Emmys 2024 Review: 9 Ups & 7 Downs

5. The Terrible "Wrap-It-Up" Gag

Awards shows always face a bit of a conundrum when it comes to keeping winners' speeches concise, given the tendency for these things to run way too long.

And while the 2024 Emmys were an impressively well-paced affair, the decision to have host Anthony Anderson's mother act as a substitute for play-off music? Not so much.

At first it seemed like having Doris Bowman literally stand up and tell winners to wrap it up was merely a one-off gag, but the fact that she genuinely did it throughout the show, interrupting speeches in the process, ultimately didn't prove any less disrespectful than just playing music.

Clearly the intent was to make the act of playing a winner off the stage feel a little less mean, but ultimately it fell completely flat.

At least we got a mildly amusing gag out of it where winner John Oliver threatened to list the entire roster of the Liverpool football team until she told him to leave the stage.