The relative success or failure of the Emmy Awards can often be traced back to their host, and a high note was set early on at the 2024 Emmys with the father-son duo of Eugene and Dan Levy treating us to a show that was well-paced and studded with genuinely funny moments—from Martin Short and Steve Martin joking about Nicole Kidman’s small-screen omnipresence (Martin: “When I see an actor I don’t know, I just say, ‘I loved your scene with Nicole Kidman,’ and 9 times out of 10, I’m right!”) to Jean Smart poking fun at HBO while accepting her sixth Emmy. Below, find seven of the very best moments from this year’s Emmys ceremony:
The Saturday Night Live-alum tribute (of sorts) to Lorne Michaels
We’re always happy to see any combination of Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Bowen Yang, and Seth Meyers, and their joking tribute to Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels’s many Emmy losses (and, as Meyers pointed out, not-insubstantial number of wins) had the stage-confident, quippy energy of a really good SNL sketch. I love even the suggestion that Yang thinks Michaels’s name is “Lauren.”
John Oliver’s sweet, impromptu tribute to his dog
We can’t say that we loved that the Last Week Tonight host was played off during his emotional speech about his recently passed dog, but we did love his parting words as he was kicked offstage: “All dogs, you are all very good girls. You are very good boys. You all deserve a treat. Play me off now! Thanks so much.”
Richard Gadd’s meaningful acceptance speech for Baby Reindeer’s (first) win
“Ten years ago, I was down and out. I never thought I would get my life together…and then here I am, over a decade later, picking up one of the biggest writing awards in television,” the Baby Reindeer creator said while accepting his outstanding writing for a limited series Emmy, going on to reference his own history of abuse and send an inspiring message to fellow survivors: “If you are struggling, keep going, keep going, and I promise you things will be okay.”
The 2024 Paris Olympics spotlight
Apparently, we’re not the only ones still obsessed with Ilona Maher, even now that the Olympics are over. The American rugby player who stole our collective hearts in Paris was on hand at the Emmys to present alongside fellow Olympians (including Stephen Nedoroscik!), and seeing her felt like a throwback to heady summer afternoons of sports-watching and wine-drinking.
Nicola Coughlan quite literally outshining everyone
This silver Prabal Gurung look feels like the final piece of evidence supporting the argument that Bridgerton star Coughlan is truly the girl of the moment (or, to paraphrase Girls‘ Hanah Horvath, “a voice of a moment”).
The Schitt’s Creek reunion
It wasn’t clear how badly we all needed to see Moira Rose again until Catherine O’Hara took the stage—introduced by her onscreen family of Eugene and Dan Levy and Annie Murphy, of course—to present the Emmy for outstanding comedy series to Hacks. There are, like, four people in Hollywood who could pull off delaying an end-of-night award-show winner announcement for the sake of a bit (“No, really? Must we? Must we just choose one winner?”), and O’Hara is one of them.
Anna Sawai’s tribute to “all the women who expect nothing and continue to be an example for everyone”
Sawai, who is the first Japanese actress and first performer of Asian descent to win the coveted Emmy for lead actress in a drama series for her performance on Shōgun, struck a heartfelt and thoughtful note in her acceptance speech on Sunday, thanking costar and fellow Emmy winner Hiroyuki Sanada for “continu[ing] to opens doors for people like me.”
This story was originally published on Vogue.com.
