76th Emmys Roundup: A Mixed-Bag Ceremony That Struggled to Look to the Future

In Memoriam Bad

I don’t know how award shows keep messing up In Memoriam segments. Play a beautiful sad song, show some faces and names (and make sure the correct names are next to the correct faces), and leave the audience feeling a little sad before fading to commercial.

I have nothing against Jelly Roll, a singer who I just found out about. But it’s a little bizarre to hear an announcer introduce the In Memoriam segment with “Here’s Jelly Roll,” before singing a—and deepest apologies to all the Jelly Roll fans reading this—bad song. The sound mixing was off and the lyrics of the song felt a little offensive. When someone dies, one of the last things you want to hear is that you, the alive person, will be alright. In Memoriams should be about honoring the impact of those who are no longer with us and holding space for them in the present. Not a song about the importance of mental health.

The song and presentation would be bad enough, but then Jimmy Kimmel had to appear and do what he does best: make award shows a little bit worse. Specifically, honoring only one person who passed felt a little strange. Bob Newhart absolutely left an unparalleled legacy on TV. But it cheapens all the other people who appeared before him for Newhart to get a dedicated two-minute speech (with a pretty awkward transition to top it all off). Sad song, names and faces, fade to commercial. Please, this is not the place to take risks.

John Leguizamo’s Impassioned (but Under-Cut) Plea

In a rare moment for the Emmys, the ceremony had John Leguizamo come out and celebrate a crowd of Emmy nominees that represent the diversity of the world. It was a well-written speech and a bold moment to encourage a TV landscape that represents the world we see around us. But a speech during an award show can only do so much. When Television Academy President Chris Abrego came out, I was hopeful he would say something actionable about what the Academy is doing to bring that world to fruition. But, instead, he celebrated what has already been done. It wasn’t a horrible moment, just weaker than what Leguizamo’s passion set up. Also, Abrego called TV “content,” which was a bit like stabbing me in the heart with a dull blade. This is not content! This is television! Specificity matters.

Greg Berlanti and The CW Network Nostalgia

Greg Berlanti is who Ryan Murphy thinks he is. Berlanti defined the 2010s era of TV. He made shows that rarely received awards acclaim, but had loyal fanbases of passionate people (often young people). He paved the way for queer representation in mainstream TV. I started loving and analyzing TV when he was a dominating force. His well-deserved Governors Award and beautiful speech were a highlight of the night. But his speech also brought me waves of sadness. The end of The CW was also the end of what Berlanti built during his height. 

Who is currently working in a writers room that could become the next Greg Berlanti? There are fewer and fewer opportunities for another man like him to come along. And with The CW now a hollow, rotting corpse of its former self, there are also fewer and fewer places to see shows made for young people that understand what younger demographics want in their media. If you assume young people only want to watch YouTube shorts and TikToks, then that’s all that will be made for them. But everyone my age watched at least one episode of The Flash or has some kind of opinion about Riverdale. I watched Political Animals as an 11-year-old and started researching foreign policy to understand what they were even talking about; I ended up majoring in Public Policy in college. The media young people consume at the age Berlanti wrote for will have a permanent impact on who they become. One Emmy isn’t enough, give him the entire shelf.

Celebrating Archetypes: I See What You’re Trying to Do, But It’s Not Enough

People don’t watch the Emmys. Why would they? Most young people don’t have cable anyways. There are too many shows on too many different services for any normal viewer to have seen most of the nominees. The celebration of TV archetypes (TV moms and dads, cops, villains, doctors, etc.) is good in theory as a way to try to bring audiences in with nostalgia for TV characters they liked and remain memorable. But it’s just not enough to rope viewers in with retrospectives.

In Richard Gadd’s speech for Outstanding Limited Series for Baby Reindeer, he spoke about the need for TV executives to take risks on daring shows, not just relying on IP. He said we need “good storytelling that speaks to our times.” And if you look at the shows that got nominated tonight, that is what was being celebrated. We will never be able to celebrate a show like Cheers or Happy Days or The West Wing that was made in 2024 during the Emmys in 25-50+ years. Because those shows aren’t getting made. They’re not being allowed to run for that many seasons or air enough episodes to have cultural power. Creatives are not given the time or money to take the risks that end up becoming classic staples of the medium.

If you want people to watch the Emmys, the industry has to create shows that people actually want to root for. Shows that tap into the cultural zeitgeist. Shows with memorable moments and episodes and characters that will get standing ovations when they walk out on stage in front of hundreds of people who would’ve never started working in TV if not for what came before them. We need present day shows that inspire us, not just remembering what inspired the generations before. 

The 75th Emmys was a celebration of the old. I wish the 76th Emmys would have been a better celebration of the new.

Leila Jordan is a writer and former jigsaw puzzle world record holder. Her work has appeared in Paste Magazine, the LA Times, Business Insider, Gold Derby, TheWrap, FOX Digital, The Spool, and Awards Radar. To talk about all things movies, TV, and useless trivia you can find her @galaxyleila

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