I’m not going to lie, I’ve been so busy this summer that the start of awards season really snuck up on me! The Emmys, back to their usual time in the calendar were back and just as strong. I also felt like this year saw lots of diversity and that’s likely because some long-running shows are no longer in contention.
Personally, Dan and Eugene Levy can host the Emmys every year moving forward. They kept it light but also extremely funny, and that’s a family that you want to see over an over again, just like we did on Schitt’s Creek for six years. My favorite bit of theirs came after a commercial break where they ended up on different sides of the auditorium accidently. They nailed their line deliveries at every turn and it was nice to not have to worry about any slip of the tongue.
Likewise, many of the presenters of the night did an incredible job. Similar to the Emmys earlier this year that saw reunions of many old, favorite shows, this time around there were a few of those like The West Wing and Happy Days, but the rest looked at types of characters. Think TV dads, doctors, and lawyers. My personal favorite was TV cops where they had Don Johnson, Jimmy Smits, and Niecy Nash-Betts for Reno 911. Talk about getting the whole spectrum represented! There were also some delightful pairings like Nicola Coughlan and Nava Mau. Of course real life couple and long time working partners Kaitlin Olsen and Rob McElhenney would have a perfect back and forth together on stage.
Though it may seems like just a few shows dominated the evening, and they did, really, there were still a lot of one-off categories that found some surprising winners. I was happy to see Slow Horses and Jodie Foster of the latest season of True Detective get some love. Likewise, seeing Billy Crudup and Elizabeth Debicki shake up the wins was enjoyable. Perhaps the biggest pleasant surprises of the night belonged to Lamorne Morris winning supporting for Fargo and Hacks besting out The Bear for best comedy series. All of the Hacks wins seemed to be a big shock given how The Bear has swept almost every awards season since it started airing.
Although I have yet to watch Shogun, I do believe all of its wins were deserved, and likewise to Baby Reindeer. Seeing the comedy category split was nice, and maybe in future years I’d like to see the drama and limited series categories do the same. Otherwise, I felt the evening went really smoothly with lots of gratitude and wonderful speeches – even the totally unprepared ones! Diversity was spit out a few times during the broadcast, but I’d have to agree that this is one of the most diverse group of nominees I may have ever seen – keep it up! You’ll see me catching up on some of these award winners in the coming months, so stay tuned.