Father-and-son actors Eugene and Dan Levy brought a touch of Canadian politeness to the Emmy Awards during a televised event that saw a “Schitt’s Creek” reunion and “SNL” greats unite to roast show creator Lorne Michaels.
During their opening monologue, the stars and co-creators of CBC’s “Schitt’s Creek” joked about the irony making Canadians responsible for cutting off actors’ acceptance speeches.
“In what can only be described as a cruel joke, two Canadians have been put in charge of playing you off tonight,” Dan said to an audience of celebrities including Catherine O’Hara, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Aniston.
“Canadians don’t like interrupting anybody. It goes against our nature,” agreed Eugene.
Dan added, “Confrontation in general is anxiety-inducing, especially for my 77-year-old father, OK?”
The duo delivered a playful opening, teasing themselves, the Emmys and several shows including “The Bear,” but steered clear of singling out any individuals in the star-studded audience.
The Levys later brought out their “Schitt’s Creek” co-stars, Toronto’s Catherine O’Hara and Ottawa’s Annie Murphy, to present the final award of the night for best comedy series.
“Must we really choose just one winner?” O’Hara quipped while pretending to tear up the winner’s envelope, before pulling out the real one and announcing HBO comedy series “Hacks” as the victor.
The Jean Smart-led show’s win was an upset, as culinary dramedy “The Bear,” executive produced by Fort Erie, Ont.’s Matty Matheson, was the heavy favourite for the category.
Other Canadians who sought trophies Sunday included Toronto’s D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai of “Reservation Dogs” and Hamilton’s Martin Short of “Only Murders in the Building,” who both lost the best comedy actor award to Jeremy Allen White of “The Bear.”
Toronto’s Michaels, executive producer of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” lost the variety scripted series category to “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”
Following the loss, “SNL” alumni Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Bowen Yang and Seth Meyers took the stage to honour the NBC sketch-comedy show, which enters its 50th season this fall.
In a lighthearted bit, they acted outraged by Michaels’ apparent 85 Emmy losses over the course of his career, with each directly addressing their longtime boss as he sat in the audience.
“You are not a loser, even though you have lost a lot,” said Wiig.
“He has never won,” Rudolph noted, turning to Michaels. “Each and every one of those 85 times you lost, you were robbed. You hear me? Robbed!”
Meyers then clarified that Michaels has actually won 21 Emmys, and “SNL” itself has racked up over 200.
“What? 200? That’s too much,” Wiig said.
“Not to be rude, but grow up,” Rudolph added.
Michaels, also executive producer of NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” later lost to lost to “The Daily Show” in the best talk series category.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
