Dear Gossips,

As Sarah, Duana, and I have said over the years, and we’ve been doing this for years, we’re never going to be the people who complain about award shows. We are award show junkies, and not just because it’s our job. Even when they’re too long and drag on, it’s not really a huge problem – because we would rather have award shows than no award shows, no matter their length, and even when they’re bad.

This year’s Emmys, though, were far from bad. And I’m not sure how they rank in terms of length but the show didn’t feel long; in fact, it felt really zippy, well-paced, so that by the last hour, I was actually surprised that they’d gone as long as they had, because for me, that was a relatively *short* three plus hours. Credit then to the producers for how they planned out the show like they way presenters were grouped together, many of them by the genre of their characters. This was a nice touch of imagination and economy: you get to involve more people this way, but also not add to the time.

And then, of course, the hosts. I predicted at The Squawk before the start of the show that Eugene and Dan Levy would set a new standard for award show hosting last night – “we might be seeing the best Emmys hosting performance of all time” is what I said and now that the show is over, that stands up. But this isn’t me taking credit, because it wasn’t a difficult thing to foretell. There is no universe in which Eugene and Dan would flop. And there are many reasons for this but one of the most important reasons is that they both have so much live experience. Eugene’s extensive career spans stage and screen, he’s done musicals and sketch comedy, he can improv, he can do impressions, he has the kind of range that, like Steve Martin and Martin Short, is rarely reproduced now in the younger generation of performers.

As for Dan, well, I had a front row seat to Dan’s career beginnings on MTV Canada, and this too was often live broadcast, sometimes scripted, often unscripted. Live television can make or break you, and the value of this kind of training cannot be overstated. Dan, of course, like his dad, has gone on to expand the reach of his talent, but he will never not be able to host the sh-t out of a live show, and this is a skillset he can flex over so many of his peers. Eugene and Dan Levy understand and honour the artform of live television and television production in general. And this point is especially important and personal to me because I work in television production, I am surrounded by television professionals who’ve been at it for decades, they’re experts, some of the best in the business, and they are increasingly underappreciated for their experience and hard work by people who keep chasing new media glory.

Eugene and Dan are products of legacy media. Which, by the way, is what made this bit so f-cking genius – the way they sold it is … chef’s kiss.

Hosting game on lock. But fashion game also on lock. Both of them in beautifully tailored tuxedos, but of course Dan with the extra flair on the red carpet with that c-nty blouse, Loewe of course. Dan being Dan though, that wasn’t his own style statement. The shoulder pads on his opening monologue tuxedo? Excellent. And I love the way he’s wearing his hair shorter these days.

The Levys were a gift to the Emmys last night. And they are one of the biggest headlines to come out of the Emmys because now everyone wants them to host everything. Remember the storytelling rule that Duana taught us all those years ago: give them what they need and not what they want. Eugene and Dan know this better than most.

Thanks for joining us at The Squawk for our live chat! And thanks for joining us here today as we roll out our Emmys coverage. Sarah, Duana, and I have been writing all night, and we look forward to your comments on the daily Squawk chat, if you’re a subscriber, and/or your emails if you are not. Refresh often!

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Eugene Levy Gossip

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