74th Emmy Awards recap

This Tuesday, September 10, television’s biggest night, the 74th Emmy Awards, aired on NBC. Big wins from “Succession,” “Ted Lasso,” and “The White Lotus” marked the night, along with Zendaya winning her second Emmy for “Euphoria”.

The actress has now become the youngest two-time Emmy winner ever. 

Apart from Zendaya’s win, “Euphoria” was majorly lacking in nominations this year. It appears their sophomore year was less well received than their first. 

Zendaya’s speech was inspiring, as she acknowledged the many viewers of her performance that have people in their lives similar to her character Rue, a struggling drug addict. 

Other winning actors included Mathew Macfayden for “Succession,” Jason Sudeikis for “Ted Lasso,” Michael Keaton for “Dopesick,” and Sheryl Lee Ralph for “Abbott Elementary”. 

Ralph’s acceptance speech was only half speaking. The actress broke out into a masterful rendition of Dianne Reeves’s “Endangered Species,” then continued by urging others to believe in themselves as she did. 

Ralph was the first black woman to win in her category (Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series) in 35 years. 

“To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true. I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like. This is what striving looks like. And don’t you ever, ever give up on you,”

Jason Sudeikis ascending the stage to receive his prize as “Whatta Man” by Salt-N-Peppa played was truly a fantastic thing to watch. Take that Olivia Wilde!

For fans of Nickelodeon, the 90s hit comedy “Good Burger” had a reunion. Host Kenan Thompson joined forces with costar Kel Mitchell for some good old fashioned nostalgia. 

One apparent issue with this year’s broadcast was the lack of time NBC provided to winners for their acceptance speeches. Numerous actors, directors, and writers commented on having only 45 seconds to speak (in contrast to the nearly 3 hour long broadcast). Having not finished her speech, Jennifer Coolidge began dancing to the walk-out music rather than taking the cue to leave. 

The night’s most controversial moment occurred during Quinta Brunson’s win for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. 

Jimmy Kimmel was dragged onto the stage prior to announcing the nominees, with Will Arnett suggesting he’d lost so many years in a row he got drunk and passed out. Kimmel remained on the floor even when Brunson was announced as the winner and still as Brunson made her acceptance speech. 

In an interview after the show, Brunson said Kimmel’s bit “didn’t bother me much.”

She said Kimmel was the first late night host to invite her on his show, that upon meeting, he had praised the writer and actress, telling her it was the funniest sitcom he’d seen in a while. 

Still, many fans are angered by Kimmel taking away Brunson’s well-deserved spotlight.