‘Widow’s Bay’ Sweeps the Emmys! Plus, ‘Lanterns’ Episode 5.

The Watch

Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald dive into the 2024 Emmys, critiquing the broadcast's opening number while praising its subtle production choic

Key takeaways

• The Emmys broadcast was uneven but redeemed by thoughtful production choices despite a disastrous opening number.
• 'Widow's Bay' dominated the night with multiple wins, signaling strong critical and cultural resonance.

Main topics

• Emmys broadcast critique
• 'Widow's Bay' Emmy dominance

Notable quotes

The opening number was absolutely horrific... like non-AI just slop.

It was so bad that I was concerned. The concern melted away...

Conclusion

The episode balances sharp Emmy critique with thoughtful engagement on

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:05) I need supports to have to clear the room. Stand up and walk now. Speaker 2 (0:10) Hello and welcome to The Watch. My name is Chris Ryan. I am an editor at TheRinger.com and joining me in the studio, the winner of Outstanding Anthology Podcast Host. Oh, it's Andy Greenwald! Speaker 3 (0:25) Weirdly, that was for Stick the Landing because it was in the eligibility window. Speaker 2 (0:28) Quite anthologized, quite limited. Quite Speaker 3 (0:30) limited. Surprisingly limited. I think Kaya is still surprised. Speaker 2 (0:33) Greenwald, great to see you. It is Tuesday, not our normal day, but we wanted to hit the Emmys from last night. So we are here. We're going to do the Emmys and we are going to do Lanterns today. On Thursday, we will have some chatter about the first episode of the sixth season of Slow Horses, which I believe has been renewed for... Speaker 3 (0:52) Eight Speaker 2 (0:53) now. Are Speaker 3 (0:54) you, what's your feeling on whether we'll be wearing the same clothes on Thursday? Speaker 2 (0:57) I brought a change because we are going to batch record this. You brought a change? Yeah. We also have Speaker 3 (1:03) a Speaker 2 (1:03) special appearance. Where's the memo? Yeah, go ahead. From our special appearance. We'll be joined or I'll be joined by our good buddy Chuck Klosterman who came on the pod on Thursday or will be on the pod on Thursday to discuss his upcoming new book, Rock. Awesome conversation with Chuck was very reminiscent of our. music exists. Another limited anthology podcast. Speaker 3 (1:24) I feel sad I missed it. I wanted it to be reminiscent of 2002 at Hi-Fi Bar. It was that. Speaker 2 (1:29) Yeah, except no Ryan Goulds. It's great to see you. And watch at Spotify.com. Watch pod, the watch pod underscore on Instagram. Ringer-TV on YouTube and you can listen to us and watch us on Spotify. The Emmys. The Emmys. Is it TV's biggest night, you think? Yes. Yeah. Speaker 3 (1:48) What do you think is TV's biggest night? I mean, NBC did those live musicals for a while. Speaker 2 (1:53) That's Speaker 3 (1:53) right. When Speaker 2 (1:53) they Speaker 3 (1:53) did Grease. Yeah. That Speaker 2 (1:54) was Speaker 3 (1:54) pretty big. Speaker 2 (1:56) You know, I enjoyed myself until I didn't last night. Okay. You know, they needed to fill out a three-hour broadcast. I couldn't quite tell if at the end, McConaughey and Woody, want some Dove? Just think about it. McConaughey and Woody, if they were actually vamping. To fill out the Speaker 3 (2:15) time? Or just vaping. Speaker 2 (2:16) Or we're stoned and we're like, this is a funny bit. What did you think of the broadcast itself? And then we will get into winners and losers. I Speaker 3 (2:23) have very strong feelings about this. And I've had strong feelings about the last few years. Speaker 2 (2:27) You're a guy who does not think about award shows 364 days that they aren't on. And then the day they're on, you are like the Gettysburg Address. Yes. I have Speaker 3 (2:38) to say, so my experience was unusual in the sense that the opening number. Well, let's just take one further step back. Mariska Hargitay hosted the ceremony. Yes. And a untraditional choice, but certainly a friendly and familiar face to television watchers of the last 30 years. Speaker 2 (2:53) And essentially the queen of modern NBC. Yes. She has been on that network for 20 plus years. Speaker 3 (3:00) 30 years. And she was on ER before that. Oh, Speaker 2 (3:02) that's right. Remember? Speaker 3 (3:03) Her and Dr. Green. I forgot about that. Had a little folie a deux, as we say in Chicago in the 90s. She... It was a rollercoaster ride in the beginning because I will say, and I say this with respect and love, that the opening number was absolutely horrific. It was so deeply disturbing that I almost couldn't look away. It was like non-AI just slop. Okay. But it was also SpawnCon because while she was singing about how much she loves watching television, she was wearing Marriott bathrobes. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you're a Bonvoy guy, so you probably did that. I was just like, Speaker 2 (3:43) didn't notice a difference between what she was wearing and what I was wearing. That's totally right. That's how you are Speaker 3 (3:47) at your most comfortable. I, on the other hand, you know, I'm a proud World of Hyatt explorer. Hyatt homies, yeah. No, my title, I believe, is exploratist, which is not a word, but I earned those extra syllables or at least consonants. Anyway, it was so bad that I was concerned. The concern melted away because I have to say that I thought that in every other respect, the producers of this ceremony made a series of small, low key, but incredibly impactful decisions to make this, dare I say, one of the best Emmy Awards nights in recent memory. And I'll talk you through the decisions. I took notes. I was really impressed. I Speaker 2 (4:24) want you to go for it because I got to tell you, man, I mean, I'm on the record as sort of not caring about it. I'm also on the record as saying this, it would be an interesting opportunity for television to lead the way and Speaker 1 (4:38) double Speaker 2 (4:39) the awards. I mean, like their FYC season seems to last all year anyway. And to, I think the TV could actually hold the Emmys twice a year. I know that that would dilute maybe the power of winning them, but I think it would make for more interesting. Speaker 2 (4:59) candidates, more interesting nominees, and a wider variety of winners. Do Speaker 3 (5:03) you think Ice-T would host the other ceremony? I would actually... Speaker 2 (5:06) Would we Speaker 3 (5:06) keep it in the SVU family? Speaker 2 (5:07) I would have some of the Chicago family do it. You know, perhaps like an all-star of Dick Wolf's Chicago-verse. Is there anything equivalent Speaker 3 (5:15) to the Dick Wolf's Chicago-verse in that it is massive, established, and we are completely ignorant of it? No. Speaker 2 (5:25) I mean, like, I think... What's the equivalent of that? I wouldn't... There are often people who are in the, like, pop culture, like, moment. Like, I don't know anything about what is this Stella Lefty person. Speaker 3 (5:35) Right. Speaker 2 (5:36) It's like, I have not heard her music. I don't know who her dad is. I can't tell if anyone likes her. I can tell that most people don't, but I think it's because of her dad. Speaker 3 (5:44) Yes. And Speaker 2 (5:45) then she ripped off Noah Khan, who also was on the Emmys last night. Speaker 3 (5:48) I think other people, too. I think that the story is that, like, they're doing a forensic... scan of all of her songs. Are Speaker 2 (5:55) they? Yeah. Speaker 3 (5:56) Who's they? I was hoping you could tell me. Are you up on this? Speaker 1 (6:00) Yeah. I think the internet is, it's kind of like when you are a group on Eris and you first rip off Noah Khan and then the internet catches a hold of that and then they... also go back and see who else you were. Speaker 3 (6:15) If she brought Speaker 2 (6:15) Madison Square Garden and one person showed up, I wouldn't be surprised. If 60,000 people showed up, I wouldn't be surprised. I have no idea. But to your point, that's not really, that's not really a Speaker 3 (6:27) one-to-one. Speaker 2 (6:27) That's Speaker 3 (6:27) how Speaker 2 (6:27) I feel about Speaker 3 (6:27) Love Island. I don't know what it is. I thought it was Milf Island from 30 Rock or Temptation Island, which was shorter lived. And I guess it's not the one where they get married because that's Love is Blind. Yes, I've Speaker 2 (6:36) watched Speaker 3 (6:36) that. I watched that. You watched that? Speaker 2 (6:38) Yeah, my wife watches Love is Blind and I will dip in for... crucial moments of the season. Speaker 3 (6:43) Like the moments when they are given their sight back? I like Speaker 2 (6:46) watching them see their betrothed for the first time. Speaker 3 (6:52) You Speaker 2 (6:53) do love it. This is the most glee I've seen on your face in a while. It's really funny when they're like, oh shit. Oh no, I've made a terrible mistake. And then I'll watch a little bit of their first dates. Speaker 3 (7:04) Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:05) I'll check out some of the pod action because I like to see what kind of questions they're asking each other. But anyway, we digress. I just, I think it's fascinating. Speaker 3 (7:15) The Speaker 2 (7:15) Chicagoverse, I've watched some of it in airports. So Speaker 3 (7:18) specifically the thing about this Emmy is, okay, I think that, let's go from the host. Once she got past the trying to be funny and put on a show parts and she was game to do anything and as is Jalen Brunson apparently, go off King, he deserves it. She settled into a much more maybe traditional just sort of glamorous, slightly emo MC role. Yeah. that was fine because her Q rating is very high. She has personal relationships with most of the people in the room. And I have to say, it allowed the funny presenters, like our own Kali Yemi-Poller, who's the first one out of the gate, to kill, like without any competition. So she was awesome. Marcella Hernandez was, I thought, very funny. And Mulaney was god tier. Mulaney was Godzilla v. Tokyo six times in a row. Speaker 2 (8:08) Yeah. Speaker 3 (8:09) He was unbelievable. He was so funny. Do you Speaker 2 (8:10) think with this, the Mulaney hosting flirtation? Speaker 3 (8:14) Yeah. Speaker 2 (8:16) Like, is this like, I can't even think of an analogy. Why doesn't he just host one of these big shows? Well, I think Speaker 3 (8:24) at this point, I mean, he's definitely asked for all of them. I think he doesn't have to. The only thing that's particularly odd about it is that like, he does seem to have a spirited work ethic, let's say. Because his Mr. Whatever tour is now like crossing the, he's basically like, fish at this point. He has been on tour for the better part of two years and is just now announcing like New Year's dates. So he does certainly like the challenge, but maybe he's keeping his powder dry for the Oscars when Conan lets it go like in a couple of years. OK, because it's certainly less pressure to just show up and destroy and then. Yeah, I'd have to have Speaker 2 (8:57) two people be like, did he do a good job last night? Like Speaker 3 (8:59) us. So I thought no Speaker 2 (9:01) matter what, I feel like there are. overarching industrial pressures on the host that they have to do certain segments. Like, I bet she wasn't like what I really want to do. I mean, maybe she was like, I want to do a bunch of song and dance numbers, but it felt Speaker 3 (9:14) like Speaker 2 (9:15) they should have done more of the SVU digital shorts. Speaker 3 (9:19) Well, they did one and it featured a very prominent guest star, which, you know, again, we only can see things through the lens of our own experience. Any moment that brought my daughters into the room. Well, there Speaker 2 (9:30) was a. Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift's cat were in the short. Yes, and I Speaker 3 (9:33) can't actually parse which one caused them to squeal louder. Like, that was the most exciting moment. And they love Mulaney's. They were happy about that. But the Taylor Swift thing just had a 100 % approval rating in my house if I was not in the house. Right. Speaker 2 (9:48) So that was fun for them. Speaker 3 (9:49) But what I'm trying to say about what she did as a host was create this kind of convivial warm atmosphere, which I think is the goal for award shows, but it's often hard to do, especially in this kind of like post-star era. And maybe even occasionally with the Emmys because there's such churn now in terms of like new shows being potentially overrepresented one year and Speaker 2 (10:07) then Speaker 3 (10:07) going off the air for three years. Yes. So I thought that she was really good at kind of drawing together a sense of community. I thought that the producers did a brilliant small thing in... stacking the front of the arena with Golden Globes-like tables to make it feel more intimate, which absolutely worked. And my main takeaway was, and again, you could, I want to hear your thoughts on this because maybe it is. 20%, 30%, 40%, because I thought the winners were deserved and cool and like a cast a wide net. But I had a feeling last night that I don't know if the Emmys have ever given me and that the Oscars used to give me, which was, this is a kind of creative community that these people know each other. These people like each other. They work together, whether it's for years and years in the broadcast trenches or crossing each other in award shows, you know, year after year. And. Maybe it's also the, you know, the renewed dominance of Noah Wiley as a connective tissue to that era. But him saying things like, this is the only job I ever wanted and I love this. I was kind of moved is too strong a word. But, you know, one of my benchmark criticisms of the Emmys going back decades is the Emmys used to apologize for themselves. The Emmys used to have an award show. where they would slavishly rain award trophies down on movie stars, almost as if to thank them for being there. Yeah. And there would be a lot of segments like, here's why we like the movie. And now the Oscars do it. The Oscars do it now, which is like, don't we love rom-coms? Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:29) yeah. Speaker 3 (11:30) The Emmys don't have to do that. These are popular, exciting shows. And it communicated as such. Speaker 2 (11:35) Passionate defense for it. I mean, I didn't actually like have a, I mean, to me, it's always like TV is a. technological advancement and not like an artistic medium. Like that's always the thing I'm trying to get my head around. And I think also the insurgence of all these different types of specifically stars, but all sorts of artists from directors to writers from the film world into television over the last 10, 15 years has changed the makeup of like the kind of vibe that you get. Like it used to be there was a very like. pretty demarcated line between the television and film industries. And now I think it's a lot more fluid. I think the way that TV is made has changed so drastically that, like you said, like we're going to have, Widows Bay probably will not be able to defend its crown next year. Just by the nature of the fact that it'll probably not be back on until 28, or at least I would have to imagine 28. I know that there are... going to start filming in the spring. There's a chance Speaker 3 (12:31) it could be end of 27, I think. But your point is right, that it will be, it will do everything in its, Apple will do everything. Color Speaker 2 (12:37) of this certainly won't be back in 27. Speaker 3 (12:39) But Apple will try to get both of them back for the 28 window. Speaker 2 (12:42) I imagine you're right. There's still something kind of odd about, and you know, the host made like a bunch of jokes about this, but there is just something so strange about the fact that this is about a box that is on your table. Yeah. That, I think these channels used to have like dominance over and now it's all over the place with all these different technology companies essentially taking over the business and those channels, those old networks, those old companies essentially merging with one another to keep any kind of foothold in the industry. So there's something kind of like sad and dark also behind the Emmys. But I appreciate what you're saying about the creative community and people seemingly like be like, you and I have done three shows together or like you or I did. Speaker 3 (13:29) Or many people there like we know Katie Dippold when she worked on Parks and Rec or she wrote the Ghostbusters movie or Hero from Atlanta and these things. And or Matthew Rhys from being in many, many shows over many years, like people know them and to see them recognized and with the warmth in which they were received was really nice. But to your point about the darkness, I thought because of the gathering darkness that exists. everywhere else. I thought that some of the winners were really, maybe we're just lucky with the winners in this case, but were really eloquent spokespeople for the idea of even caring about creative community in a time like this. Noah Wiley, you know, chief among them, but also Colbert, you know, breaking the John Oliver streak and doing it with joy. and not making it about another polemic about being canceled. It was just a very celebratory thing, which I appreciated. And although, to be clear, I think I would probably be inclined to agree with any polemic that he uncorked, but I liked the tenor. I think his show Speaker 2 (14:27) was very polemical. I'm sure he feels like he has said his piece. He's done it. Speaker 3 (14:31) And then especially Scott Gemmel, who is the showrunner of The Pit, seemingly speaking off the cuff, though I'm sure he had time to think about it because he was definitely going to win that trophy. You know, I think that there is a proud or sometimes shameful history of people getting up on stage with a trophy in their hand and talking about how what they do matters and a bunch of people in America being like, excuse me, eggs cost $35. But the way that he said it at the moment that he said it about why what they do matters more than ever resonated with me. I thought it was really nice and it felt like a genuine warmth in the room. And I wonder. I have no idea, but I do wonder if some of that warmth was a trickle down effect from having a host who was just happy to be there, you know, and not there to skewer the industry. Speaker 2 (15:15) Yeah, I think it definitely, it was like a warm hearted show and it was a sentimental show. Like there was essentially like,