Jost: “There’s even more diversity coming to TV. There’s a Latino ‘Magnum P.I.’ There’s going to be a black Samantha in a reboot of ‘Bewitched.’ But it’s going to get balanced out by an all-white reboot of ‘Atlanta’ called ‘15 miles outside of Atlanta.’ And it focuses on white women who call the police on the cast of ‘Atlanta.’ ”<doc-sep>Unexpected moments (that proposal!) and winners ("The Americans"!) made a night without Trump memorable, but the hosts didn't boost an uninspired production. In the new season of “BoJack Horseman,” a series the Emmys have criminally overlooked for four years, the titular talking horse is talking about his TV series and says, “No show should have that much talking! TV is a visual medium!” The joke actually ties into another episode where BoJack has a 26-minute monologue, but it’s just as good if you only look at what’s right in front of you: the many, many colors, characters, gags, notes, hidden puns, and more filling every inch of the Netflix comedy’s frame, at all times, every episode. That’s because television may be on a small screen, but it’s no longer made for the small screen. The time of black-and-white, 4:3, and tube TV is over. Live musicals are helping keep broadcast afloat, at the Emmys and beyond. Daring directors like David Lynch, Cary Fukunaga, and Lesli Linka Glatter are bringing stories to life without limits. Stories are being told about all walks of life from a diverse body of incredible artists. The long and short of it is that visuals matter, too — not that you’d know it from the 2018 Emmys ceremony on NBC. Produced by Lorne Michaels and hosted by his Weekend Update correspondents and head writers Colin Jost and Michael Che, the Emmys telecast was as paralyzed as the hosts’ matching interlocked grips. Only the winners, an occasional bit from guests, and one unprecedented proposal livened things up, but overall it was a long, languid ceremony to watch — and the monologues weren’t much better. Paul Drinkwater/NBC Problems began with the pre-monologue song-and-dance. Well-intentioned and with a few choice lyrics (mostly given to Titus Burgess, like “We know exactly where we stand — with Roseanne!”), the quiet music and simple choreography may have worked if there had been anything going on visually. The One of Each Dancers added brief flourish, but it was very brief. John Legend did the same. But those big gray screens behind the likable cast of actors was glaringly dormant or offering a negligible impact. (Later, they were used to show the characters played by each winner, hovering over speeches like a giant reminder of who the person on stage is better known for.) Then came the monologue. With jokes that started with cliches like “Things were very different then…” and ended with punchlines about Nazis, most of Che and Jost’s material just felt soft. What wasn’t soft was oddly pointed: The duo mocked NBC for having the most nominations of any broadcast network (calling it the equivalent of being the “sexiest person on life support”). Their seemingly endless Netflix rant never really connected, and what was that Obama joke? “My dream is that they only produce their own versions of ‘The Apprentice’… and it gets way higher ratings.” The way Jost paused made the audience think the punchline had already come, and then his kicker turned out to be an awkward joke about President Trump’s pride in TV ratings? Perhaps what was most admirable about the telecast was how little Trump came up. Other than Samantha Bee’s allusion to POTUS when quipping that TV news needs a “new lead,” the Cheeto in Chief was pretty much absent from the night’s proceedings. That’s rare for awards shows, and it honestly felt pretty good. Later in the episode, Che’s “Reparations Emmys” was a solid pre-recorded piece that played well as an earnest recognition of overlooked black actors. The jokes were fine, but they went along with the best you could say about the hosts overall: They were negligible to the show overall. Paul Drinkwater/NBC What worked was what always works at awards shows: the surprises. Henry Winkler immediately reminded viewers what excitement looks like. (Che failed to do this throughout, while Jost at least offered pretend laughs at his co-host’s jokes.) Then Alex Borstein tossed her shawl on the ground as she walked to the stage, and Amy Sherman-Palladino won back-to-back awards for writing and directing. Sandra Oh somehow made a “La La Land” joke kill at an award show, and Jeff Daniels thanked his horse. Hannah Gadsby became everyone’s pick for “this presenter should be promoted to host,” and with good reason; Gadsby found a fun tone in mere seconds while Che and Jost kept searching all night. Then it happened: Glenn Weiss won an Emmy and deftly shifted his victory speech into a moving proposal. Honestly, if someone would’ve told me this was coming, I would’ve bet that it would bomb heavier than I did on “Twin Peaks” getting shut out (sadly), but the Oscars director knew exactly what he was doing and stole the show. While almost all credit should go to Weiss, who managed to be just the right balance between crazy nervous and perfectly poised, the reactions of everyone in the audience — and Sterling K. Brown on stage — sent the moment to iconic status. It’s the best speech of the night, and some of the best moments were silent save for gasps and applause. Anyone watching will never forget it, and that’s what these shows are all about (you know, at least for the viewers at home). The rest of the show took advantage of memorable visuals paired with clever words — like Matthew Rhys’ solid speech for his semi-surprise “Americans” win (that accent is always winning, for what it’s worth) — but it coasted on the momentum of its winners. Pretty people in beautiful gowns and sharp tuxes go a long way, as do big wins for nominees who didn’t see it coming. But for a three-hour-plus live show to keep fans riveted all by itself, without the aid of checking Twitter or flipping over to the Cubs’ game during commercials, every corner of your TV needs to be bursting with delights. It needs to do what the best of the medium always does: make the small screen feel big. The 2018 Emmys didn’t do much to enhance its inherent charms. Maybe next year they should hire the “BoJack” team to produce — or, you know, at least toss it a nomination. Grade: C+ Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.<doc-sep>The 2018 Emmy Awards are on tonight, and for those of you who aren't quite up to speed on this year's ceremony, we've got you covered. The answers to all your burning questions from "who's even nominated?" to "why are the Emmys on a Monday?" right this way. Why is the ceremony on a Monday this year? It all has to do with football. Broadcasting rights for the Emmys rotate between the four major networks (NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS) every year. Since NBC also holds the rights to Sunday Night Football, they choose to air the Emmys on a Monday night so as not to create a conflict. Colin Jost and Michael Che will serve as hosts tonight. Jost and Che are the co-head writers of SNL and the anchors of the show's popular "Weekend Update" segment. According to the New York Times, NBC hopes the duo "can help reverse a trend of plummeting awards show ratings," but not everyone's so happy with the choice of two men hosting the first post-#MeToo Emmys. Game of Thrones leads the nominations with 22 total. The HBO show is quickly followed by Westworld and Saturday Night Live, which scooped up 21 nominations each. Other shows to watch out for during tonight's ceremonies include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Atlanta, which are both up for Outstanding Comedy Series, and The Good Place, The Handmaids Tale, The Crown, and American Crime Story, which are nominated in a number of other categories. Check out the full list of nominations here. Want to watch the show live on the small screen? The Emmy Awards air tonight on NBC at 7:30 ET / 4:30 PT. Prefer to watch online? NBC will be streaming the ceremony on both the network's website and its apps, but cord cutters, be aware—you'll need a cable account to log in. Caroline Hallemann Digital News Director As the digital news director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers everything from the British royal family to the latest episodes of Outlander, Killing Eve, and The Crown. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
Colin Jost and Michael Che opened the 2018 Emmy Awards with a monologue that took on this year’s biggest nominees as well as allegations of sexual harassment around Hollywood, television’s continued diversity issues and the dwindling industry itself. “We just want to say a quick hello to the thousands of you here in the audience tonight, and to the hundreds watching at home,” Jost cracked in the show’s first moments. During the opening bit, Che welcomed the “many, many talented and creative people in Hollywood who haven’t been caught yet,” and noted that this was first year that Emmy attendees were allowed to drink in the audience. “Because the one thing Hollywood needs right now is people losing their inhibitions at a work function,” Jost joked. The hosts also pointed out that, this year, Netflix was the most-nominated network, with Jost quipping, “If you’re a network executive, that’s the scariest thing you can possibly hear, except maybe, ‘Sir, Ronan Farrow is on line one. '” The Weekend Update hosts also poked fun at nominees like The Handmaid’s Tale (“It’s Roots for white women,” Che cracked) and This Is Us (noting that the show’s next season would focus on one character’s experience in the Vietnam War, Jost quipped, “This was in response to viewers who wrote in and said, ‘Sadder, please.'”). They also pointed out that over the past year, several shows, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing, had been canceled and then swiftly revived. “And Roseanne was canceled by herself but picked up by white nationalists,” Jost added. Jost and Che also mocked Hollywood’s historical lack of diversity, though they did note that TV networks were trying to remedy that problem with reboots of Magnum, P.I. and Bewitched that would feature a Latino man and a black woman in the starring roles, respectively. “But it’s gonna get balanced out by an all-white reboot of Atlanta called 15 Miles Outside of Atlanta,” Jost cracked. “And it focuses on white women who call the police on the cast of Atlanta.” Hollywood’s attempts to rectify its diversity issues were also the subject of a pre-monologue musical number led by Jost and Che’s Saturday Night Live castmates, Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson. The pair performed a song that cheekily praised the Emmys for solving bigotry in Hollywood, singing, “We solved it, we’ve gotten with the times/ There’s room for all our voices, but mostly Shonda Rhimes.” The number featured an array of guests — Kristen Bell, Sterling K. Brown, Tituss Burgess, Ricky Martin and John Legend — who helped McKinnon and Thompson belt the track’s “We solved it” refrain. Andy Samberg made a brief cameo as the token white man, though he quickly ushered himself off the stage. But after a performance by the “One of Each Dancers,” RuPaul appeared with a phone call for Thompson. “Long way to go?” Thompson deadpanned after being informed that they had not in fact solved the diversity problem. “Cart before the horse? Spiking the ball at the 50 yard line?” After hanging up, Thompson thanked RuPaul, and the Drag Race host put a fine point on the bit, cracking, “Wait, hold up, you call me up here for one line in a stupid skit? Y’all ain’t right.”