By MARK KENNEDY and BETH HARRIS
The Emmy Awards are underway. “The Pitt” and “Widow’s Bay” are generating buzz as they compete for top prizes. The ceremony is also honoring the anniversaries of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Charlie’s Angels.”
Here are some highlights as the show roars into the night.
The host with the mostest
Mariska Hargitay kicked off the show with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson in an exuberant and looney pre-taped bit that had her sing a version of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, renamed “I Love TV Screens” as she flew from New York to Los Angeles.
The first-time Emmy host was then seen relaxed in bed with “Hacks” star Jean Smart, ate a burger in a nod to “Beef,” rode a horse and drank bubble tea with Jennifer Coolidge.
On stage, she reveled in the fact that she was the first woman to host in 15 years. The star of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” entering its 28th season, also joked that she’s never had to pronounce the word “finale” and even seemed to swipt the script for Nicole Kidman’s kitschy AMC ad, which drew Kidman’s mock ire.
She said she got two pieces of advice: “No. 1, don’t do it, and No. 2, whatever you do, don’t go for sincerity,” she said. “I clearly ignored the first, so please join me as I ignore the second.”
“She crushed it,” said Amy Poehler, who took the stage after the opening.
Taylor Swift was there, kind of
In a pre-taped sketch, Taylor Swift played a rookie in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as the cops got a bit looney.
Hargitay’s Olivia Benson went through two large crime boards to make connections between Swift’s songs and Emmy nominations to see if she’d attend the Emmys. One of the detectives called it a “rabbit hole.”
“Those categories were last week. Why would she be showing up to the ceremony tonight? She’s probably going to be sitting at home playing with those cats she’s named after TV show characters,” Swift’s unnamed character scoffs.
Hargitay concludes: “Taylor Swift will not be at the Emmys.” Swift offers another option: “Maybe she’ll do one those cool, pre-taped sketch things to support the host.”
The sketch ends with Hargitay posing with Swift — both glaring into the camera, very seriously — bookmarking Swift’s cat, named in tribute of Olivia Benson.
The Smart money
Jean Smart was predicted to win her fifth straight Emmy for “Hacks” and did it with style. “What a ride this has been,” she said.
It’s her eighth trophy overall, which ties the all-time performer record shared by Cloris Leachman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Allison Janney who also won Monday. Smart also becomes the first woman to win best actress for each season of a show’s run.
Smart, 75, who first got noticed in the CBS comedy “Designing Women,” won her first Emmys for guest appearances on “Frasier” and then another for a supporting role on “Samantha Who.”
On Monday, she kept a special thank you to the end — “Hacks” creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky: “It all begins and ends with them,” she said.
‘Buffy’ turns 30
Just six months after the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot was scrapped, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz reunited onstage to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary.
After Boreanaz mused whether their characters, Buffy and Angel, would ever get together, Gellar had a sharp retort referencing the cancellation.
“Guess we’ll never find out!” Gellar said.
She also acknowledged it had been a tough two years for the show’s cast and crew, implicitly acknowledging the recent deaths of actors Anthony Head (Giles), Nicholas Brendon (Xavier) and Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn).
Welcome back, Sofia
Sofia Vergara made it to the Emmys this year to present supporting actor in a comedy, bypassing the emergency room. Last year, she had to bow out of presenting at the last minute after suffering an eye allergy just before the show.
Pre-show chaos
In the hour before the show opens, the Peacock Theater lobby was as jammed as an LA freeway.
Women wearing long trains attempt to protect them from an errant shoe as guests bump elbows and brush backs trying to make their way across the lobby. It’s time to gird for the three-hour show ahead, which means buying $9 cups of popcorn, $8 hot dogs and $23 beers and cocktails to carry to seats. It doesn’t appear nachos are a popular item — too messy for folks in tuxes and gowns
One person dressed appropriately
Meg Stalter, a nominee for best supporting actress for “Hacks,” was dressed as an Emmy statuette, complete with wings and a coat of gold makeup. She even held up a sphere like the real trophy itself.
It was Stalter’s first time attending the Emmys as a nominee. She earned her first career nod for supporting actress in a comedy series for playing Kayla Schaeffer in the fifth and final season of “Hacks.”
Small tables and lamps
Similar to the Grammys held across the street, this year the Emmys are having the biggest names seated at small tables with lamps on them in front of the stage.
Typically, the guests are seated in long rows like a movie theater. There’s still the same pre-show hobnobbing. It seems no one wants to sit down early, knowing they’ll be in those seats for the next three hours.
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For more coverage of this year’s Emmy Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards