More stories

  • in

    4.3 Million Watched the Emmys, a New Low

    The Emmys had a lot going against it, including a ceremony delayed months by the Hollywood strikes, and stiff competition from other events.The Emmy Awards ratings collapse continues.An audience of 4.3 million people watched the Emmys on Fox on Monday night, the lowest viewership since records have been kept, according to preliminary Nielsen data. In 2022, the Emmys garnered 5.9 million viewers, the previous low.The ratings have put the Emmys dangerously close to the Tony Awards, which for decades has drawn a significantly smaller audience. But in June, 4.3 million people tuned into the Tonys, an increase from its previous ceremony.The final Emmy numbers, which will be released on Wednesday, will probably increase somewhat from the preliminary figures.The Emmys had a lot going against it. The ceremony had been delayed by four months because of last year’s screenwriter and actor strikes, the most significant postponement for the event in more than two decades.Indeed, the competition was stiff on Monday night. The Emmys went head-to-head against a Monday night football playoff game and the Iowa caucuses.The football game, which featured the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, drew more than 28 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Roughly 4.7 million people tuned into the three big cable news networks between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. for Iowa returns, according to the preliminary Nielsen data.The Emmys also faced competition from other award shows. All the big winners on Monday night — “Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef” — had been honored at the Golden Globes last week, and the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night.Yet the Emmys even had trouble holding its own against a rerun of a network television show. A repeat of “NCIS” on CBS at 8 p.m. on Monday night — which had the benefit of a lead-in from another playoff football game — drew 4.9 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen data.Most other major award shows — despite lower audience figures compared with a decade ago — have seen ratings rebound recently. Oscar ratings have ticked up two years in a row. So have the Grammys. Even the scandal-plagued Golden Globes saw a big increase in audience last week.The Emmys telecast, which was broadcast on Fox and hosted by Anthony Anderson, cannot be blamed. The ceremony got generally warm reviews, with critics appreciating the number of cast reunions — including “Cheers,” “Ally McBeal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” — that were staged in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the awards.The Emmys will not be gone long. The next ceremony will be in September, and broadcast on ABC. More

  • in

    Christina Applegate Gets Standing Ovation at Emmys as She Presents First Award

    Christina Applegate made a rare public appearance to present the first Emmy, for supporting actress in a comedy series. Glamorous in a plunging gown and visibly overcome by the long standing ovation she received, she still made self-deprecating jokes about Ozempic and disability. “You’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up,” she told the crowd. “It’s fine.”Applegate was nominated for best actress in a comedy for “Dead to Me.” (Quinta Brunson won, “Abbott Elementary.”) The Netflix series was a sleek, savage container for Applegate’s gifts, both her forceful PTA Mom prettiness and the darker currents of anger and ambition that swirled just underneath, giving her comedy a whetted edge. She played Jen to Linda Cardellini’s Judy. Jen was a woman unmoored by the death of her husband who found port in a ride-or-die friendship and an escalating series of crimes.Applegate hasn’t announced any new projects since receiving a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2021. (“It’s not like I came on the other side of it, like, ‘Woohoo, I’m totally fine,’” she told The Times in 2022, speaking of that diagnosis. “Acceptance? No. I’m never going to accept this. I’m pissed.”)Applegate is the rare actress to have translated teen stardom (she was Kelly Bundy, long of leg and scant of prefrontal cortex, on “Married With Children”) into a robust adult career that includes the sitcoms “Samantha Who” and “Up All Night,” as well as the “Anchorman” and “Bad Moms” film franchises. More

  • in

    Emmy Winners: Updating List

    The list of winners for the 75th Emmy Awards.[Follow live updates of the Emmy Awards here.]The 75th Emmy Awards will be held at 8 p.m. Eastern on Monday, broadcast live on Fox and streamed live on Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV and other services. (It will also be available to watch on Hulu beginning Tuesday.) Anthony Anderson, who has been nominated for numerous Emmys for his ABC sitcom “black-ish,” which ended in 2022, is hosting the show, which will be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.The ceremony, originally scheduled for September, was postponed because of the simultaneous Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, one of the longest labor crises in the history of the entertainment industry. In September, the Writers Guild of America reached a deal with entertainment companies; SAG-AFTRA, the union representing tens of thousands of actors, followed suit, reaching a deal in November. Now the awards show will go on.If last week’s Golden Globes was any prediction of how the Emmys will go, the best comedy competition will be fierce — “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Ted Lasso” and “Wednesday” are among the nominees — while HBO’s “Succession,” which earned 27 nods for its final season, is expected to dominate in the drama categories.Beyond “Succession,” HBO — which also scored nominations for “The White Lotus,” “The Last of Us” and “House of the Dragon” — has solidified itself as the network to beat. “The Last of Us” already won the most Creative Arts Emmys, which were given earlier this month, with eight awards; “The Bear,” “Wednesday” and “The White Lotus” all received four and “Succession” nabbed one. Also on Monday, the late-night category will see a winner other than John Oliver for the first time since 2015.The list below will be updated throughout Monday night’s ceremony.These are this year’s Emmy winners so far.Documentary or Nonfiction Series“The 1619 Project” (Hulu)Documentary or Nonfiction Special“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (Apple TV+) More

  • in

    Stephen Colbert Agrees With Mitch McConnell

    Colbert applauded the Senate minority leader for finally encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Late to the PartyStephen Colbert on Wednesday chastised Republicans who are changing their tune on the Covid-19 vaccines, including Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who is finally urging Americans to get vaccinated amid the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.“Wow. I’ve got to say — and I hope no one ever takes this out of context — I agree with Mitch McConnell,” Colbert said.“The rising cases are being fueled by vaccine hesitancy, which itself is being fueled by a dangerous pathogen scientists are calling the Republican Party.” — STEPHEN COLBERTRepresentative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, also encouraged skeptics to get the shots after receiving his first dose this week, saying, “I’ve been vaccinated, many of my colleagues have been vaccinated, and the vaccine is safe, effective, and it’s widely available.”“Yeah, Steve, we know. We all got it months ago.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Steve Scalise is like the guy who just now found out about ‘Bridgerton’: [imitating Scalise] ‘You guys, it’s like Jane Austen, but with high, tight man butt. That Shonda Rimes has got a real future.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“But Scalise seems to want it both ways, because he then criticized public health outreach, saying, ‘You’re seeing some people try to bully people into doing things instead of just encouraging them.’ OK, that’s a good point. Invite people in, entice them, don’t call them out. So tonight, we at ‘The Late Show’ have updated our prize for any unvaccinated Americans who go get the shot. You will now win a lifetime supply of ‘life’ and ‘time.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Inoculations have slowed dramatically, and less than half of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated. So if you think of it like a pie, about half of the pie would be vaccinated while the other half wouldn’t be able to taste the pie because they have Covid.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Bucking Tradition Edition)“Hey, I want to say congrats to the Milwaukee Bucks for winning their first N.B.A. championship in 50 years. Fifty years. That’s right, they beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-98. But of course, Arizona has demanded a recount.” — JIMMY FALLON“The game was such a disaster for the Suns, Chris Paul had to file a claim with State Farm to cover his losses.” — ANTHONY ANDERSON, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” referring to the Suns point guard“The finals’ M.V.P. was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s from Greece. Yep, a Greek N.B.A. superstar. He could be the first person to star in ‘Space Jam’ and ‘Mamma Mia.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingAnthony Anderson, the guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” sent cameras to Hollywood Boulevard to find someone who could spell “Giannis Antetokounmpo.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightHannah Einbinder, star of the HBO Max series “Hacks,” will sit down with Stephen Colbert on Thursday’s “Late Show.”Also, Check This Out“The Daily Show” became more politically oriented when it was hosted by Jon Stewart, pictured with Senator Bob Dole in 1999, the year Stewart took over from Craig Kilborn. Comedy CentralMadeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead, the creators of “The Daily Show,” look back as it turns 25 years old on Thursday. More

  • in

    Late Night Sends Up ‘Space Cowboy’ Jeff Bezos

    Stephen Colbert joked that the Amazon billionaire came back from space “extra divorced.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.‘A Mash-Up Between Buzz Lightyear and Woody’Late-night hosts had fun with the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s brief trip to space on Tuesday. Stephen Colbert welcomed his audience by saying, “So happy you could all join us tonight for a momentous day in the history of some people having way too much money.”Colbert noted that, despite the amount of coverage devoted to the event, it wasn’t all that newsworthy.“Here’s how I know it’s not important — I hosted the last one of these, OK? For Branson,” Colbert said, referring to the billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, who took his own trip to the edge of space last week. “Lot of fun, but talk show hosts don’t anchor historic events — except, of course, when Arsenio Hall interviewed the Berlin Wall.”The hosts couldn’t resist talking about what Bezos was wearing when he returned — a cowboy hat.“I guess space turns you into Kenny Chesney.” — JIMMY FALLON“You know you’re rich when you put that on and everyone who works for you goes, ‘Oh, it looks great, yeah. You’re a man of the people, just going to space.’” — JIMMY FALLON“He looks like a mash-up between Buzz Lightyear and Woody.” — JIMMY FALLON“He got the spacesuit and cowboy hat together by searching for the midlife crisis bundle: ‘Is a soul patch too much?’” — JIMMY FALLON“A cowboy hat? So he went into space and somehow became extra divorced.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Jeff’s Rocket Edition)“Today millions of people all over the world looked up and said, ‘Wow, that thing sure looks like a penis.’” — ANTHONY ANDERSON, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”“I guess it’s true what they say, billionaires and their rockets end up looking just like each other.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“It’s the only rocket that shrinks in the cold.” — JIMMY FALLON“They designed it at the Johnson Space Center.” — TARIQ TROTTER of The Roots, the house band on “The Tonight Show”“It looks like R2-D2 took some Viagra.”— JIMMY FALLON“They don’t keep it in a hangar, they keep it in the top drawer of a bedside table.” — TARIQ TROTTER“Next stop, the ‘O’ zone.” — JIMMY FALLON“It’s not that hard to get to space.” — TARIQ TROTTERThe Bits Worth WatchingJimmy Fallon challenged the Jonas Brothers to “Sing It Like,” with Nick Jonas having to perform Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” like he just had his tongue pierced.What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightLorde will go day drinking with Seth Meyers on Wednesday’s “Late Night.”Also, Check This Out“I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” Prince Harry said in a statement accompanying the book’s announcement.Pool photo by Yui MokPenguin Random House promises Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir will be “an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time.” More