This year’s Emmy Awards was a spectacular bust.
An audience of 6.4 million viewers tuned into the virtual event on Sunday, which was down from last year’s record-low of 7.2 million, according to TV Line. Even Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night comedian who hosted the awards show, had to laugh at how poorly the event was rated.
“Well, I hosted the virtual Emmys last night. They’re saying it was the highest-rated Emmys ever,” Kimmel joked on Monday night. “Oh, the lowest? Oh, all right. Well, we set a record. Let’s just say that.”
Some of this was expected, given the fact that the entire event was held virtually. There were no in-person acceptance speeches or red carpet shots. Instead, all of the stars were piped in from their living rooms, dressed up from a distance. The circumstances might have necessitated this, but there’s no way around it: Virtual broadcasts make for bad television.
The unavoidable politicking that usually takes place at these kinds of Hollywood events might have also repelled viewers. Regina King, for example, who won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role in Watchmen, used her acceptance speech to demand that viewers vote and wore a black T-shirt featuring Breonna Taylor, an EMT fatally shot by police in March. Many of the other winners’ speeches included tributes to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as quite a few veiled but pointed jabs at President Trump.
At one point, Black-ish star Anthony Anderson began chanting, “Black lives matter,” as he presented the award for Outstanding Limited Series.
“Black stories, black performances, and black lives matter. Say it with me, Jimmy! Black lives matter! Louder, Jimmy! … Say it so that Mike Pence can hear it!” he said.
Woke politics has become so commonplace in Hollywood that most viewers expect it to be part of the program. Last year, more than 6 in 10 people in the United States said they believed the Emmys would be “very or somewhat political.” They were right. Several stars wore American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood accessories. And even though Trump was not explicitly mentioned, it was obvious that he was on Hollywood’s mind.
Is it any wonder viewership has dropped in recent years? The Emmy Awards are supposed to be a celebration, not a lecture. But that’s what it has become, thanks to Hollywood’s ever-pressing need to shape the country in its fashion. It’s about time the public started tuning out.
