Emmy Awards 2024 moments: Hosts mock The Bear, SNL cast reunites, and TV's iconic villains gather
Emmy Awards 2024 moments: The 2024 Emmy Awards telecast delivered a night of memorable moments, with Shogun leading the charge. Having already secured 14 Creative Arts Emmys, the Japan-based epic broke records for the most wins in a single season. While Shogun hoped to add more accolades throughout the evening, the show was filled with notable reunions and themed tributes to TV's favorite characters.
The father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, stars of the Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek, charmed the audience as hosts. They kicked off the night with self-deprecating humor, poking fun at how television has become dominated by "movie stars on streaming services." Even when they teased other shows, like The Bear—which was up for Best Comedy Series despite its more dramatic tone—they did so with a light touch.
“We love the show, and we know some of you might expect us to joke about whether The Bear is truly a comedy,” Eugene Levy remarked, “but in the spirit of The Bear, we won’t be making any jokes.”
A comical moment occurred when the Levys ended up sitting in different rows of the audience, adding to their signature awkward charm as Eugene shouted, "I can't see the prompter!"
A mini-reunion of Saturday Night Live (SNL) stars added to the nostalgia, with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, and Bowen Yang presenting the award for Best Writing for a Variety Special. The group playfully ribbed SNL creator Lorne Michaels, with Rudolph joking that Michaels had been “robbed” 85 times at the Emmys. Bowen Yang added, “Keep winning, it gets better," before hilariously mispronouncing Michaels' name.
This reunion served as a teaser for SNL’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebration in 2025, where the groundbreaking sketch show will be honored with a three-hour live primetime special.
In a fun tribute to TV’s most memorable villains, Antony Starr from The Boys, Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad, and Kathy Bates from Misery came together to discuss their roles as antagonists. Esposito joked about the downside of playing villains, with drug dealers often interrupting his meals to ask for advice on “building their empires.”
Meanwhile, Bates reflected on her iconic role, humorously noting how tough it was to get a date after playing a crazed kidnapper in Misery. Starr added that parents often tell him how his bad superhero character disturbs their kids, to which he responds, “It’s sloppy parenting—it’s rated R.”
The Emmys also spotlighted TV’s beloved parental figures. George Lopez, Damon Wayans, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson gathered to present the award for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, with the three stars reflecting on their iconic TV dad roles. The segment took a humorous turn when Ferguson, who starred as a TV husband on Modern Family, asked Lopez and Wayans if they had even watched his show.
Later, TV moms had their moment in the spotlight. Meredith Baxter (Family Ties), Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), and Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us) presented the award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. Baxter remarked, “We’ve come a long way since we couldn’t leave the kitchen,” while Watson highlighted how TV moms are now more complex characters, stating, “It’s OK to ask for as much as a TV dad.”
The night was a celebration of both the classics and the new, with heartfelt reunions, nods to iconic roles, and plenty of humor to keep the audience entertained.
- With inputs from agencies
