It’s a near-Sisyphean task to make awards shows interesting these days. We know the drill when it comes to the Emmys: The host opens with a monologue that references the year’s buzziest shows and actors, makes some risqué joke (usually about politics—a topic that was purposefully avoided this year ), and struggles to get a laugh. Meanwhile, presenting actor duos try to pretend like they have chemistry with their assigned stage partner, and most winners drone on thanking a list of deserving people who have supported them throughout their careers. And all of this goes over the allotted network timeslot by, at least, a solid 20 minutes.

So when politics are off the table, when barbs and awkwardness can only take you so far, and when pressure from producers is mounting to keep everything on

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