2020’s Lowest-Rated Quarantine Emmy Awards

Reflecting on the 72nd Emmys as a long-time award show contrarian

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a habit of succumbing to even the most revolting of popular culture television trends. Whether it’s the Bachelor franchise or the trainwreck that is MTV’s Jersey Shore, I’m quite the sucker for hook, line, and sinker TV programming. With all that being said, however, primetime award shows have thus far been the space in television broadcast rituals that has elicited in me nothing but dread. There’s something about watching the rich and famous toast from a Los Angeles theater that has truthfully always rubbed me the wrong way. Yet in this year defined by chaos, I found myself especially curious of how the first major awards show of 2020 would go on amid a global health crisis. So in the spirit of straying from what’s personally conventional — during the most unconventional of times — I tuned into Sunday night’s Emmy Awards. Here are my top takeaways from this year’s virtual ceremony as a prior award show critic. 

Out with the Old — in with an Emmys Worth Watching

For what was perhaps the most excruciating 4 minutes and 45 seconds of my young life, host Jimmy Kimmel set the tone of the night with a convincingly uncomfortable gag, in which old crowd reaction shots and noise made Kimmel appear to be standing before a live audience. I couldn’t have been more ready to give up on my award show endeavor altogether. Before I could reach for the remote, however, Kimmel diffused the inevitable outrage of viewers watching at home and revealed that he was actually in a totally empty theater from which he’d moderate 140 different live feeds all around the world. From there, the unorthodox format of the night only continued in a manner that was refreshingly energized and increasingly innovative. Bereft of the tone-deaf nature that would’ve been Hollywood’s elite at their most glamorous, celebrities instead came from their living rooms to give voice to the struggles being faced in the world currently. It was evident that the Emmys have their thumb on the pulse of the current conversation, and actually cared about contributing to it.

Bidding Farewell to Hollywood Kissing Its Own A**

To keep things even more grounded, the greater wins of television’s biggest actors also served as wins for the greater good. Following his introductory monologue, Kimmel also announced that all nominated broadcast and streaming affiliates would be donating $100,000 per Emmy win to the nonprofit organization, No Kid Hungry. Founded in 2010, the organization has been responsible for providing meals to children in need nationwide. To top these millions raised, the Television Academy also pledged to donate $500,000 to this crucial cause. While they may never truly understand the very real issues, like hunger, that plague America’s most vulnerable, Hollywood lent a helping hand that surely won’t go unnoticed. 

Nevertheless… A Low Bar for Viewership

And yet for all that it delivered, the ratings of this year’s Emmys were still at an all-time low. ABC would likely be quick to point out that the Sunday night award show was up against stiff competition from the NFL and NBA playoffs. Then there were the big winners of the night — Schitt’s Creek, Watchmen, and Succession — that while beloved, were undoubtedly niche series. Couple those factors with a waning public interest in award telecasts (akin to my own) and it was a recipe for a ratings disaster. 

Even Kimmel prefaced this likely flop, saying to Deadline before the show, “I know everyone will get crazy when I say this, but this will probably be the lowest-rated Emmys of all time. I would bet almost anything on it. Of course it will.” In spite of the lower-than-average viewer numbers, it felt to me that the Emmys finally accomplished what most award shows have continued to fall short of: innovate. While the scope to which I have any basis of comparison is limited, I’d say that the difference in this year’s broadcast was not only tangible, but also essential to its future. At last, an award show felt… real. And given the turmoil gripping the world right now, that’s what we needed from Hollywood. I can certainly say a former non-viewer will be anticipating next year’s.