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Since it was the 75th annual Emmy Awards show, it should have felt special, and it did — the show was like the lively antidote to last week’s soporific Golden Globe Awards. Excellent host Anthony Anderson, 53, did witty parodies of classic shows like The Twilight Zone, and instead of using the cliché of music to play off long-winded winners, he mock-threatened the audience with his mother, Doris Bowman, in the audience as the bad cop to keep them honest. “See what I mean? My mama don’t play!”
Don’t miss this: The 75 Most Unforgettable Moments in Television History
There was an unprecedented and welcome procession of stars of TV’s greatest hits reuniting on replicas of their famous sets, including Cheers’ Kelsey Grammer, 68, Rhea Perlman, 75, Ted Danson, 76, John Ratzenberger, 76, and George Wendt, 75; Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo and Chandra Wilson, both 54, and Katherine Heigl; SNL Weekend Update ex-hosts Tina Fey, 53, and Amy Poehler, 52, Martin’s Martin Lawrence, 58, Tisha Campbell, 55, Carl Anthony Payne II, 54, and Tichina Arnold, 54; and Ally McBeal’s Calista Flockhart, 59, Peter MacNicol, 69, Gil Bellows, 56, and Greg Germann, 65.
Lorraine Bracco, 69, and Michael Imperioli, 57, who was nominated as supporting actor in a drama for The White Lotus, gave tribute to James Gandolfini, the late star of their iconic hit The Sopranos, and Bracco choked up. Everybody choked up when Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers, both 76, honored their late All in the Family boss Norman Lear (who passed away at 101 in December), and then introduced the memorial segment.
Here are the most memorable moments of the evening:
Christina Applegate, 52, brought the audience to their feet, and tickled their funny bone
Announcing the best supporting actress in a comedy series nominees (and the win by The Bear’s Ado Edebiri), Applegate got an immense standing ovation in recognition of her iconic work and her heroic feat of finishing the last season of Dead to Me brilliantly despite being stricken with multiple sclerosis. “Oh my god, you’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up!” she joked irreverently. “It’s fine. OK. Body not by Ozempic!” Her attitude struck a blow for people with disabilities by making it clear that they’re still ... like everybody else, and in her case, as superb a talent as she ever was.
“We don’t have to applaud every time I do something!” she said, razzing the audience for excessive cheering, partly because this year’s Emmys are serious about keeping things fast, and she didn’t want praise simply for being there, and also because Applegate is a professional from age 1 — literally. When they flashed a photo of a baby, it seemed like a gag – but it was really Applegate, as Baby Burt Grizzell on the soap Days of Our Lives, her professional debut. The memory brought tears to her eyes, and likely to people watching.
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