The 75th annual Emmy Awards officially have a host! The Emmys announced on Dec. 13 that Black-ish star Anthony Anderson will serve as the first-time host this season. Held at the Peacock Theater at LA Live in Los Angeles, California, TV’s biggest night will honor the talented performers, writers, directors, and craftspeople whose work has entertained, inspired, and connected viewers across the globe throughout the past year.
“After Anthony hosted our upcoming show, We Are Family, we knew he’d be a natural fit for a star-studded, anticipatory night like the Emmys,” said Allison Wallach, President of Unscripted Programming at FOX Entertainment. “Anthony’s known for his humor, heart, and spontaneity, so he’s sure to give audiences in the theater and at home a night they’ll never forget.”
“Anthony is a multi-talented performer and a great friend to the Television Academy,” added Academy Chair Frank Scherma. “We are thrilled that he is hosting what promises to be a rich celebration of the year’s outstanding television, as well as 75 years of Emmys excellence!”
“I’m excited. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and, you know, it happened when it was supposed to happen,” Anderson shared with ET’s Cassie DiLaura about his first time emceeing TV’s biggest night. “I wanted it to happen years ago, but everything happens when it’s supposed to happen. So I’m really excited.”
Anderson revealed that the annual awards show will pull off a special celebration to ring in its milestone anniversary. “There’s a special commemorative Emmy that’s going to be given out that night to commemorate 75 years. We’re going to be paying homage to iconic shows that kind of changed the landscape of television and entertainment. So I’m excited to be a part of all of that,” he shared.
The comedian joked that any of his famous friends concerned about the material he’ll whip up to get the crowd laughing during the show’s live airing should be wary of asking for mercy. Anderson is well-known for his sharp humor, and the Law & Order alum warned that any celebrities looking for solace will be the first to get roasted.
Mostly, his celebrity friends are just as excited about Anderson’s new gig as he is. “I was just going through [my] congratulatory texts from friends as they go, ‘It’s about time. I know you wanted this for a long time now.’ So I’m just excited about it,” he gushed.
It’s unlikely that anyone is more excited for Anderson than his mother, Doris Bowman, who has been by the actor’s side as his comedic partner for several years.
When asked if he’ll be bringing his mother on the stage with him on Emmys night, Anderson answered that “of course” he’d bring his “secret weapon” for his big night. “We don’t have this mother-son brand and bond that we’ve built the last 10 years without bringing her on stage at the Emmys,” he said of his Trippin’ With Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris co-star. “So we’re going to find a way to get her in.”
As for working alongside his mother again, Anderson had nothing but praise for his We Are Family co-host. “You know, the best part for me is… my mother used to be in entertainment and it never happened for her. And she put those dreams on hold to raise an actor, not knowing that that’s what she was doing,” he shared. “And so for me to be in a position to be able to give her the opportunity to shine the way that she’s always wanted to shine, and have the public get a taste of my mother’s talent and her realness, this is the best part for me. To be able to sit back and watch my mother enjoy this ride at this juncture in her life.”
“Here’s the thing, she’s a real star in the family,” he sweetly added. It was announced in August that the Emmys will air live on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, after being postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Two days before the SAG-AFTRA strike began, the 2023 Emmy nominations were announced by Television Academy Chair Frank Scherma and Yvette Nicole Brown. Shows like Succession, Abbott Elementary, and Ted Lasso received an impressive amount of nominations.
On July 14, Hollywood’s actors made history by officially going on strike and joining the writers already on the picket line after negotiations between the actors’ union and major Hollywood studios and streamers fell through. The move marked the first time in 63 years that Hollywood’s writers and actors joined a strike together.
The actors’ strike effectively shut down Hollywood, as nearly all productions — save for non-union or unscripted projects — were shuttered until a resolution was reached. Last month, after nearly 17 weeks on the picket lines, SAG-AFTRA struck a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios and streamers that produce a vast majority of filmed content. The tentative deal was struck six weeks after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike officially ended.
The union officially ratified a new, three-year contract with the AMPTP on Dec. 5, writing on social media that the deal had a nearly eight-tenths approval rating from union members. In early November after a deal was reached, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher told ET that she felt “very relieved and kind of tired, but a good tired, because we did a job well done.”
The recently reelected leader of the union and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland were at the center of the talks with Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav.
“The proof’s in this contract and it was a herculean task. It was kind of a David and Goliath story, and you know how that ended,” the Nanny alum said. “So we feel very, very grateful, but also thankful to the AMPTP, because once they understood the seriousness of our proposal, and that put it in the context of the historical moment that we were in, and the necessity for a seminal contract, they met the moment.”
Among this year’s nominations, Succession leads the pack with 27 nominations for its fourth and final season on HBO — the most of any show this year — while comedy favorites like ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ earned an equally impressive number of nods, with seven and 21, respectively.
Other notable programs nominated include FX’s The Bear, Ryan Murphy’s limited Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, HBO’s House of the Dragon, The Last of Us and The White Lotus, as well as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime Video, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and the Showtime hit Yellowjackets.
Additionally, long-running Bravo reality series Vanderpump Rules broke through following its highly watched Scandoval season, while Padma Lakshmi picked up another Outstanding Host nomination for her final season of Top Chef.
The Primetime Emmy Awards air on Monday, Jan. 15, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on FOX and will also be available the next day on Hulu. In the meantime, keep checking ETonline.com for complete Emmys coverage.
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