Emmys 2018: Best And Worst Moments
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WORST: BLOWN-UP BACKDROPS
These Emmy winners only get about 30 seconds to thank everyone on their lists before they're shooed off the stage — but this year, we couldn't even give their acceptance speeches our full attention, thanks to the massive episodic photos looming behind each recipient. Less is more, Emmys! (Also, we mean no disrespect to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Alex Borstein, who delivered one of the night's earliest laughs as she slowly took off her dress's wrap and gave a shimmy on her way to the stage.)
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BEST: AMY'S DOUBLE DIP
Moments after winning an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino danced back on stage in hilarious fashion to accept the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. "My panic room is going to be so pretty!" she quipped, reminding us exactly why she'd just won an Emmy for the best dialogue in comedy TV.
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BEST: SANDRA AND ANDY'S SCHTICK
The stilted, scripted banter between presenters is typically the most painful part of any awards show. But Killing Eve's Sandra Oh and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Andy Samberg somehow managed to defy expectations with their bit, in which Oh panicked after accidentally tearing the envelope that contained the winner's name. "The winner is La La Land!" Oh improvised, earning one of the broadcast's biggest laughs — and leaving us to fantasize about a future buddy comedy starring these two.
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BEST: BRIAN TYREE HENRY'S HARD PASS
This year's Emmys were filled with excellent reactions from the audience, but our favorite came from Atlanta's Brian Tyree Henry, who (rightfully) nixed the idea of an all-white reboot of the FX comedy titled 15 Miles Outside Atlanta. Sure, Colin Jost and Michael Che were joking, but given the recent wave of reboots and revivals, we're not sure any idea is off the table!
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WORST: GIULIANA'S PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Look, we get it: E!'s gotta pay the bills somehow, and sometimes that means hawking Samsung Galaxy tablets in between red-carpet interviews. But this scripted bit, in which Giuliana Rancic pretended to "ooh" and "aah" at the tablet's many functions, was just staged enough to get our eyes rolling.
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BEST: HENRY WINKLER'S FAMILY TIES
"You can go to bed now. Daddy won!" first-time champ Henry Winkler told his kids at the end of his acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Sweet? Yes. Hilarious, once you realize that Winkler's kids are in their 30s? Absolutely. (To be fair, he did write this speech decades ago.)
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WORST: BASSETT BOTCHES A NAME
It's not that we want to complain about mispronounced names every year... but we'd also like to gently remind each presenter to practice the nominees' surnames before taking the stage and offering them a life-changing award. Case in point: Angela Bassett's utter confusion when faced with "Rachel Brosnahan" on that winner's card, leading her to pronounce the Mrs. Maisel star's name as... well, we're not even sure what she said. But it definitely wasn't right.
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BEST: RUPAUL'S BRUTAL HONESTY
Never one to hold back when a mic-drop moment presents itself, RuPaul managed to save a fairly lackluster opening number with these parting words: "You brought me up here for one line? In a stupid skit? Y'all ain't right." Shantay, we wish you had stayed.
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BEST: SANDRA'S SUPPORTERS
Sandra Oh, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Killing Eve, brought her very proud parents into her NBC pre-show interview, and they quickly won the evening's award for Most Adorable Cheerleaders. (A category that doesn't actually exist, but it should! Who do we need to speak to about this?)
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BEST: HELLO, TEDDY!
We're not sure who it was that showed up to this year's ceremony as Atlanta character Teddy Perkins — it wasn't star Donald Glover, who was seated somewhere else in the theater — but we certainly applaud the commitment. (We also considered putting this in the Worst column, because Teddy's a tad creepy, but you've gotta respect those prosthetics.)
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WORST: WRONG SAID FRED
What happens when you bring four Saturday Night Live veterans together, as the Emmys did with Colin Jost, Michael Che, Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen? Nothing remotely funny, apparently! At first, we loved the idea of Rudolph and Armisen serving as the night's Emmy experts... only to be highly disappointed when their (many) bits turned out to be completely devoid of humor.
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DRAW: KUDOS FOR BETTY
Don't get us wrong: Betty White is a national treasure, and we are lucky just to be graced with her presence on screen. OK? OK. Having said that, we were left a bit puzzled as to why White's (well-deserved!) lovefest was part of the broadcast. She wasn't receiving an honorary award, after all, and given the unnecessary bloat of most awards telecasts, the Emmys certainly could have shaved off a few minutes here. But seriously, Betty, we love you!
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BEST: GLENN PUTS A RING ON IT
Our apologies to every Emmy winner who accepted an award after Glenn Weiss on Monday's broadcast. After all, Weiss — who took home his 15th (!) trophy for directing the 2018 Oscars — used his acceptance speech to propose to girlfriend Jan Svendsen, with the same engagement ring his late mother once wore. And there's just no topping that, y'know? (And no, we're not crying, why do you ask?)
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BEST: MICHAEL MAKES REPARATIONS
In keeping with Saturday Night Live tradition, Michael Che's strongest Emmy moment didn't come from one of his live jokes. Rather, it came from the pre-taped "Reparation Emmys" sketch, in which Che gave retroactive trophies to black actors from Family Matters, Everybody Hates Chris and more series. We always knew you'd get the win, Jaleel White!
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BEST: A FAB VISIT
Queer Eye's Fab Five is capable of livening up any occasion, and the Emmys were no exception. Before handing the Lead Actor in a Drama Series award to The Americans star Matthew Rhys, Bobby, Karamo, Tan, Antoni and Jonathan offered up delightful lifestyle tips for the five nominated men. (That said, even though we'd love for Westworld's Man in Black to change things up with a bold fashion choice, we fear the HBO drama might get even more confusing.)