The Best and Worst Moments From the 2024 Emmys

Best: “Only Murders in the Building” cast turns themselves into a live shingles commercial

The main cast of “Only Murders in the Building,” Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, took the stage to present the award Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and ended up earning giggles from the crowd because of their funny bits and seamless chemistry. The biggest laughs came when Martin, 79, and Short, 74, threw shade at one another over their ages, turning themselves into a live shingles awareness commercial.

“I personally have never been more excited or happier!” Short exclaimed.

“Shingles doesn’t care,” a caption over the screen read, mocking well-known shingles commercials that target elderly Americans.

“Steve, let me just say what an honor it is for me to be working with someone who looks like he’s fallen and can’t get up,” Short added. “I just want to say again, I’m so excited and love being here.”

“Shingles still doesn’t care,” again appeared on the screen.

The “Bear” star Ebon Moss-Bachrach took home the trophy.

Best: Candice Bergen Meows at JD Vance

In a disheartening full-circle moment for Candice Bergen, who famously played Murphy in the sitcom “Murphy Brown,” presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to “Hacks” star Jean Smart. But before she did, she took a moment to throw some shade at Donald Trump’s veep pick JD Vance over his continuous “childless cat lady” slights. Ironically, former Vice President Dan Quayle targeted Bergen’s role when her character had to raise a child as a single mother on the show.

“I was surrounded by brilliant and funny actors, had the best script to work with and in one classic moment, my character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother,” Bergen said. “Oh how far we’ve come. Today a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids so as they say, my work here is done, meow.”

Worst: John Oliver Gets Played Off While Talking About His Dead Dog

While John Oliver was accepting the award for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series for “Last Week Tonight,” the host took a minute to bring up his dog.

“We had the most fantastic dog, and she was at our wedding and she got us through a pandemic” he said. “She was with us for two pregnancies.”

Right in that moment, the play-off music began it’s somber tune – which Oliver said was perfect timing. “Perfect choice of music,” he said. “We had to say goodbye to her.”

He then dropped an F bomb to the play-off music and said he felt like Sarah McLachlan before exiting the stage.

Best: Billy Crystal Ranks His First Late-Night Guest Appearances

While reminiscing on how it’s been “almost 50 years” since he’d visited Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” the comedian and actor went down memory lane, recalling his first experiences as a guest on popular late night shows while also recounting his diary entries that included his first impressions of the hosts themselves. He says they all stood him up after asking him out to dinner.

“I have been on all of these shows, some of them several times … Throughout my career, I’ve kept a diary of my first appearances on these shows. So I’d like to read you some of my thoughts after each of my first appearances,” Crystal said.

“‘The Daily Show’: Had a great time with Jon. Jon said, ‘Let’s meet after, we’ll have dinner right after the show. I waited and he was gone. ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’: Terrific interviewer, terrific writer. He said, ‘Let’s go to the pebble bar and have a drink.’ I waited, and they said he had gone home. ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’: Had a fantastic time with Jimmy; he’s so easy to talk to. He said, ‘Meet me at my restaurant, we’ll have dinner.’ So I went and Guillermo [Rodriguez] showed up. ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’: Brilliant guy, but I wonder if he’s ever seen himself naked. I didn’t say they were funny. I said these are first impressions. I’ve enjoyed all of them.”

Best: “SNL” Cast Mocks Lorne Michaels for Losing “85 Times”

Kristen Wiig, Bowen Yang, Seth Meyers and Maya Rudolph took the stage to poke fun at the long-running NBC staple, telling the “Saturday Night Live” boss that just because your work doesn’t immediately connect with people, that doesn’t mean you should give up.

“We heard something backstage that needs to be addressed,” Rudolph said on the stage. “We heard that our dear friend, our mentor, Lorne Michaels, has been nominated for and lost the Emmy 85 times. He has never won.”

“Never,” Yang emphasized. Immediately, Meyers corrected the two, saying “No,” but was overpowered.

“It’s just wrong, and we’d like to take this occasion to say a few words to him,” Yang continued.

“No no no no no. Lorne, look at me. It’s really hard to see he’s looking,” Wiig said. “Yes, you do have value. You are worthy, and you are not and have never been a loser, even though you have lost a lot.”

“Lorne, now immediately look at me. Look at me and look at my mouth,” Rudolph said. “Each and every one of those 85 times you lost, you were robbed.”

After mistakenly calling Lorne “Loren,” Yang offered his final word of advice: “Look, it gets better. OK, just because ‘SNL’ didn’t work doesn’t mean your next idea won’t. Keep dreaming!”

Ever the voice of reason, Meyers was the one to correct his co-presenters’ mistake. “Guys, you’ve been very nice, but Lorne has won 28 Emmys, not to mention that ‘SNL’ won over 200,” he concluded.

“That’s too much,” Wiig said.

— Andi Ortiz

Worst: Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Taylor Zakhar Perez Share an Awkward Integrated Ad Moment Before Presenting

Before presenting the award for Best Writing in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Taylor Zakhar Perez took part in what was clearly an integrated ad for Emmy sponsor Johnnie Walker Blue.

“Have you been watching the show from the backstage bar,” Perez asked.

“Yeah this is, you know, this is the best seat in the house,” Moss-Bachrach responded. “It’s quiet, you’ve got a great view. Join me. I checked it. OK to have a drink and present … responsibly.”

The two then clinked a pair of whiskies before being rushed out to the stage to present the award. The whole moment hit with a dud that if people weren’t paying attention they likely glazed past it like the actual commercials that just wrapped.

Best: John Leguizamo celebrates progress in Hollywood while calling out brown face and racial typecasting

Before introducing the crowd to TV Academy president Cris Abrego, John Leguizamo opened up about how Hollywood has made progress while also spotlighting the industry’s history with brown face and racist typecasting.

“For years, I didn’t complain about the limited roles my people were offered — the spicy sex pot, the Latin lover, the maid, the gang banger. Turns out, not complaining doesn’t change anything,” Leguizamo began before highlighting several non-Latinx actors who have played or were cast as Latinx characters over the years, including Al Pacino, who played the Cuban gangster Tony Montana in “Scarface;” and Natalie Wood, who starred as the Puerto Rican Maria in “West Side Story.”

“For the past few years, I’ve been complaining. A few months ago, I took out a full page ad in the New York Times asking Emmys voters to recognize candidates of color. It’s a good thing I decided to before I found out how much a full page ad New York Times costs,” he joked.

However, he then highlighted that over time, some things have changed.

“What I see here tonight makes me, well, almost happy and certainly less angry, because tonight is among the most diverse list of nominees in Emmy history,” Leguizamo said. “We need more stories from excluded groups: Black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+ and disabled. And this show tonight is proof that our industry is making progress.”

Worst: Jimmy Kimmel Gives an Awkward and Brief Extra Moment for Bob Newhart

The In Memoriam of any awards show is one of the few guaranteed moments to tug some heartstrings.

At the end of this year’s segment, however, Jimmy Kimmel walked out to say a bit more about Bob Newhart. His words were brief and the timing of it coming right after the In Memoriam felt like it did a disservice to both the tribute and to a well-earned special nod to Newhart during the show.

For all the hosting Kimmel has done in the past, this was a bungle for sure. 

Best: Jodie Foster receives standing ovation for her first Emmy win

As Jodie Foster took the stage to receive her first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her role as Liz Danvers in the HBO series “True Detective: Night Country,” she was welcomed by a roar of applause from attendees and a standing ovation.

Best: Greg Berlanti Fights Back Tears While Accepting Governor’s Award, Calls for More LGBTQIA+ Creatives

Greg Berlanti, 52, who accepted the honor of the 2024 Governors Award, thanked his mother for supporting his dreams as a young, aspiring TV maker, while pointing out the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation on screen he witnessed growing up. 

“I wanted to be a part of television even before I knew how that was possible,” Berlanti, who is the youngest person to receive the award, said. “So many Gen X kids in the 70s and 80s, the one color TV our family could afford was on around the clock in our house, and I watched and loved all of it.”

He continued: “There wasn’t a lot of gay characters on television back then, and I was a closeted gay kid, and it’s hard to describe how lonely that was at the time … There was no Internet to connect with other queer kids, no LGBTQ plus advocacy groups in schools. Back then, the only way to tell if another kid might be gay was if he also watched ‘Dynasty, Dallas’ and could name all four of the ‘Golden Girls.’”

Becoming emotional, he praised his mother for believing in him, and encouraging him to chase his dreams in Hollywood.

“That’s how powerful belief is, and her belief travels through me and out to all of the kids out there who today may feel alone or other or scared to share their truth with the world. If my mom were here, she would want you to know that you are loved and you are worthy and you have a story to tell, and we need those stories now more than ever. She believes in you, and I do too, so hurry up to get here.”

Best: Play-off Music Halts for Hiroyuki Sanada as Actor Ends Emmys Acceptance Speech in Native Japanese language

Hiroyuki Sanada took home his first-ever Emmy award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Yoshii Toranaga in FX’s historical fiction “Shōgun,” and as he was finishing up his speech, he told the crowd that he wanted to speak in his native tongue

“It was an east-meets-west dream project with respect … And ‘Shōgun’ taught me that when people work together, we can make miracles,” Sanada said before switching to Japanese. He then thanked those who have inherited and passed along Samurai narratives.

“The passion and dreams we have inherited from you have crossed oceans and borders,” he concluded.