For the first time since 1976, the biggest names in television gathered to celebrate the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards on a Monday night. Fan favorite shows such as Breaking Bad and Modern Family won big, while True Detective and the cast of The Normal Heart were not as successful at the awards show as expected. Hosted by late-night comedian Seth Meyers, the awards were full of jokes and gags from celebrities such as Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon and Billy Eichner. Personally, the most memorable moment of last night’s broadcast for me was Andy Samberg taking on the role of Joffrey from Game of Thrones. However, on this Two for Tuesday, we are looking two other memorable moments Emmy moments: one that was touching and one that was considered offensive.
Touching Moment: Billy Crystal’s Tribute to Robin Williams
Two weeks ago, the world was stunned to hear the news of Robin Williams’s death. Although he spent a majority of his 40-year entertainment career in movies and performing stand-up comedy, his role as the loveable alien Mork on the 1970s television show Mork & Mindy is what made Williams a household name. At the end of the “In Memoriam” segment of the Emmy Awards, Billy Crystal gave Williams an extremely heartfelt tribute, saying “he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine–supportive, protective, loving. It’s very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives. For almost 40 years, he was the brightest star in the comedy galaxy.” Crystal’s emotional speech perfectly reflected his own personal grief, as well as the grief of the Hollywood community and the world at large.
You can watch the full tribute here.
Offensive Moment: Sofia Vergara on a Spinning Pedestal
In an attempt to liven up the speech on the state of television given by Bruce Rosenblaum, the chairman of the Television Academy, producers of the broadcast gave the audience something to look at: Sofia Vergara on a spinning pedestal. What was supposed to be a humorous example of Rosenblaum’s claim that the success of television “is based on always giving the viewer something compelling to watch,” is actually being widely labeled as sexist and misogynistic. Although the bit was self-aware, a fair share of viewers and publications were offended by what they saw, taking their complaints to social media.
Wow. Could that Sofia Vergara bit been any more gratuitously sexist? #Emmys
— Julia Doyle (@julesdoyle) August 26, 2014
“Hollywood: “Hollywood isn’t sexist” *puts sofia on a literal pedestal and spins her around like a car*” http://t.co/DnidkMLcvn — Gozamos.com (@gozamos) August 26, 2014
However, when asked if she thought the stunt was sexist, Vergara stated “I think its absolutely the opposite. It means that somebody can be hot and also be funny and make fun of herself. I think it’s ridiculous that somebody started this—I know who she was—who has no sense of humor [and should] lighten up a little bit.” Although it is unclear if this incident will have any long term consequences for the Television Academy, it is being regarded as the only bump in an otherwise fairly smooth broadcast.
You can watch the full speech here.
What moments from last night’s Emmy Awards did you think were memorable? Share them with us in the comments section!
Want to see the full list of winners? Click here!
Cover Photo Source: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Our-Space-The-San-Jose-Group.png[/author_image] [author_info]Jenny is a Junior Executive at SJG. She earned her BA in Psychology and a minor in Educational Studies in 2014 from Colgate University. Outside the office, Jenny loves to travel (usually to Disney World), bake and watch copious amounts of TLC.[/author_info] [/author]