There’s no scarcity of Monday morning quarterbacks after an awards present. However for all that went proper and not-so-right throughout Sunday’s 2024 Emmys telecast, there’s one mistake even the producers agree on: John Oliver was performed off on the actual unsuitable second.
Round an hour and quarter-hour into the present, Oliver accepted the award for excellent scripted selection present on behalf of his Final Week Tonight workers. He flubbed his personal son’s identify. He thanked HBO for not canceling him. And, as he started to share a number of phrases about his late canine, the wrap-up music began to play. “We had no concept that the canine that he was speaking about had handed away,” says govt producer Dionne Harmon. “In case you look again, you’ll discover that we turned the music down the second he mentioned the canine had handed. We didn’t know!”
The speech — and the play-off, which earned a “Fuck you” from Oliver — ended up being humorous and deeply heartwarming, with the comedian dedicating the award to all canine. “You’re all superb ladies,” mentioned Oliver. “You’re all superb boys. You all deserve a deal with.”
“We’ve had some humorous moments with John up to now about taking part in him off,” provides Harmon. “We didn’t know the place he was going with it, nevertheless it appeared like he was an excellent sport. We by no means wish to must play folks off.”
Talking on the telephone together with her fellow Emmy govt producers Jesse Collins and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, Harmon mirrored on among the different extra talked-about moments of the night time — together with the in memoriam, the empty seats and the true cause finest comedy wrapped the present and never finest drama. It seems the producers weren’t in on the shock that Hacks had received out over odds-on favourite The Bear. They only actually wished their Schitt’s Creek reunion between co-hosts Eugene and Dan Levy with Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy.
“We didn’t know who received, actually, it was merely a matter of logistics,” Collins says of the selection to change comedy and drama. “The West Wing reunion began the act as a result of we wished to shut with a Schitt’s Creek second. It was extra in regards to the presenters than the award.”
Dionne Harmon, Jesse Collins and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay on the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Photos
As for the discuss of empty seats, Collins and firm chalk it as much as a surplus of winners from choose reveals (significantly Shogun) and rush of transferring elements. “I don’t know the variety of seat fillers we had, and I’m unsure the place individuals are speaking about it wanting sparse, nevertheless it’s tough to slip in seat fillers throughout the center of an act while you’re handing out as many as three awards,” Collins explains. “Generally it may create only a visitors jam, so we attempt to solely do seat fillers throughout the industrial breaks.”
Addressing the compulsory questions on omissions from the in memoriam section — Shelley Duvall being one extremely publicized identify lacking from the roster and actress Erica Ash being one other noticeable slight — the producers lament the tight window however say it’s finally out of their palms. “It’s one thing that the Tv Academy offers with,” says Collins. “They offer us the record of who ought to be included within the broadcast portion.”
Collins, Harmon and Rouzan-Clay don’t get a lot of a break now that the Emmys are performed. They’ve acquired the BET Hip-Hop Awards in lower than a month and are already prepping the 2025 Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present with Kendrick Lamar.