TV The best and worst moments from the 2023 Emmy Awards You take the good, you take the bad, you take the meh, and there you have the 75th Annual Emmy Awards. By Kristen Baldwin Kristen Baldwin Kristen Baldwin is the TV critic for EW EW's editorial guidelines and Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Updated on January 16, 2024 12:18AM EST This year, the Emmy Awards celebrated 75 years of honoring the best of television by reuniting classic TV casts and making host Anthony Anderson squeeze into the Rubber Man suit from American Horror Story. Oh, there were plenty of other notable moments, too — some that made us emotional, some that made us laugh, and some that made us go, "Huh?" Now please join us as we open the envelope and reveal the winners for the best and worst moments from the 2023 Emmys. 01 of 07 Best: Christina Applegate feels the love Christina Applegate and Anthony Anderson at the Emmys. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images We weren’t even 10 minutes into the ceremony before the Emmys had us all in our feelings. As soon as host Anthony Anderson introduced the first presenter of the night, Christina Applegate, the audience leapt to their feet and cheered with gusto for the Lead Actress in a Comedy Nominee. The 52-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, strode on stage with the help of a cane (and a handsome escort) — and was overwhelmed with emotion by her reception. But the Emmy winner barely missed a beat before recovering her quick wit. “You’re totally shaming me with disability by standing up — it’s fine,” she quipped. “We don’t have to applaud every time I do something.” Sorry, Christina, but we disagree. 02 of 07 Best: Jennifer Coolidge thanks 'all the evil gays' Jennifer Coolidge at the Emmys. FOX Two-time Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge (has a great ring to it) knows where her bread is buttered and upon picking up her second trophy for playing White Lotus martyr Tanya McQuoid, La Coolidge thanked “all the evil gays.” Before meeting her untimely death, Tanya uttered the now-iconic line, “Please! These gays, they’re trying to murder me,” referring to the seedy homosexuals who picked her up at the titular luxurious resort with ill intentions. Coolidge tried to fit their names into her speech — Francesco Zecca, Paolo Camilli, and Bruno Gouery — but she was in danger of being played off by Anthony Anderson’s mama, and she didn’t want that smoke. 03 of 07 Worst: 'Last Week Tonight' continues its Emmy-hogging John Oliver at the Emmys. FOX Once the Emmys dig into a show, they refuse to let go. Take Last Week Tonight, which has won Outstanding Variety Talk Series every year since 2017, to the chagrin of Stephen Colbert and every other late-night host. This year, the show switched to Outstanding Scripted Variety Series, pitting it against usual winner Saturday Night Live and the oft-neglected A Black Lady Sketch Show. But a rose by any other name is still an Emmy… or something. “I told you we’d beat John Oliver if he wasn’t in our category,” Trevor Noah said when The Daily Show won Outstanding Talk Series. ”We did it! We beat John Oliver!” And now he’s SNL’s problem. 04 of 07 Best: Paul Walter Hauser is a poet (we just didn’t know it) Paul Walter Hauser at the Emmys. FOX Paul Walter Hauser scared the crap out of us as serial killer Larry Hall in the Apple TV+ limited series Black Bird, but his first-ever Emmy win was giving pure, let-your-freak-flag-fly joy. The actor and comedian made the most of his moment from the start, taking a conspicuously big bite of mango just before his name was announced. Though he was clearly surprised by his win, Hauser came prepared with a rhyming acceptance speech-slash-rap typed up on his phone, which he delivered with verve (even as his hand was shaking). “Thank you to the voters and the TV Academy. Thank you, mom and dad, you nurtured what I had in me,” he began. Praising costars Greg Kinnear, Sepideh Moafi, Joe Williamson, and Jake McLaughlin, Hauser called their acting “colossal.” The actor then looked upward toward the heavens and added, “And to the Rolex Ray Liotta, we’re down here wearing Fossils.” Okay, now that we know Hauser is an aspiring rapper, here’s hoping his character Stingray gets to spit some rhymes in the final season of Cobra Kai. 05 of 07 Worst: Celebrating 75 years of Emmys with… the Twin Towers? Chairman and CEO of the Television Academy Frank Scherma. Kevin Winter/Getty Images When it came time for Television Academy president Frank Scherma to take the stage for his annual turn at the mic, it made sense that he’d discuss the Emmys' diamond anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Academy put together a list of the “75 most impactful moments of television’s rich history” — including scripted TV phenomena like Dallas' "Who Shot JR?" cliffhanger and major news events like the 9/11 terror attacks. But for Lord’s sake, was it really necessary to include an image of the burning Twin Towers in the very brief cutdown of the Academy's full “impactful moments” video, wedged between the moon landing and the M*A*S*H finale? Reducing such an devastating tragedy to a highlight reel isn’t impactful — it’s just tacky. 06 of 07 Best: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler remind us what we’ve been missing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. FOX SNL MVPs Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did their time as awards show hosts, hilariously steering the Golden Globes from 2013-2015. No one’s been as good since, and we were reminded of that when they revived their Weekend Update gigs for the Emmys to announce Outstanding Live Variety Special. Nominees included Rihanna’s epic Super Bowl Halftime performance (“The concert so good it got us all pregnant”) and the Tonys (Amy: “Celebrating the best in musicals that were based on movies that will probably be movies again.” Mean Girls producer Tina: “Nothing wrong with that.”) but the award ultimately belonged to Elton John. As Amy quipped, “EGOT to be excited about that.” 07 of 07 Meh: The show reunions 'Martin' and 'The Sopranos' reunions at the Emmys. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images (2) Listen, we all love a reunion, but some just didn’t hit. While Martin, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Weekend Update, and Ally McBeal were fun, American Horror Story was just plain weird (Anthony Anderson popping-and-locking in a latex suit is… kind of a best?), and The Sopranos felt phoned in (we couldn’t get Falco?). Cheers, Grey's Anatomy, and All in the Family fell a bit flat, and really, don’t these classic shows deserve a bit more? But thanks for the effort, Emmys. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: See all the stars at the 2023 Emmy Awards 2023 Emmy Awards: The complete winners list 2023 Creative Arts Emmys: See all the winners from nights 1 and 2