By Carter James 

The Emmy’s has always been an interesting award show to me. I never kept up with TV enough to have opinions on the nominees, so it felt like learning a foreign language. This year on the other hand, there were a few nominees that I watched. “Succession”, “Euphoria” and “Stranger Things” were the shows I had watched, and 1/3 of “Severance”. 

“Succession” was the show I was rooting for, and it won big last week. Best Drama Series, Best Drama Writing and Best Drama Supporting Actor for Matthew Macfadyen. All deserved wins as Succession had its best season yet.  

A big highlight was also seeing all the multiple wins. “Ted Lasso” and company winning Best Comedy, Comedy Actor, Comedy Supporting Actor and Comedy Directing was surprising and unsurprising at the same time. I’m surprised that “Ted Lasso” overcame the high that “Abbott Elementary” was riding on, while also unsurprised that Jason Sudeikis and Brett Goldstein won for the second year in a row, as they were predicted to.  

The biggest upset, however, was Bob Odenkirk, of “Better Call Saul”, not winning Best Drama Actor. Obviously Lee Jung Jae has been winning for “Squid Game” all throughout award season, but the passion behind “Better Call Saul’s” final season and Odenkirk’s near death experience on set, a nearly fatal heart attack, pointed towards Odenkirk finally winning his first Emmy.  

“Abbott Elementary” and “The White Lotus” were two shows I was previously on the fence about but seeing their numerous wins and pure passion from the crowd proved to me that I need to go ahead and watch them. 

All the wins felt empty to me though, because winners were forced to make speeches in a 45 second window.  While some winners, like Zendaya and Michael Keaton, were able to make effective acceptance speeches in such a short amount time, others, like Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Coolidge, visibly struggled on stage. What could’ve have been memorable and moving moments in show, were reduced to whiplash inducing blurbs for both the winners and the audience. 

As for the award show itself, I found it to be vapid and drawn out. It seemed that every bit was built to be a viral moment, trying to replicate the Will Smith and Chris Rock incident that happened at the Oscars earlier this year. 

Keenan Thompson as the host was boring. He’s never been much of a true comedian, and it showed last night. His opening monologue felt like an attempt to replicate Ricky Gervais’s infamous Golden Globes monologue from 2020. 

Worst of all was the opening dance number, which felt 2010s-esque in all the wrong ways.  

Overall, everything outside of the awards felt safe and disingenuous. The attempt to make memorable moments without taking any risks was transparent. 

My main takeaway from the entire show: have Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez host next year. The comedic trio is the perfect blend of genuine, envelope pushing comedy, while also staying in good taste for the network.  

Once again, The Emmy’s proves to be the most boring awards show of the season. Forcing winners to give speeches in less than a minute, a safe host and even safer comedic bits as well as the blatant attempt to make “shocking moments” and the incessant need to give consecutive wins is what is leading to a slow decline in the Emmy’s as a televised award show.