Critic’s Notebook: A Snoozer Emmys Ends with a Surprise

If you tuned out the 76^th Emmys (feeling every bit its age) at or before the three-hour mark — and who could blame you — you missed one of the few shockers of the night, when Max’s Hacks won the Outstanding Comedy Series award in an upset over FX/Hulu’s presumed favorite The Bear. (An earlier surprise indicator: Hacks also won the writing trophy over The Bear, which was favored for its blistering Season 2 “Fishes” episode.) Consider this a triumph for comedy with an actual funny bone. Although, why again doesn’t Hacks air on HBO? (Jean Smart, winning her third Emmy for the show, got the two confused in her acceptance speech, cracking, “Just what we needed, another network.” Bravo, Jean.)

Mostly, though, this muted ceremony (which went nearly 10 minutes over schedule but felt much longer) plodded on through genial if toothless banner from its father-son hosts, Schitt’s Creek Emmy winners Eugene and Dan Levy, and largely predictable though mostly deserving wins, with near sweeps from The Bear (three of four acting wins and directing), Baby Reindeer (Outstanding Limited Series, two acting Emmys and a writing win) and the mammoth Shōgun, coming off an unprecedented haul at the Creative Arts Emmys a week before, with 18 total wins setting an Emmy record (including on Sunday for Outstanding Drama, two lead acting awards and directing).

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A gimmick of bringing together famous TV dads, moms, doctors, cops, coaches, and lawyers as presenters was a nice idea but didn’t really land, ditto the fond 50-year reunion of Happy Days stars Ron Howard and Henry Winkler — kudos to the Fonz smacking the jukebox for old times’ sake — and an earnest 25^th-anniversary salute to The West Wing on a replica of the Oval Office set. There should be a way to make TV nostalgia entertaining, but on a show where more than 20 awards are mechanically presented and winners babble in fear of being played off, there’s not much wiggle room for memorable moments.

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One exception: five-time Emmy winner Candice Bergen reflecting on the infamous 1992 kerfuffle when then-Vice President Dan Quayle assailed her fictional character of Murphy Brown for her unwed motherhood. “Oh, how far we’ve come,” she dryly noted. “Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work is done. Meow.” (Next Sunday, she’ll relive the Murphy Brown controversy during the opening episode of CNN’s TV on the Edge series.)

Considering the volatile nature of this political season, the Emmy broadcast was mostly non-confrontational, with several appeals for people to register and vote. In a lengthly speech about Latinx and other representation on TV, John Leguizamo took a dig at anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives. “We are all DEI hires,” he said, giving the term new meaning: “D” for diligence, “E” for excellence and “I” for imagination.

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Among the night’s very few other notable surprises: a writing Emmy for the splendid Apple TV+ spy dramedy Slow Horses and Fargo’s sole win for Lamorne Morris as limited series/anthology supporting actor, besting Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr.’s tour de force in multiple roles in HBO’s The Sympathizer and Jonathan Bailey’s heartbreaking turn in Showtime’s shamefully underappreciated Fellow Travelers. Morris was just fine, holding his own within a spectacular cast, but it’s hard to imagine that very many saw that coming. Not that the show ever created a sense of drama even when there was some.

If the Emmys could someday pull off that miracle — perhaps by celebrating and showing us a bit more of the programs and performances they were honoring — maybe the show itself would be worthy of an Emmy. Fat chance.