There’s more going on than you see
Off-camera and at the bar, stars are having a time of it
At the Emmy Awards, viewers see less-than-graceful reactions and emotional speeches. But what happened away from the cameras Sunday? We were inside Microsoft Theater:
1 THERE WAS AD-LIBBING
Yes, there’s a teleprompter that host Stephen Colbert and the presenters read from ... most of the time. Colbert added a few lines in his opening monologue, including one about President Trump (“Looking forward to the tweets”) and the HBO hacker ransom (“Too soon?”) that weren’t in his script.
2 THERE WAS STRAIGHT-UP IMPROVISING
Dave Chappelle, who handed out an Emmy for direction with Melissa McCarthy, joked that he didn’t rehearse his Emmys presentation. Speaking extemporaneously, he commented that he was “truly amazed ( by) how many black people are here. I counted 11 on the monitor.”
That 11? It was the number of
seconds the teleprompter had counted down to at that point. McCarthy replied, “This is going exactly how we planned it to go.”
3 DURING BREAKS THERE ARE OTHER WINNERS
When the show breaks for commercial, attendees can watch the monitors for acceptance speeches from winners of last week’s Creative Arts Emmys. They also can leave their seats and head to the bathroom or the bar.
4 WHEN CAMERAS AREN’T ROLLING, MANY STARS ARE MINGLING
While many nominees gather in the lobby, others gather in the stands. Some atypical star pairings on Sunday: Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown went up to chat with Nicole Kidman and take a photo. Better Call Saul’s Jonathan Banks told Susan Sarandon she’s “great.”
5 WINNERS ARE COUNTED DOWN FROM 45 SECONDS
Most stars get a 45-second countdown from the time they take the mike, until the words “Wrap it up!” flash on the screen and they’re played off. Some stars (Nicole Kidman) aren’t completely cut off when they run over. Others (Sterling K. Brown) clearly had more thanks to give before music drowned them out. Sterling K. Brown had more gratitude than time allowed.
6 SELFIES ARE REQUESTED, NOT ALL ARE GRANTED
As with any star-studded event, many fans ask for selfies with talent. Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom approved cheerfully. As for Louis C.K., he shooed a fan away.
7 THE CROWD HAD SOME REACTIONS THAT WEREN’T CAPTURED ON CAMERA
One of the biggest audience eruptions of the night was when Sean Spicer made a cameo at the start of the awards. A second big applause came when Master of None’s Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari won for outstanding writing for a comedy series.
Another big reaction was when the Big Little Lies cast celebrated Kidman’s win. Laura Dern, carrying the Emmy she’d just won, ran back to her seat just in time for her co-star’s big moment.