The 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, and
like all awards ceremonies, they were a wild mix of good and bad, depending on where you
were and who you were rooting for.
Relive the night with our picks for the five best and five worst moments from the show.
Best: Henry Winkler strikes gold
Henry Winkler, known best as Fonzie from Happy Days, seems to be a genuinely nice guy who
deserves all his success.
So it was great to see Winkler's talents shine again in a big way on the HBO hit Barry, and
it was even better to see him finally take home an Emmy award for acting after five previous
nominations.
According to Winkler, he wrote his acceptance speech when he was first nominated in 1976,
which became hilariously obvious when he gave a shout-out to his now-adult children.
“Jed, Zoe, and Max, you can go to bed now - Daddy won!”
Worst: Banter isn’t always better
This year's Emmys opened with a tongue-in-cheek song about how Hollywood has finally solved
its diversity problem, complete with the hilarious talents of a diverse set of stars.
“We solved it!”
The funny, statement-making opening showed promise for an exciting evening, that is,
until hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che took the stage.
The goofy musical act proved to be a hard act to follow for the SNL Weekend Update hosts,
who seemed a little too stiff.
Perhaps the hosts felt out of place when plucked from behind their news desk, or maybe their
jokes seemed a bit too eager to get a rise out of the audience.
Whatever the case, this was an opening that just never quite landed.
That’s incredible.”
Best: All hail Betty White
One of the most joyous moments of the night happened when Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin
took to the stage to introduce a woman who needs no introduction: Betty White.
The audience went wild when White appeared, giving her a lengthy standing ovation as she
gave brief remarks, cracked a couple of jokes, and seemed genuinely in awe of the welcome
she was met with.
No awards were given, but it was nice to have a moment of well-deserved recognition for
everyone’s favorite Golden Girl.
“Thank you so much”
Worst: The Emmy history bits
To further emphasize the seven decades of Emmys history, Che and Jost called up Fred
Armisen and Maya Rudolph to act as Emmy history correspondents throughout the show.
This had the potential to be an extremely funny recurring bit, considering the gag was
that Armisen and Rudolph apparently didn’t do any research for the gig.
“So you guys know everything there is to know about the Emmys.”
“Okay.”
Unfortunately, the comedic talents of these two SNL veterans were wasted on seemingly
pointless bits that were made even more awkward by Che and Jost’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Once again, out of time.”
“Oh no!”
Best: Teddy Perkins’ appearance
Fans of Donald Glover’s Atlanta were delighted during the Emmys broadcast when Teddy Perkins
was spotted in the star-studded audience, even hugging Emmy winner Bill Hader.
Perkins, an eccentric character from the Atlanta episode aptly titled “Teddy Perkins” quickly
made a name for himself after appearing in just one episode.
This was due partly to Perkins’ sheer strangeness and partly to the mystery of who exactly was
playing him.
Seeing Perkins pop up again at the Emmys was so unexpected that the moment was instantly
one of the night's big winners.
Worst: The weird presentation format
If the 2018 Emmys format seemed a little different than usual, that’s because it was.
Instead of having presenters come out and banter for a moment before presenting the
nominees and reading the winner's name, the 2018 nominees’ names came first, followed
by the introduction of the presenters, who then bantered and read the winner’s name.
It was a nice effort to break up the expected order of things, but it didn't really work.
“...Yeah.”
Best: The live marriage proposal
Director Glenn Weiss made sure we'd never forget his 2018 Emmys moment when he accepted
the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special Emmy for his work directing the 2018 Oscars.
Weiss began his remarks by memorializing his mother, who passed away just two weeks prior,
before shifting his focus to his girlfriend Jan, who was sitting in the audience.
s “You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend?
Because I want to call you my wife.”
To add an extra layer of heartwarming joy to the surprise proposal, Weiss revealed that
he'd gotten permission from his father to use the same ring his late mother had worn.
Talk about stealing the show!
Worst: The Reparation Emmys
Sometimes good ideas simply don’t live up to their full potential.
Case in point: Michael Che's "Reparation Emmys" segment.
In the pre-taped bit, Che attempted to highlight the lack of diversity in previous Emmy ceremonies
by presenting trophies to various black TV stars.
Unfortunately, it all seemed undercut by Che's apparent determination to act like he didn't
need to be there.
Add an ill-timed Bill Cosby reference, and you have the recipe for a truly lackluster
segment, despite its potential to be both statement-making and hilarious.
“Let’s just say I stole it from Bill Cosby.”
“You what?”
Best: Hannah Gadsby steals the show
Hannah Gadsby's Nanette was 2018's most talked-about comedy special, so it wasn't exactly surprising
when she walked out on the Emmys stage to hand out the award for Outstanding Directing
in a Drama Series.
Unsurprisingly, Gadsby sidestepped the usual teleprompter-driven speech and delivered effortlessly
funny jokes poking fun at the response to her special.
“Hashtag ‘Not All Men’ but a lot of ‘em.”
The whole thing was perfectly capped off when Stephen Daldry won the award for his work
on The Crown, but wasn't in attendance, leaving Gadsby to accept on his behalf.
“Uh, I think I just leave now, and that’s…”
Worst: The Americans' brush with glory
Throughout its six seasons on FX, spy drama The Americans was a show that both critics
and devoted fans loved, but it seemed like the Emmys simply never got it.
However, its four nominations at the 2018 Emmys suggested a possible final chance at
glory for one of the best shows of its era.
“We had a job to do.”
When the show won for both Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Actor, fans of The Americans
were hopeful that Keri Russell would win an Emmy for her impressive work on the show.
However, Russell lost out to the equally deserving Claire Foy.
The show's Outstanding Drama loss to Game of Thrones was the final gut punch to fans
and critics who have rooted for the show for years, and proved that sometimes popularity
wins over substance.