The Emmy Awards–most of them, that is–were handed out last night. You’re forgiven if that may have slipped your mind. After all, this was NBC’s turn in the rotation, and once again they were pushed back to Monday night. If you happened to own the rights to the medium’s most-watched program–SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL–you wouldn’t be pre-empting it, either. And a network doesn’t get to celebrate its centennial if they don’t make some hard but wise choices along the way.
They did try in vain to give themselves and, natch, Peacock, some love by putting one of its few truly enduring and visible non-sports personalities, Mariska Hargitay, front and center as host. She’s been a part of NBC’s family for more than a quarter of its existence and has recently broadened her zeitgeist-ness both with an acclaimed Broadway run and by becoming a fixture at New York Knicks games as they were en route to the NBA title. She was a refreshing choice who certainly can rock a designer gown–the first female to front the ceremonies in 15 years. But tasking her to lead off the telecast by showcasing her modest (to be kind) singing skills was the first of many questionable choices that were on display. TIME’s Judy Berman took a higher road than others with her assessment:
A day before Monday’s 78th Primetime Emmys, giddy headlines proclaimed that reigning king of basketball Jalen Brunson would be joining host Mariska Hargitay for a pre-taped intro bit. Well, it happened. We got a few seconds of the real-life pals steaming work outfits together, of all things. Then, suddenly, Hargitay was leading an “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” production number that had her singing about Guy Fieri on an airplane and cuddling up with Jean Smart in a hotel bed, in what felt uncomfortably like an ad for Marriott and United Airlines, whose logos were prominently placed. And then she was onstage at LA’s Peacock Theater, delivering a notably brief monologue.
Apparently there was room for that extended shtick due in part to the Academy’s decision to relegate dozens of theretofore Emmy Night-worthy rank-and-file contributors to the previous weekend’s Creative Arts broadcast–a worthwhile event for those in the biz to network at but the epitome of an afterthought as it airs on tape on FXX (not even its far more popular single-X sibling. At least one category from the otherwise relocated Limited Series was saved to provide a historic moment that THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s
Matthew Rhys pulled off an unprecedented feat by nabbing two lead-actor Emmys in a single night: one for the limited series “The Beast In Me,” playing a Robert Durst-coded real-estate developer suspected of murdering his wife; the other in “Widow’s Bay” as a frazzled mayor trying to turn a cursed island into the next Martha’s Vineyard.
And it was WIDOW’S BAY that indeed dominated just about everything else in its wake–a reality that THE WRAP’s veteran prestige beat writer Steve Pond couldn’t help but lament as well as acknowledge:
Katie Dippold’s horror-comedy series entered the Emmy race so late that its final three episodes weren’t even eligible for this year’s awards, but it didn’t even need a full season to dominate the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards and break the record for comedy-series wins.
By the halfway point, the suspense had pretty much been drained out of that final award of the night – although “Hacks” die-hards could disagree by remembering that two years ago, “The Bear” set a new record for the most comedy wins in a single year before “Hacks” stole the top comedy Emmy. But lightning didn’t strike twice for “Hacks,” with “Widow’s Bay” completing the near-sweep that had been feeling pretty inevitable for most of the night.
Not that the series wasn’t worthy of hardware–heck, we even mused favorably about it. But even by the modest and mostly private standards that Apple series are measured by WIDOW’S BAY was anything but a populist success. That’s already been a disconnect for the broadcast networks and generally secondary streamers that still choose to broadcast the Emmys–a reality that has contributed to a decade of sub-eight figure audiences whose negative trajectory was only reversed last year by CBS–and by a modest 8 per cent over the second of two ceremonies in calendar 2024 (the 2023 awards were delayed until the following January; thank you, Strikegeist) and essentially break-even with the last time they broadcast them in 2021.
You can almost understand the ambivalence and reluctance for Emmy’s partners to hype and promote the event given the fact that they are overwhelmingky celebrating shows that don’t even advertise on their air for audiences that wouldn’t be watching them at all if they weren’t being given their moment in the sun. As Pond astutely noted, WIDOW’S BAY was also the latest in what is now a series of flavor-of-the-moment bandwagons that is at best a double-edged sword:
(I)t was also yet another instance of Emmy voters narrowing their focus and bestowing all their love on a single show. This is the fifth time in the last seven years that a series has set a new record for the most comedy wins in a single year. That was good news for “Schitt’s Creek” in 2020, “The Bear” twice in 2024 (once in a delayed ceremony in January and again in September), “The Studio” in 2025 and “Widow’s Bay” this year – but it’s not a great look for Emmy voters, who continually feel as if they’re rubber-stamping a small number of favorites rather than really considering the varied options available.
Sure, there were feel-good moments. 
Michael J. Fox’s wheelchair-bound acceptance speech for the rarely bestowed Bob Hope Humanitarian Award was heartbreaking, and Stephen Colbert’s triumph for his final LATE SHOW season in the compromised talk/variety category more than made the highly partisan crowd ecstatic. 
But when we later learned that many on the staff that he shamelessly endorsed for future work turned out to be part of those responsible for last night’s script that revelation likely undid a great deal of the free pub they were able to get. Exhibit A was the tepid and predictable second extended skit that featured Hargitay in her signature Olivia Benson role, this time around focusing on whether Taylor Swift would show up in a cameo rather than a heinous sex crime. Good news: she did. Bad news: it was on tape, and even she was choosing to watch Monday Night Football in real time.
The Oscars have already decided that their future lies on the ever-growing and even currently most-watched measured platform out there–YouTube. And they deliver more than twice the Emmy’s audience even in decline. With all of the dynamics we’ve noted above both strategic and structural my Nostradumbass self can’t help but opine that we’re likely to see a reversal from last year’s spike, with the only thing holding back an all-time viewership low likely being Nielsen’s recent amendments to its measurement qualifications that especially benefits live broadcast.
On the other hand, even 5 million concurrent viewers to a platform like Apple TV would be leaps and bounds over what typically shows up on any given night to worship at their temple of critical acclaim in a relative vacuum. They would never relegate the main awards to any night but Sunday and likely could deliver more eyeballs to a live broadcast of the Creative Arts awards than FXX ever could. They would certainly be able to draw from a cadre of more capable song-and-dance talent than NBC if they indeed wanted to celebrate their personalities. And Lord knows they’ve got the bucks to make the Academy whole. Those Duos aren’t cheap, ya know.
The voters and viewers have already figured out the Emmys are a lot more insular than not. It’s time for the Academy to get on that case.
Until next time…