Emmys highlights in 2024 included “Cheers” and “Ally McBeal” reunions, Niecy Nash-Betts’ speech, and Pedro Pascal’s playful jab at Kieran Culkin.
The 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards finally happened on Monday night after a months-long delay due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. And for the most part, they pulled through.
Shows like “Succession,” “The Bear,” and “Beef” each took home multiple major awards, with their stars like Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ali Wong, and Steven Yeun getting plenty of love from the Television Academy.
And as a production, the Emmys were generally smooth, celebrating television through reunions of shows like “Cheers,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Martin.” Host Anthony Anderson even enlisted his mother, Doris Bowman, to cut winners off with signs from the audience, rather than the traditional play-off music.
Still, there were some specific highlights, as well as a few disappointing moments. Here were the best and worst bits of the show.Highlight: Niecy Nash-Betts’ speech
Niecy Nash-Betts took home the Emmy award for best supporting actress in a limited series for her performance in “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”
Her acceptance speech was one of the best of the night. Nash-Betts thanked series creator Ryan Murphy and costar Evan Peters, as well as her wife. But she also made space for another important individual — herself.
“I want to thank me, for believing in me and doing what they said I could not do,” she said. “I want to say to myself in front of all you beautiful people, ‘Go, girl, with your bad self. You did that.'”
“Finally, I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard, yet overpoliced, like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor,” she continued. “As an artist, my job is to speak truth to power, and baby I’mma do it ’til the day I die. Mama, I won!”Highlight: Pedro Pascal and Kieran Culkin’s ongoing faux feud
At the Golden Globes, Kieran Culkin started a playful “feud” with fellow outstanding actor in a drama series nominee Pedro Pascal after his win, telling Pascal to “suck it” onstage.
Pascal paid back that jab in kind at the Emmys. While presenting the award for best supporting actor in a drama series, he explained that his arm was in a sling due to a shoulder injury.
“And I think tonight is a perfect time to tell everyone that Kieran Culkin beat the shit out of me,” Pascal said, though his words were censored in the broadcast.
Culkin took the joke gamely, maintaining a blank face for the camera. He went on to win the award for lead actor in a drama later that night, beating Pascal once again.
Later, the pair were photographed chatting at the HBO & Max afterparty.Lowlight: ‘Better Call Saul’ was completely shut out once again
This year’s Emmy Awards were the last chance for the acclaimed drama “Better Call Saul” to finally pick up some love from the Television Academy.
Unfortunately, the series didn’t win any of the seven Emmys that it was nominated for, marking a terrible (and record-setting) losing streak: Out of the 53 nominations that the “Breaking Bad” spin-off series received over its six-season run, it won none of them.Highlight: The ‘Ally McBeal’ and ‘Cheers’ cast reunions
The 2024 Emmys featured reunions for the casts of many iconic shows, from “Martin” to “Grey’s Anatomy.
