By Shivani González
Postponed for months because of last year’s Hollywood writer and actor strikes, the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will finally be handed out Monday night.
The Emmys are arriving just over a week after the Golden Globes, which also include TV honors. And just like at those awards, HBO’s dynastic dramedy “Succession” is set to dominate.
It is unclear, however, how many people will actually see this happen. Viewing numbers for the Emmy Awards have been trending downward over the years; the most recent ceremony, in September 2022, brought in a record-low audience of 5.9 million people on a night when the award show had little competition. This year, the Emmys will go head-to-head against an NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and against live coverage of the Iowa caucuses.
Emmy producers hope to lure viewers with homages to classic television shows including “The Sopranos,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “I Love Lucy.” Perhaps others will be curious about how or to what extent the ceremony will address last year’s Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America strikes.
Or perhaps not. We will find out Monday night. If you are among the interested, here is what to know.
What time does the show start, and where can I watch?
The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles and will be broadcast on Fox.
Unlike last week’s Golden Globes, there is not an official streaming partner. Viewers can use streaming services like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV or Fubo. All require subscriptions. The show will be available Tuesday on Hulu.
Before the ceremony, E! will air a pre-red carpet show hosted by Laverne Cox and comedian Heather McMahan, beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern, and live footage from the red carpet, beginning at 6 p.m.
Who is hosting?
Anthony Anderson, best known for his role on the ABC sitcom “black-ish,” will host the Emmys for the first time. The pressure on Anderson will be even higher than usual after the abundant criticism leveled at comedian Jo Koy over his Golden Globes monologue last week.
Who is presenting?
Performers set to hand out awards include Jason Bateman, Quinta Brunson, Ken Jeong, Joel McHale, Pedro Pascal, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Jodie Foster, Taylor Tomlinson, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jon Hamm.
Who votes on the awards?
The Emmys promote themselves as an award show based on peer recognition. TV professionals can apply to become part of the Television Academy, which has 20,000 members divided into 31 peer groups representing different professions within the television industry. Each peer group votes only in categories that pertain to its specific field.
What was the eligibility period for these awards?
Because this award show was postponed in response to the writer and actor strikes, some of the shows up for awards Monday night premiered 19 months ago. Shows eligible for the 75th Emmys had to have aired between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023.
What’s new this year?
Since this is the 75th award show, the Emmys is leaning into nostalgia, with multiple reunions of beloved past series. Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and George Wendt will be onstage together to honor “Cheers”; Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli will pay tribute to “The Sopranos,” which premiered 25 years ago this past week. There will also be tributes to “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Martin,” “I Love Lucy,” “All in the Family” and “The Carol Burnett Show.”
Who is nominated?
The “Succession” finale aired in May, and these Emmys will likely function as the show’s big send-off. Eight actors from the cast are nominated for awards, including Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen — who all won Golden Globes last week — and the show itself is favored to win best drama.
The comedy categories might be a little bit more competitive. The last season of “Ted Lasso,” which has won best comedy in the past two Emmys, was not as well received as its predecessors. So “Abbott Elementary” and “The Bear” both have a shot this year.
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” has won the variety talk Emmy seven consecutive times, but this year, that show is moving to a new category: variety scripted, where it will now compete with the likes of “Saturday Night Live.” This means that another late-night host — Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Trevor Noah and Jon Stewart are all nominated — will win outstanding talk series this year.
What should you watch for?
It will be interesting to see what references, if any, there are to last year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Multiple writing awards will be given out, and there is a decent chance that someone will use his or her victory speech as an opportunity to comment on Hollywood labor issues.
As for global politics, nominees and presenters might look for opportunities to comment on the Israel-Hamas war. Last week’s Golden Globes were relatively quiet in this regard, though a few attendees, including actors J. Smith-Cameron and John Ortiz, wore yellow ribbons to show support for the hostages being held by Hamas.