Emmys 2024 highlights: Best and worst moments

At the 76th annual Emmy Awards — the second Emmys ceremony of 2024 — hosts Eugene and Dan Levy delivered their patented father-son comedy as they celebrated the best TV of the year. Once again, "broadcast TV's biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming" (Dan's words) had highs (Candice Bergen!), lows ("eye candy" in the year of our Lord 2024?), and — God help us — really clumsy product placement. And the Best and Worst Moments of the 2024 Emmy Awards were...

01 of 08

BEST: Addressing the elephant — um, The Bear — in the room

'The Bear' star Ayo Ediberi at the 2024 Emmys.
ABC

Eugene and Dan Levy may have joked about how averse Canadians are to confrontation, but the comedians weren't afraid to poke fun at the comedy frontrunner The Bear with a joke that was so smart, it was almost edgy. "I love the show, and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy," said Eugene. "But in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes." The cast (and Emmy voters) seem to know he's not wrong. Bear star and Lead Actress in a Comedy nominee Ayo Edibiri responded good-naturedly with a double "okay" sign.

02 of 08

WORST: Billy Crudup's sweet nothing

Naomi Watts listens to her husband's acceptance speech at the 2024 Emmys.
ABC

Look, I like Billy Crudup. He's truly the only performer on The Morning Show who has always been in on the joke. But it was still disappointing to see him win over Shōgun's Tadanobu Asano who (five-month-old spoiler alert) will probably not have another chance at a nomination in season 2. And it was really disappointing that in his speech for said win, he referred to his wife, Emmy nominee Naomi Watts, as “eye candy.” Eye candy! A term Steve Sanders, Ian Ziering's obnoxious Beverly Hills, 90210 character, used unironically back in the '90s!

03 of 08

BEST: Candice Bergen gets catty

Candice Bergen presenting at the 2024 Emmys.
ABC

It’s an election year, and Emmy winners and presenters are generally not a "shut up and act" type of crowd, so it's no surprise that things periodically got political on stage. No one captured the frustration, exhaustion, and deep sense of comedic irony of living through the 2024 presidential race better than Candice Bergen, who recalled being a political target back in 1992 for her Emmy-winning TV series, Murphy Brown. "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. Oh, how far we've come," she added with icy sarcasm. "Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done." [Perfectly timed pause] "Meow." Can voters give her a sixth Emmy for Outstanding Shade-Throwing While Presenting at the Emmys?

04 of 08

WORST: Billy Crystal's diary

Billy Crystal at the 2024 Emmys.
Leon Bennett/WireImage

As a nine-time Oscars host, you'd think veteran comedian Billy Crystal would know that one key to a good bit is brevity. Instead, the 76-year-old comedy legend took his time introducing the nominees for Outstanding Talk Series. Sure, you can't blame him for wanting to share his memories of getting the all-important wave to the desk on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show — but after Crystal told that story, he just kept going. And, he brought props. Reading from a fake diary, the comedian went on to share his first impressions of all the nominees — Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert — after appearing on each of their shows. Not only did the bit drag on too long, it was also essentially one joke repeated multiple times. Of his quips, perhaps Crystal had the best assessment: "I didn't say they were funny."

05 of 08

BEST: SNL stars give Lorne Michaels a pep talk

Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, and Bowen Yang at the 2024 Emmys.
Kevin Winter/Getty

Leave it to a group of Saturday Night Live all stars to nail a bit. Alums Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, and Seth Meyers united with current cast member Bowen Yang to honor series creator Lorne Michaels ahead of the show's 50th season. (Really they were there to present the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, but first: Lorne.) "We heard that our dear friend, our mentor, Lorne Michaels, has been nominated and lost the Emmy 85 times," Wiig said. "Lorne, look at me. It's really hard to see if he’s looking at me. You do have value. You are worthy, and you are not and have never been a loser, even though you have lost a lot." After many words of encouragement, Meyers informed them that SNL has more than 200 Emmy wins, and they quickly turned on their "dear friend." And like many of their classic sketches, the whole thing just worked.

06 of 08

WORST: Keep walking, product placement

Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Taylor Zakhar Perez at the 2024 Emmys.
ABC

We get it. Television is a business. BUT THAT IS WHAT COMMERCIALS ARE FOR. I'm not so much offended for the viewers (we're used to clumsy, uncomfortable product placement in scripted and reality TV), but the Television Academy absolutely owes Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Red, White and Royal Blue star Taylor Zakhar Perez an apology for putting them through that painful charade for Johnnie Walker. And good on Bachrach for acknowledging the awkwardness once he and Perez got to the mic with a wry, "That was so much fun."

07 of 08

BEST: John Leguizamo blasts Hollywood whitewashing

John Leguizamo on stage at the 2024 Emmys.
ABC

As an Emmy winner, activist, and "one of Hollywood's DEI" hires, John Leguizamo knows something about representation on screen. The comedian used his time on stage to reminisce not-so-fondly about the entertainment industry's often shameful history of excluding non-white performers. From white actors in brownface to characters built around racist stereotypes, "that's how we saw ourselves, because that's all we saw of ourselves," said Leguizamo. He added, "I used to watch Star Trek and think, 'Wow, in the future there ain't going to be no Latin people.'" The actor, who took out a full-page ad in The New York Times earlier this year urging Emmy voters to celebrate a more diverse group of actors and behind-the-scenes talent, also acknowledged the progress Hollywood and the TV industry has made. "Tonight is among the most diverse lists of nominees in Emmy history," he said. But his most important message was for everyone who wants to see more change: "Not complaining doesn't change anything."

08 of 08

BEST AND WORST: Genuine surprises, shocking snubs

Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart at the 2024 Emmys.
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty

The evening kicked off with a snub that hurt — Billy Crudup again over Shōgun’s Tadanobu Asano? Come on! But just a few minutes later, we got one of the most delightful surprises of the night: The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas taking the win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy series — beating out Meryl freaking Streep, of all people! The snubs, however, weren't over. No Emmy for Jonathan Bailey (Fellow Travelers) or Andrew Scott (Ripley)? Boo! Still, let's end this on a few happy notes. Even with Alan Cumming's win for Outstanding Reality Host at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, it was a pleasant surprise to see The Traitors take home the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Series, an award RuPaul’s Drag Race has nabbed five times. And with the night's last award — which went to Max’s Hacks — Emmy voters really said, "The Bear is not a comedy." Better luck next year in the drama category, chefs.