13 Things You Didn’t See on TV at the Emmys

Alan Ruck, Sarah Snook, Alexander Skarsgård, Brian Cox, Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, and J. Smith-Cameron, winners of Best Drama Series for "Succession"

Christina Applegate got a standing ovation while presenting. Niecy Nash delivered an inspiring acceptance speech all about self-love. We had cast reunions for Cheers, Grey’s Anatomy and Ally McBeal. Anthony Anderson’s mama kept stars in check with non-rambling speeches. Beef, The Bear and Succession ruled the night. And there was a touching tribute to the stars no longer with us, including Norman Lear and Matthew Perry.

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If you watched the Emmys, you saw all of this. But wait, there was more! This year’s nominees scored a glamorous gift bag. There was talk about whether a Succession spinoff could happen. Trevor Noah played basketball poorly. Kieran Culkin said what names he won’t be naming his third baby (which he asked his wife for on stage during the show) and so much more. Here’s what happened backstage:

13 Things You Didn’t See on TV at the Emmy Awards

1. Carson Daly held Ayo Edebiri’s purse for her when she won.

When asked what keeps her feet on the ground amid career success, Ayo Edebiri said: “I’m still renting…so maybe that.” She thanked her parents in her acceptance speech, joking that they were in the cheap seats not near her. Backstage, she clarified, “No they’re not in the cheap seats. You get one [ticket] and I got two tickets, so they are not next to me. I was next to Carson Daly. He was holding my stuff. I think Carson Daly still has my stuff! They are in the row next to me, a little to my right. She said her parents initially wanted her to do something in medicine but “I feel like they’re happy with the results at this present moment.”

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2. There probably won’t be a Succession spinoff (boo).

When reporters asked Matthew Macfadyen if he’d be interested in a Succession spinoff, he said “never say never” but assured the room that it probably wouldn’t happen, and that the show’s creator seemed happy with how he left things with the Roy family and friends. “We didn’t really tie it up. We just sort of left them to carry on in their strange world,” he said. He also joked, “I’m still waiting for the free car” when asked how life has changed since becoming the face of Mercedes.

3. Christopher Storer wins best writing for The Bear but wasn’t there to accept his award in person because…

“Chris is at home sick with Covid,” said Ebon Moss-Bachrach in the media center. The cast was super sad to not have The Bear creator there to celebrate. Producer Tyson Bidner added, “This didn’t feel complete for us because Chris wasn’t here. He is an amazing guy, and he wasn’t here to share it with us. Until he’s here on our side accepting this with us, it doesn’t feel complete.”

4. Quinta Brunson has so many television idols.

Quinta Brunson was very emotional during her acceptance speech, tearing up while proclaiming, “I love my husband, I love my cats. I love Abbott Elementary.” Backstage, she continued that feeling saying, “I'm still processing. I'm very grateful. I’m so grateful.”

She says there are some really special guest stars—her dream stars in fact—on the upcoming season of Abbott Elementary. “If you watch the premiere, you will be able to see my dream guest stars. And that’s all I can say.”

And when playing the role, she said she channels so many comedic women who came before her, including everyone from Carol Burnett to Niecy Nash, Ali Wong, Marla Gibbs and more. She called Christina Applegate one of her favorite underrated comedic actresses—“she was incredible in Anchorman.” And she said her look for the evening was inspired by another one of her other comedic heroes, Lucille Ball. She also raved about Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell noting that “they raised me, literally. The TV was always on Martin. And my sisters called themselves Gina and Pam because one was dark skinned, and one was light skinned.”

5. Niecy Nash continues her self-love speech backstage.

The crowd inside the Emmys ballroom went wild when Niecy Nash stated, “I want to thank me for believing in me and doing things they said I couldn't do. And I want to say 'go on girl with your bad self!'” Backstage, she told reporters: “I am the only one who knows what it cost me. I’m the only one who knows how many nights I cried because I couldn’t be seen for certain types of roles. I’m the one who knows what it’s like to go through divorce on camera and still have to pull up and show out and you still got to go home. You have children and a whole life, and so I'm proud of myself. I'm proud that I did something that people said I could not do because I believed in myself. And sometimes people don't believe in themselves, and I hope my speech was a delicious invitation for people to do just that. Do it yourself and congratulate yourself. Sometimes you’ve got to encourage yourself and that's why it's not called mother-esteem; it’s called self-esteem because nobody does it but me!”

6. John Oliver gets a hot tip on where to score Pokémon cards.

When he won his two Emmys, John Oliver told his peers in the audience that he was desperate to track down Pokémon cards, as he promised his kids he would bring some home. He said he had between the awards celebration and the Los Angeles Airport to track them down and that he was determined. In the media center, someone raised their hand to ask a question but said they didn’t really have a question, just some advice on a shop where he could pop in to buy them. He took him up on his offer and left the room with vital advice. Hope his kids are happy!

7. Trevor Noah plays basketball backstage and he’s not that great at it.

After coming backstage with his cast to chat about ending his run on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Trevor admitted he was thinking about who was going to replace him. And yes, he thinks about it all the time as do many of us. He did say, “The good news is I didn't make this show by myself,” alluding to the fact that in upcoming seasons, we’ll still be in good hands. He got a little nostalgic thinking about being on the show for seven years before moving on. But then he shook it off afterwards sitting back-to-back with Guillermo Rodriguez in an interview booth for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Guillermo was wearing a basketball hoop on his head and Trevor was tossing a basketball over his head trying to make a basket. He kept missing and eventually started joking he was at this point just trying to hit Guillermo in the head with the ball at least.

8. Ali Wong shares the co-star interaction that gave her the confidence to rock her role on Beef.

After all the big Emmy wins, the cast of Beef gathered in the hallway backstage and cheered together over winning. It was a really endearing moment. Ali Wong touched on her initial feelings going into filming. “My goal was to always be able to tell jokes for a living and I’m so in disbelief and honor that Sunny asked me to do this.” She also said it was incredibly intimidating at first to work with Steven Yeun. “He’s one of the greatest actors of our generation and on the first days of rehearsals, he put his hand on my shoulder, and he said to me, 'I don’t know anything you don’t know and that made all the difference,’” she shared.

9. Of course, the cast of The Bear got asked about that kiss.

Matty Matheson and Ebon Moss-Bachrach both said: “It was nice.” Ebon said he thought he had his eyes closed. And Matty said it lasted about 45 seconds. “Now we’re on Season 3!” he joked, poking fun at the fact that the kiss seemed to go on and on (it was rather long given—especially given their short speech time allotment).

Ebon also touched on the fan favorite scene of Richie rocking out to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift saying, “Rarely have I gotten the chance—maybe because I'm so sad and tired looking—to live out that celebratory joy, to have that severe cranked up to 10 emotion of happiness. It was such a rare thing to get to celebrate like that. Richie had such a hard run of it for him to get that moment in the sun was special.”

Some reporters were questioning if the show was a comedy, noting that it is also stressful, to which Ebon replied, “We get into comedy because we’re a half hour but we’re all just trying to reflect the mess of being human which is deeply hilarious and we’re all sufferers.”

10. Succession has a very on brand moment backstage.

One by one, the large cast and crew behind Succession took the stage to have a group photo taken, holding their awards of course. Brian Cox, in true Logan Roy fashion, was getting playfully crabby about something. And when asked to hold an Emmy statuette, he didn’t want to. Whatever he was saying had Sarah Snook and show creator Jesse Armstrong absolutely cracking up. Kieran Culkin couldn't resist joining in the banter and he ended up putting his arm on Brian’s shoulder and playfully slapping it. Then when someone asked if anyone had talked to Jeremy Strong who wasn’t at the show, Brian shouted out: “We do not speak to Jeremy. We do not allow it. We don’t allow speaking to Jeremy (Jesse said he had spoken to him, and he was of course excited—ha-ha). It took us right back to the Roy kids and their complicated father family.

11. Kiernan Culkin talks more about asking his wife for a third kid in the middle of his acceptance speech.

During his acceptance speech, Kieran thanked his wife and kids and told his wife: “And Jazz I want more. You said maybe if I win.” Backstage, Parade asked him if there has been some negotiating going on about this for a while, to which he replied: “I’d been asking for one for a while and my wife Jazz said, “maybe if you win the Emmy ha ha ha.” I didn't bring it up for months and then when I won the Globe, I said, ‘do you remember what you said?’ And she said, ‘what? No. What did I say?’ And instead of just talking with her about it in private like a human, I just blasted her on stage which was very rude.” Someone then asked if he would name the baby Roman and he said no. Then Sarah campaigned for him to call his baby Shiv and he shot that one down as well.

Kieran also further spoke about his love for his mother, who he thanked at both the Emmys and at the Golden Globes: “I didn’t know I wanted to be a parent but the moment I knew I was about to become a parent, I just knew I wanted to be the type of parent she is,” he said, adding “I’m going to stop talking before I cry, bye!”

12. Nicholas Braun revealed the great lengths he went to not laugh while filming Greg and Tom scenes.

When asked what he’ll take away from Succession, Nicholas Braun said those beloved Tom and Greg moments. He also revealed that he had just as much fun filming them as audiences had watching them. “Every scene I had with Matthew, every scene I got to do with him made me laugh. And I tried not to laugh. I thought dark, dark things. I pinched my leg, pinched my nails. I did all sorts of things to try not to laugh. I’d see blood in his eyes,” he said. Matthew cracked up throughout Nick’s entire answer.

13. The stars took home fun swag in their Emmys gift bags.

Nominees who ventured out to the JW Marriott (home of the Emmys ceremony) on Saturday night mingled at a little pre-event soiree and took home a gift bag packed with fun freebies. Among this year’s goodies? A travel package good for either an African safari, a Panama island villa, or a stay at the Museum Hotel Cappadocia in Turkey, which is literally carved out of a volcanic rock wall. They also picked up Purdori skin care, a $500 suitcase by Ricardo Beverly Hills Montecito, a stay at Yaamava' Casino, a candle from Everlasting Candle Co, a hand-painted Helmut Koller Studio tote bag, Miracle of the Sea skincare, a Project Honey Bees necklace (proceeds support saving the bees so that’s pretty cool), and a case of non-alcoholic Trail Pass IPA by Sierra Nevada (perfect for that much-needed post award season detox). Oh—and let’s not forget the spray-on Botox-in-a-jar by MORITEK Beauty, which is said to give skin a lifted look for 8 to 12 hours after using it.

Next, The Complete List of 2023 Primetime Emmy Winners and Nominees