4 Thoughts on The Emmys

1. The Host - I don't know who Nate Bargatze is. I've heard the name from my husband because he knows way more about stand-up comedians than I do. He listens to podcasts and watches comedy specials regularly. I remember when Nikki Glaser was announced as Golden Globes host he almost considered watching the show because he loves her. And she KILLED IT! So, I asked his opinion on Bargatze and he had nothing but good things to say so I thought it was going to be another slam-dunk. But this was AWFUL. As soon as it opened with an SNL sketch, I knew we were in for a disappointing affair. Every joke had been told before and felt extremely dated (The Bear isn't a comedy? That's what you're going to riff on 3 years later?). Then he came onto the stage and explained his whole strategy for keeping the show on time (one of the hardest things for an awards show host to accomplish) - which was to donate $100k to The Boys and Girls Club and then take away $1000 for every second a winner goes over their allotted speech time. I get it - it's funny. And obviously not real. There is no way they were going to donate anything less than $100k. But it made for some funny moments like Hannah screaming "I'll pay the difference" etc. My problem with it was that there was literally nothing else to his hosting gig. Instead of telling jokes he just kept going back to this bit - updating the amount and riffing on whether someone helped his wallet by going over their time. THAT'S ALL HE DID. EVERY TIME. It was only mildly amusing but it became grating about 1/4 in, and then it was almost UNWATCHABLE by the end. 

2. The Show - It wasn't just the host that was terrible - the whole show sucked. What the fuck was that Golden Girls tribute?? They sounded fine, but it lasted like 2 seconds and they just sung the theme song instead of talking about why it was so important to television history. And the Gilmore Girls reunion was so awkward - if I didn't know any better I would think these two women hate each other! Why did they let Elizabeth Banks go on an on about it being 5 women directors in the category if they knew a man was going to win? The thing is - he deserved that win. Adolescence is an incredible technical feat! But the way she presented it to him made everyone groan "of course the award went to a man", which kind of sucks for him. I think that was a shitty thing for Banks to do - but it's not her fault. The rest of the presenters were all fairly dull - they teamed everyone up with their tv co-stars which doesn't really make for interesting pairings. I think the only time I laughed is with Katherine Hahn and Ike Barinholtz turning off the teleprompters because they don't "need" writers ("Noah Wyle! So good on Scrubs" made me giggle). I will say that the In Memoriam was really beautiful - I don't follow country music so I have no idea who those people are, but they sounded angelic together. Just stunningly beautiful. 

3. The Winners - This is the second year in a row that I'm fairly happy with the winners. I wish they spread the love a tiny bit more, but Adolescence, Hacks/The Studio, & The Pitt were the best miniseries, comedies, & drama, respectively. I was surprised that Severance took the lead actress and supporting actor categories, though not undeserved; I just expected Kathy Bates and Sam Rockwell to take those. I'm kind of happy that The White Lotus was pretty much shut out because that season SUCKED (although I loved the actors). I also expected The Studio to win writer/director & show, but I did NOT expect Seth Rogen to take the win for lead actor!!! WOW. As much as I like Rogen, he was at the bottom of those nominees for me (mostly because I feel like he's just playing a version of himself). I was also SHOCKED that Owen Cooper won! He's only 15! Up against - oh wait - that was a pretty weak category now that I think about it....but still! He's so cute, and his speech was adorable. Hannah Einbinder is a co-lead of Hacks, but she'll never win against Jean Smart. I'm happy she won, but it's also frustrating for actual supporting roles. I wanted Jessica Williams to win. Actually, that's probably my only complaint - Shrinking should have won a few. I think Harrison Ford deserved it the most for making me cry (and I'm not even a Harrison Ford fan - so that's saying a lot). But the biggest win that I was rooting for was Cristin Milioti - she was so good on The Penguin. And her speech was so cute and made me fall in love with her a little bit!

4. The Fashion - I know it was weird and not to everyone's taste, but I LOVED Jenna Ortega's look - it was clearly a nod to Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her, and I like that she took a risk. I wish that more young actresses took these type of risks. I also thought Sydney Sweeney's Jessica Rabbit dress looked insanely gorgeous on her. Those were definitely my two favorite looks of the night. I also loved Molly Gordon's black and white striped dress - very Audrey Hepburn but modern. And Tina Fey's dress looked stunning on her. Some looks I did not love: Aimee Lou Wood's dress was pretty but ill-fitting in the bust area. Parker Posey's lilac curtain dress. Gross. Meghann Fahy looked like she belonged on Dynasty. And Elizabeth Banks looked like a 90s Barbie (and not in a good way).