ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
At last night's Emmy Awards, new shows, including "The Pitt" and "The Studio," took home top prizes. But one winner who got a standing ovation has been around for a while. "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" took home best talk series, and Colbert gave an emotional acceptance speech.
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STEPHEN COLBERT: Stay strong. Be brave. And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.
SHAPIRO: His win came just months after CBS announced it'll end his show in May. NPR critic at large Eric Deggans is here with some thoughts about how this year's awards played out. Hey, Eric.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hey.
SHAPIRO: Colbert's win was this poignant moment, and we heard him nod at politics in his acceptance speech. Did the state of the world outside Hollywood come up much in other parts of the show?
DEGGANS: Well, let's talk about Colbert first, because critics like me have always felt there was a political dimension to CBS' decision to cancel Colbert - a long-standing critic of President Trump - just as the company was trying to get federal approval for a merger. And he got warm waves of applause both times he appeared on stage on Sunday's Emmys. But at a time when arts and cultural institutions, like The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian, are facing loads of pressure from the Trump administration, most winners at the Emmys on Sunday kept their speeches to thanking friends and coworkers.
I mean, the show did highlight a special Emmy honor called the Governors Award that was given before the broadcast to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and they criticized Congress' decision to defund it. But few stars spoke on politics, except for Hannah Einbinder, costar on the HBO Max series "Hacks," who shouted a four-letter epithet about ICE and shouted free Palestine after accepting an award as best supporting actress in a comedy.
SHAPIRO: The host, Nate Bargatze, offered an unusual way to keep some of those acceptance speeches short. He said he was going to donate $100,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and then added this.
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NATE BARGATZE: Every second you go over 45 seconds, we will deduct a thousand dollars away from the Boys and Girls Club. I know.
SHAPIRO: Eric, how did that go over?
DEGGANS: Well, judging by my social media, a lot of folks did not like it. They thought it was insensitive or just not funny. I initially thought it might be a fun way to keep the program moving, but I realized emotional acceptance speeches are sometimes the most memorable and unpredictable moments in an award show. So the bit last night mostly ensured that winners just listed a bunch of names of people to thank without really speaking to the moment. CBS and Bargatze gave $350,000 to the charity anyway, so it was a bit like Bargatze's too laid-back hosting of the Emmys overall. I mean, it was a good idea that went on a bit too long and maybe wasn't entertaining enough.
SHAPIRO: Well, I mentioned two of the big winners last night were Seth Rogen's show, "The Studio" on Apple TV+, which lampoons Hollywood, and the HBO Max drama "The Pitt," about a hospital. Overall, do you think Emmy voters chose well?
DEGGANS: Well, there were no obviously terrible choices, and there were some inspired ones with unexpected awards for performers like Jeff Hiller from "Somebody Somewhere." But there's still a sense that Emmy voters need to widen their viewing. I mean, 15 of the awards handed out on Sunday went to people from just four series - "The Studio," "Hacks," "The Pitt" and "Adolescence." And only two non-white people were featured winners last night - "Severance" costar Tramell Tillman and "Adolescence" star Stephen Graham, who reminded folks in his acceptance speech last night that he's mixed race. And that's terrible news at a time when diversity and inclusion efforts in Hollywood are under attack.
SHAPIRO: That is NPR critic at large Eric Deggans. Thank you.
DEGGANS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF CITY OF THE SUN'S "GAVIOTA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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