a Comedy Series over “The Bear”? Minor upset. Will Smith’s win Writing for a Drama Series for “Hacks” over the field? Massive upset. And, “Hacks” triumph over “The Bear” as the telecast came to a close? A shocking upset for the ages. Speaking of…
Best: The Television Academy had enough of category fraud
Emmys, Oscars, Grammys? Category fraud is a tale as old as time for these awards shows. The “Hacks” win should give FX pause on how it submits “The Bear” in the future. The one category all the voters have a chance to have their say went to a decidedly comedic “comedy.” There has been a lot of scuttlebutt in the industry (and in-jokes in competing shows) about how “The Bear” wasn’t a comedy program, but a short-form drama. Tonight’s result demonstrated that a majority of TV Academy members wanted to rectify the situation. This isn’t them saying the second season of the FX hit wasn’t worthy of awards. The show took home six overall. And perhaps season three could equal that success in the…Drama Series category next year.
