The Emmy Awards were back on the air, again!

If you’re experiencing déjà vu from another night of celebrating and honoring actors and television, don’t worry — we’re seeing the Emmys once more in the latter half of 2024.

Due to last year’s shows postponing their award ceremonies because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes, the Emmys have returned for their second primetime telecast this year, and it was simply okay!

The Emmys aren’t my favorite awards show, to be completely honest, since I’m not much of a television watcher, especially when it comes to the shows that were listed and nominated for the night (with the exception of maybe a couple, like Abbott Elementary). 

There is always a conversation about how award shows aren’t the same as they were ten, or even twenty years ago. They often fade from memory and are easily forgettable. I’m afraid that after tonight, I won’t remember much besides The Bear still being categorized as a comedy series and this year’s hosts, Dan and Eugene Levy, being a wonderful duo on stage.

Although there isn’t really anything truly negative I can say about this year’s Emmys show, there wasn’t much that was particularly memorable—except for one thing that meant a lot for me to see and hear. 

My favorite part of the night was hearing John Leguizamo call for more diversity in Hollywood and speak about the importance of representation for the Latino community in television and movies.

Leguizamo in his impassioned speech congratulated the five Latino actors and actresses nominated, and noted that this year’s nominees broke Emmy history by including the most diverse list of actors, for Asian, Latino, Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ people.

Award shows in the past have been notorious for not making progress by opening their doors to actors of various backgrounds, like race, sexuality, religion and disability. And we are starting to see a bit of the payoff. 

Liza Colon-Zayas became the first Latina actress to win the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her work in “The Bear.”

“Shogun”, a primarily Japanese subtitled show, took home 18 awards on 25 nominations. Hiroyuki Sanada became the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a drama series and his co-star Anna Sawai became the first Asian performer to win for best lead actress in a drama series. 

The television and movie industry is making progress, but there is still work to be done. Just like how there is still work to be done at the Emmys. 

Categories: Arts & Entertainment