Dan Levy Exposes Dad Eugene Levy's Baby Reindeer-Style Texts in Hilarious Emmys 2024 Monologue

Eugene Levy and Dan Levy opened the 2024 Emmy Awards with their trademark humor.

Emmy winners themselves for their roles on Schitt's Creek, the two actors are the first father-son duo to host the show.

In the opening monologue, Dan joked that the gig is a "huge gamble for us" as "actors acting like hosts." If it goes "well," he added, "My name is pronounced Levy, not 'Leevie.' " Eugene then joked, "And if things go south, my name is pronounced 'Martin Short.' "

At another point, Eugene reflected on playing "a lot of dads" in his career, but his "most rewarding dad role ever has been being your dad," he told Dan — before quickly adding, "In Schitt's Creek. Because it got me my first acting Emmy." Dan quipped amid claps from the audience, "Why are we applauding bad parenting?"

Eugene, 77, and Dan, 41, also made jokes about FX's The Bear being categorized as a comedy series, the plus sign in streaming platforms like Apple TV+ being representation for the LGBTQ+ community, and about the Baby Reindeer-style texts Eugene flooded Dan with prior to the ceremony.

Dan said his parent "still" hasn't "mastered the art of texting," as the gag messages showed on the screen behind them. Full of typos, the text read: "Let's host Emmys. Colin Farrell will be there. You still have crush?"

"I didn't think these were going public...." said Eugene, as Dan read a few more.

They also joked about being confrontation-avoiding Canadians tasked with cutting off the night's winners whose speeches go too long.

"Canadians don't like interrupting anybody. It goes against our nature," explained Eugene, as Dan added, "Confrontation in general is anxiety-inducing, especially for my 77-year-old father, okay?"

"... Keep it short, because the pressure alone on me," said Eugene. Dan said to the attendees, "I don't want to be alarmist here, but having to cut you off could kill this man."

Eugene and Dan have each won four Emmy Awards: Eugene won two for SCTV Network 90 and two for Schitt's Creek, while Dan earned his statues for Schitt's Creek as creator, writer, director and supporting actor on the beloved comedy series.

In an interview with PEOPLE ahead of Sunday's ceremony, Dan explained that, compared to many prior Emmys hosts, he and his father were approaching their hosting duties from a “very different place."

"My dad and I are not stand-up comics, so we're coming at it from a very different place," he said. "But we're both really hard workers and we're determined to make it as great as it can possibly be. We want to create an atmosphere that feels really welcome and celebratory. This is a huge night in so many people's lives and we just want to be there to kind of make it as festive as possible for everybody."

Eugene, for his part, told PEOPLE that the pair sought to take a respectful, good-humored approach to the evening.

"As first timers, our hope is that the show this year will have enough laughs, enough charm, enough goodwill and enough love for the medium that gave both my son and myself a start in this business," he added.

While they may be first-time Emmys hosts, the two were confident the evening would go smoothly thanks to a gifted writing team.

"We’re working with some very funny writers who seem to be in sync with our sensibility, and both Daniel and myself, by the way, have spent quite a few years writing comedy so I think we’re all in a good groove so far,” Eugene explained.

When asked who would likely be sending the other more constructive feedback, Eugene added, "My son. He’s a perfectionist."

See PEOPLE's full coverage of the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards as it's broadcast live on ABC from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.