Dan and Eugene Levy took the stage at the top of the Emmys on Sunday night to kick off the awards show on ABC with jokes galore, including a roast of “The Bear.”
The opening segment of the 76th annual Emmy awards saw the duo (who mark the first-ever father and son to host TV’s biggest night) playfully grill the FX on Hulu series (a Disney-owned show, and thus a prime target to get a jab when the Emmys are airing on Disney broadcaster ABC): “‘The Bear’ is nominated for 23 Emmys tonight, making it the most-nominated comedy in history,” Eugene Levy said. “Now, I love the show, and I know some of you will be expecting us to make a joke about whether ‘The Bear’ is really a comedy — but in the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes.”
The jokes centering Disney properties didn’t end there, with the Levys noting that FX on Hulu’s “Shōgun” already took home 14 Emmys at last week’s Creative Arts awards show, making it the most-decorated show in a single season.
“And deservedly so. I mean, the attention to detail on that show,” Dan Levy said. “The creators of ‘Shogun’ actually had their scripts translated into Japanese, rewritten and then translated back into English subtitles that you missed because you were also on your phone watching Sabrina Carpenter eat a hot wing.”
When Dan Levy touted the Emmy nods for Paramount+ With Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers” stars Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer, “proving that you can be nominated for playing gay, even if you’re not straight,” his father, who hosts Apple’s “The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy,” added: “I’m particularly proud of my streamer, Apple TV+, which continues to proudly and visibly align itself with the LGBTQ community.”
Unfortunately, Dan had to tell his dad, “that’s not what the ‘+’ stands for,” and that the slew of other streamers that have a added that symbol to their names — Paramount+, Disney+, ESPN+, etc. — are “all also not directly affiliated with the community.”
During their opener, Dan Levy made one joke about “Reservation Dogs” into a direct reference to the years it took the Levys’ beloved comedy “Schitt’s Creek” to get recognition until it began streaming episodes on Netflix: “After three excellent seasons of widespread critical acclaim, they finally received a nomination for outstanding comedy series. You might say, the Academy voters found a show that’s been creatively thriving for years and said, ‘Hey, look what we discovered!’”
The Levys closed out their monologue by giving a gentle reminder to keep acceptance speeches tight, so as not to kill Eugene Levy.
“In what can only be described as a cruel joke, two Canadians have been put in charge of playing you off tonight,” Dan Levy said. Eugene Levy added: “Canadians don’t like interrupting anybody, it goes against our nature.”
“Confrontation in general is anxiety-inducing, especially for my 77-year-old father. The man is frailer than he looks, he gets palpitations from time to time. I’m hearing about tendonitis,” Dan Levy said, adding: “I don’t want to be alarmist here, but having to cut you off could kill this man.”
The Levys were announced as Emmys hosts Aug. 16, one month out from the ceremony. The gig makes them the first two-person hosting team since 2018 (when “SNL’s” Colin Jost and Michael Che co-hosted) and only the second pair to host this century. Dan and Eugene Levy take over hosting duties from Anthony Anderson, who led the Emmys in January.
The Levys made history in 2020 as the first father and son to win major awards in the same year, thanks to their critical darling comedy “Schitt’s Creek.” That year — in which winners appeared remotely, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — saw Eugene Levy win for top comedy actor and Dan Levy take home supporting comedy actor. Dan Levy also picked up wins for writing and directing the series, while both Levys won the outstanding comedy series Emmy as exec producers on “Schitt’s Creek.”
Under a year after shepherding the last Emmys ceremony, which was held in January due to strike-related delays, Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay have returned as executive producers for the awards show.
See the Emmys winners list, updating live, here.
From Variety US