75th Emmy Evening | Nostalgia, jubilation and déjà vu

A week after winning everything at the Golden Globes and 24 hours after triumphing at the Critics Choice Awards, the series Succession, The Bear And Beef repeated the feat at the Emmys, during a festive ceremony full of nostalgia, but devoid of suspense.

Trio of winners

Unsurprisingly, three series won the majority of awards. The fourth and final season of Succession (which we can catch up on Crave) dominated almost every category in which it appeared: best drama series, best actress (Sarah Snook), best actor (Kieran Culkin), best supporting actor (Matthew MacFadyen), best direction and best texts.

As for comedies, The Bear (which can be seen on Disney+) won six Emmys: best comedy, best actor (Jeremy Allen White), best supporting actress (Ayo Edebiri), best supporting actor (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), best direction and best writing .

In limited or anthology series, Beef (relayed by Netflix) left with five trophies: best series, best actor (Steven Yeun), best actress (Ali Wong), best text and best direction.

Elsewhere, let us mention the victories of Daily Show With Trevor Noah (variety show, talk show), Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (scripted variety show) and Elton John: Farewell From Dodger Stadium (variety special).

Nostalgia when you hold us !

The 75^are Primetime Emmy Awards didn’t just salute shows on the 2022-2023 television calendar. The Academy took the opportunity to highlight the contribution of some notable series from the last 75 years, most of the time by bringing together the actors of the show in part of the decor, faithfully reproduced on stage. In this way, we attended the reunion of the actors of Cheers Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt and John Ratzenberger, grouped behind the counter of the famous Boston bar. The distribution of Grey’s Anatomywhich will begin its 20^e season (!) in March, underwent the same treatment. This time, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. were together in, you guessed it, an operating room.

We were also delighted to see the actors fromAlly McBealled by Calista Flockhart, dancing to You’re the First, the Last, My Everything by Barry White in a mixed bathroom. As for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Weekend Update, we would have appreciated it more if it had lasted more than a minute.

Hasty thanks

Most of the winners respected the 45 seconds allotted to thank their loved ones, largely because host Anthony Anderson instructed his mother, sitting on the floor, to intervene loudly if any of them exceeded her time. The matriarch took her responsibilities seriously, strongly challenging Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), crowned best actress in a drama series, at the start of the ceremony. The incident left its mark, since afterwards, we felt the urgency in each winner… to the detriment of emotions. Still, a few winners delivered touching speeches, including Niecy Nash Betts (best supporting actress in a limited series for Dahmer), who dedicated his trophy to black women “who were not listened to”, like Breonna Taylor, this African-American paramedic who fell under the bullets of the police in 2020. For his part, RuPaul launched a message of tolerance after winning yet another trophy for RuPaul’s Drag Race, named best reality TV competition. “When a drag queen wants to read a story in a library, listen to her. Knowledge is power. And anyone who tries to restrict your access to power is trying to scare you. »

From ovation to ovation

The Emmy crowd probably gave out a record number of standing ovations during the gala. The first came after just 10 minutes, when Christina Applegate came to present a trophy. Suffering from multiple sclerosis, the actress accepted the applause with great emotion. Other presenters who were received with equal enthusiasm included Joan Collins (Dynasty), Carole Burnett, Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones) and Arsenio Hall.

The audience also gave a standing ovation to GLAAD, this organization for the defense of gay, lesbian and transgender people, winner of the Governor’s Special Award. “What we see on TV influences how we treat others, and the decisions we make in our living rooms, at school, at work and in elections,” declared the president of the organization, once on the scene.

A tribute to the fallen, a montage of photos projected on stage while Charlie Puth resumed See You Again on the piano, struck a chord, particularly when the singer offered a rereading of the theme from Friends, I’ll Be There for Youwhile we saw a photo of Matthew Perry, who died in October.

Gala fatigue

We couldn’t help but think about it throughout the evening despite the energetic entertainment of Anthony Anderson: the gala season has just started and we already feel a certain weariness of awards ceremonies. It must be said that in the space of a week, American networks broadcast three similar ceremonies: the Golden Globes (January 7), the Critics Choice Awards (January 14) and finally, the Emmys (January 15). This sequence was obviously not planned. Due to strikes by Hollywood screenwriters and actors, which were in full swing last September, the television industry was forced to postpone its high mass for a few months. Result ? On several occasions on Monday, we had the impression of watching a repeat of the two previous ceremonies because the winners were so similar. All this, while the Grammy Academy simultaneously announced on Facebook, In other words, the distribution of golden statuettes is far from over.