Emmy producers regret playing John Oliver during Ode to Late Dog

There's no shortage of Monday morning quarterbacks after the awards show. But for all that has been right and not right During Sunday's 2024 Emmys telecast, there was one mistake even the producers agreed on: John Oliver was played at the exact wrong moment.

About an hour and fifteen minutes in, Oliver accepted his award for Outstanding Scripted Variety Show. Last week tonight Worker He is blowing his own son's name. He thanked HBO for not canceling him. And, when he started sharing something about his late dog, the rap-up music started playing. “We had no idea the dog he was talking about was dead,” says executive producer Dion Harmon. “If you look back, you'll notice that we stopped the music the moment the dog left. We didn't know!”

The speech — and the playoff, which earned a “Fuck you” from Oliver — ended up being funny and deeply heartfelt, with the comic dedicating the award to all dogs. “You are all very good girls,” said Oliver. “You are all very good boys. You all deserve a treat.”

“We've had some fun times with John before,” added Harmon. “We didn't know where he was going with it, but he seemed like a good sport. We never want to play people.”

Speaking by phone with her fellow Emmy executive producers Jessie Collins and Jennai Ruzan-Clay, Harmon reflected on some of the night's more talked-about moments — including memoriam, empty seats and the real reason Best Comedy wrapped up and not Best Drama. Turns out the producers weren't surprised Hacks The odds-on won over the favourite the bear. They just really wanted them Sheets Creek A reunion between co-hosts Eugene and Dan Levy, along with Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy.

“We didn't know who won, really, it was just a matter of logistics,” Collins says of the choice to switch comedy and drama. “The West Wing Reconciliation started working because we wanted to close with one Sheets Creek The moment it was more about the presenters than the awards.

Speaking of empty seats, Collins and company call it select shows (esp the shogun) and crowding of moving parts. “I don't know how many seat fillers we had, and I'm not sure where people are talking about it. It looks rare, but it's hard to slide into the seat fillers in the middle of a job when you're handing out. A lot of three awards,” Collins explained. “Sometimes it can just create a traffic jam, so we try to only do seat fillers during commercial breaks.”

Addressing the obligatory questions about omissions from the In Memoriam segment — Shelley Duvall is a highly touted name missing from the roster and actress Erica Ash is another notable slight — producers lament the tight window but say it's ultimately out of their hands. “It's something that the Television Academy deals with,” Collins said. “They give us the list of who should be included in the broadcast segment.”

Collins, Harmon and Roseann-Clay don't get much of a break now that Emmy is gone. They've got the BET Hip-Hop Awards in less than a month and are already gearing up for the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show with Kendrick Lamar.