Oprah Winfrey! Lizzo! Lavender Bath! The Best And Worst Moments Of The 2022 Emmys

Lynette Rice
·5 min read
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Here’s one more For Your Consideration piece before you turn your focus to Oscar season: the best and worst moments from the 2022 Emmys. Would you consider Sheryl Lee Ralph’s time onstage one of the highlights of the night? Were you as puzzled as we were when Lizzo called Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein a really big girl? And where the heck was Marcia Brady?

Let’s get more specific.

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BEST

Having Oprah Winfrey hand out the first award of the night. You just knew it was the right decision because Michael Keaton, who won for Dopesick, immediately quipped, “Don’t you have 90 of these?”

The presenting trio of Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. The zingers were savage (like Short confusing Martin with Angela Lansbury) and suggested that maybe NBC should have considered more stage time for the stars of Only Murders in the Building — and less ageist jokes from host Kenan Thompson, who quipped how it would take the men 15 minutes to get onstage, despite being positioned in the front row. You know, because they’re OLD. Get it????

The efficient and blissfully short opening number. Besides showcasing a terrific new stage that provided a far more immersive experience for the in-person Emmy audience, dancers tripped the light fantastic to the theme songs from Friends, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and The Brady Bunch (which finally featured some sorely needed diversity by including Thompson in the center square).

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The jubilant filler music, like when Murray Bartlett walked onstage to accept his Emmy for The White Lotus while American Authors’ “Best Day of My Life” played in the background. Talk about the perfect anthem for his first-ever win. We’ve heard enough theme songs, TV Academy. More Coldplay, please!

OK, so maybe Abbott Elementary‘s Sheryl Lee Ralph took a little too much time to get to the stage, but her acceptance speech in the form of the song “Endangered Species” definitely was worth the wait. This was her Frances McDormand “I’ve got some things to say” moment, and no one was going to play her off. (And thank God they didn’t). “This is what striving looks like, and don’t you ever give up on you,” she said, tearfully.

Mike White and how he gave a shout-out to his time on the 37th season of Survivor. He maintained a low profile, which helped him make it to the finals. Now his profile is high, he fears — too high. Will he still get work? “Now I feel like a threat,” he said onstage after receiving his second Emmy for The White Lotus (he would go on to win a third, too).“Don’t come for me; don’t vote me off the island please!”

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Is it possible that more viewers paid attention to the thank-you crawls at the bottom of the screen than the actual speeches? Who knows, but it sure was an enlightened idea.

Selma Blair, an upcoming contestant on Dancing with the Stars, giving away the Emmy for Outstanding Drama. Yes!

Anyone who lives in L.A. knows it’s been hot as hell lately, but Jerrod Carmichael looked effortlessly cool in his vintage white fox. And it had some history, too! “Puff Daddy wore it in a music video,” he told the press backstage. “It might as well be the Shroud of Turin.”

Two words: lavender bath. If taking one means we can look and sound and exist like Jennifer Coolidge, then somebody draw us one — stat.

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WORST

Hey Maureen McCormick, this better be a meta-reboot of The Brady Bunch episode where Peter hits Marcia in the face with a football and her nose swells up so can’t go to the school dance. Otherwise, why weren’t you there for the big primetime reunion with your fellow Brady sibs? Just to be sure, post a pic of nose on Twitter. We’ll wait.

Finger wag to whoever wrote the intro for Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein and having Lizzo call him a “really big girl.” (At least she revealed that she didn’t write what was on the Teleprompter). It was a random joke that made absolutely zero sense, but Goldstein tried to remain zen about it backstage when questioned by reporters. “If Lizzo wants to call me a big girl, she can do whatever she wants,” he said.

Pete Davidson, giving away the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy. No. 

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The thankless job of the deejay. No offense to Sam Jay, truly; she did yeoman’s work explaining what we can and should expect while trying to keep up the enthusiasm on camera. But there was simply nothing wrong with the old-school, unseen voice-over lady who soft-chatted us before the show broke to commercial. Why fix what wasn’t broke?

Poor Alexandra Daddario and any actor who got stuck looking at the butts of people onstage. Daddio, we felt your pain every time you had that look of disbelief in your eyes when the camera pointed your way.

OK, missed opportunity by Thompson for not handing Jason Sudeikis a manila envelope when he accepted the Emmy for Ted Lasso. There’s never good schadenfreude around when you need it!

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