The 70th Annual Emmys Were The Most Diverse In The Show’s History

By Abby Schreder

 

The 70th annual Emmy Awards were held this Monday. All of television’s biggest stars were out in full force to celebrate, well, themselves. A big theme throughout the night was the increasing diversity that is slowly seeping its way into Hollywood.

 

This year (yes, it took until this year) the nominees were the most diverse in Emmy’s history. Sandra Oh was the first Asian woman to be nominated for an Emmy.

 

The show opened with Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson doing a little tongue-in-cheek ditty about how the diversity problem in Hollywood is over, titled “We Solved It.”  The song poked fun at most of the issues Hollywood has been combatting this past year.

 

But alas, this good in theory musical number did not seem to shine – rather it just left an awkward feeling that resonated throughout the night.

 

The awkwardness continued when hosts, Michael Che and Colin Jost, did the expected with their opening monologue. Many jokes were made at the expense of Roseanne Barr, whose TV show was cancelled after she “ambien tweeted” racial slurs.

 

Another glaringly easy topic to make jokes about was the preponderance of digital streaming sites being nominated. Netflix led with a total of 112 nominations, making it the easiest target for the laziest jokes.

 

Noticeably enough, there was no mention of Les Moonves, the former CEO of CBS who resigned after allegations of sexual assault came to light. In fact, the majority of the #MeToo movement was overlooked, with only a few people wearing the pins that months earlier were worn by most to the Golden Globes.

 

The best sketch of the night was by far the “Reparation Emmy’s.” Michael Che went on a mission to give out Emmy’s to black performers that have been overlooked by the voting academy. Those included were: Jaleel White (“Family Matters”), Marla Gibbs (“The Jeffersons”), Tichina Arnold (“Martin” and “Everybody Hates Chris”) and Kadeem Hardison (“A Different World”).

 

In lighter news, Henry Winkler, best known for his “Happy Days” character, The Fonz, took home his first Emmy after being  first nominated 42 years ago. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” swept the comedy categories winning all but two awards, seemingly taking the place of award circuit favorite, “VEEP.”

 

John Legend has become even more legendary by completing his mission for an EGOT. Another John, this time with the last name Mulaney, also took home an award for his comedy special, “Kid Gorgeous.”

 

One of the most shocking moments of the show was not even an ill-timed joke at the expense of the Hollywood elite, but rather a proposal. Glenn Weiss, who won best director for his work on the 2018 Academy Awards, proposed to his girlfriend mid speech. Luckily for him and the audience, she said yes.

 

Although the show talked a big game about diversity, few people of color actually won awards. Regina King was the first person of color to win that night, out of a total of three others including Darren Criss and Thandie Newton.

 

While the issue of diversity within Hollywood (and if we are being realistic, everywhere) is arguably improving, there is still a long way to go before we can all hold hands and sing “We Solved It.”