In Lieu of Surprises, The 75th Emmy Awards Successfully Leaned Into Nostalgia

Hopefully the audience in attendance for the 75th Emmy Awards skipped the gym this morning because they got quite the workout during a ceremony that gave out more standing ovations than it did awards (which is saying something because 27 statuettes were handed out).

This year’s Emmys were delayed nearly four months by the Writers and Screen Actors Guilds strikes last summer, which meant that tonight’s winners took the stage to celebrate seasons of work that aired, in some cases, 18 months ago. So, in a surprisingly successful pivot, Emmy Awards executive producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay put their energy into staging a transportive trip through TV history. Cast reunions for beloved comedies like Cheers and Martin, along with landmark dramas like The Sopranos and Grey’s Anatomy, steered the ceremony into a wave of nostalgia that felt deserved rather than forced. It was an evening of honoring the current class of TV as much as it was about paying homage to their elders. And for its efforts, this ended up being one of the most rewarding award shows in recent memory.

As the categories came and went, it became apparent just how necessary the push for nostalgia would be to breaking up some impressive but repetitive winning streaks. FX’s The Bear nearly swept the Outstanding Comedy categories for its first season, which aired in June 2022, even though the series spent the last week collecting Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for Season 2. The final season of HBO’s Succession took home Outstanding Drama Series and acting awards for Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin as expected. But if it felt like déjà vu, that’s because it was. What should have felt like the crowning moment for the Roy dynasty and the kitchen staff at The Original Beef of Chicagoland was deflated a bit by the fact that this was the third time in a week many of the actors have given acceptance speeches.

Maybe more so than ever, the non-awards part of the ceremony was left to make headlines that its winners — many forgone conclusions at this point — likely wouldn't. The show opened with host Anthony Anderson stepping on to a recreated Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood set, the first of many impeccable production feats of the evening. Anderson spoke about growing up in Compton with weekly doses of Good Times, The Facts of Life, and Miami Vice to fill his imagination.

From there, the hits of nostalgia came in many forms. The first presenter of the night, Dead To Me’s Christina Applegate, brought the crowd to their feet for one of her first award show appearances since being diagnosed with MS. The one-two punch opening continued with Carol Burnett presenting Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson with Best Actress in a Comedy Series — the only comedy award that didn’t go to The Bear. Later in the show, Marla Gibbs and Joan Collins also took to the microphone to bring back memories of their own storied tenures on TV screens.

Other reunions were a bit more enveloping. In an immaculately recreated Cheers bar, Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt got the gang back together to present two awards, each of which went to The Bear writer and director Christopher Storer (who one was unable to attend). Before that, Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli made an appointment to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos inside Jennifer Melfi’s therapy office — complete with a photo of the late James Gandolfini. Calista Flockhart and company danced one out in Ally McBeal’s unisex bathroom. And the cast of Martin, including Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, got in a few deserved jabs at the Television Academy for never nominating the Fox sitcom, all from the comfort of Martin’s reconstructed apartment.

Even the casts of shows that are still on the air — Grey’s Anatomy and American Horror Story — got a moment to reflect on their legacies, with the former even bringing out Emmy winner Katherine Heigel to make a good-natured reference to her infamous exit from the medical drama.

In many ways, the audience seemed more enthusiastic about what cast reunion awaited them after the commercial break than they were for the actual awards being handed out. And how could they not want a break from the preordained mood that hung over the evening? Succession was largely expected to run the table on the drama side, while The Bear’s strategic Season 2 release schedule clearly elevated its freshman season’s Emmy chances considerably. Even Netflix’s Beef pretty much ran away with the Limited Series categories.

It also was understood that gold plating these shows — while well earned — was one of the last lingering remnants from before last year’s labor strikes forced Hollywood’s hand in reckoning with how it compensates the people that keep it running. The industry is ready to move forward, and celebrating the successes of the current class of TV and the six decades that preceded them isn’t a bad way to bridge those lingering divides.

But it shouldn’t take a historic event to show the Television Academy that revisiting its past is always a good way to celebrate its future. Audiences want to see their favorite stars from their gone-but-not-forgotten favorite shows back on stage. That rush of excitement recalls the hours and hours of investment we have given to the very medium being celebrated. This ceremony was resoundingly effective in understanding the power in that. Yes, Anderson was a funny and refreshingly capable host, who was light on his feet and ready to roll with the crowd. But it was the walk down memory lane that the Emmys shouldn’t be scared to retread at each ceremony. For 75 years, this awards show has honored the best of TV. What is the point in creating that kind of legacy if you can’t call the alumni back home once in a while?

Hunter Ingram is a TV writer living in North Carolina and watching way too much television. His byline has appeared in Variety, Emmy Magazine, USA Today, and across Gannett's USA Today Network newspapers.