Emmy Awards 2020, first major Hollywood ceremony in the midst of a pandemic

LOS ANGELES Emmy welcomes Jimmy Kimmel and a co-star alpaca. Winners accept home in designer pajamas or perhaps yoga pants. Over 100 chances for a questionable internet connection to end the Sunday ceremony.

Come for the rewards, stay for the suspense of the first major Hollywood ceremony to attempt a live but socially distant broadcast amid the coronavirus pandemic.

What could go wrong? Ian Stewart said funnyly as he and fellow executive producer Reginald Hudlin detailed their efforts to best celebrate television without a theatrical audience or red carpet glamor and with daunting technical challenges.

Luckily, a quick-witted Kimmel loves live TV and loves chaos, Stewart said. I think he really hopes things turn out badly, to tell you the truth.

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The comedian will be holding court at the Staples Center for the ABC telecast at 8 p.m. EDT, joined by a handful of celebrities yet to be revealed. Morgan Freeman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, D-Nice, Patrick Stewart and Oprah Winfrey are among those who played undisclosed roles on Sunday’s show, along with Isabella the Alpaca.

HER will perform during the In Memoriam segment.

HBO’s Limited Watchmen Series is the main nominee, with star Regina King honoring. Top Comedy and Drama Contestants including Schitts Creek, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Estate and Ozark, while Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell (“The Morning Show”) and Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek “) are among those vying for acting trophies.

The ceremony continues to spotlight the battle for television, with cable, streaming and, to a much lesser extent, traditional broadcast networks seeking recognition and viewers in an increasingly crowded landscape. The arrival of newcomers including Apple TV + (with its flagship series The Morning Show) has increased the competition.

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Nominees will be seated wherever they choose, whether at home, hotel, or elsewhere, with formal attire definitely optional. There are custom Emmy pajamas being made, while some may be brave enough to wear what Hudlin called the funniest, funniest outfit in their closet or decide how comfortable athleisure clothing is.

When the names of the winners are revealed, they will deliver their speeches in the form of a highly glorified Zoom Call, which could make spontaneous moments unavailable in a theater.

If a kid suddenly takes control of the mic and all of a sudden he’s the star of the show, we’re going to let that happen, Hudlin said. One candidate has welcomed the possibility of including his dog and the producers are open-minded.

What we’ve tried to do is make it a fun thing to do. It is not overwhelming. It’s not staged, Stewart said.

To make remote participation work and be broadcast-worthy, 130 units including a high-end camera, lighting, and boom mic are being rolled out for nominees across 10 countries and 20 cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin.

The downtown LA Staples Center, where teams including the Lakers and Clippers play, has replaced the planned venue because it has the resources to handle the large number of flows on the night, Hudlin said. Their fluidity will depend on the Internet connections of the nominees.

The process, including the COVID-19 precautions, makes it “kind of a logistical nightmare,” Stewart said. It’s going to be great, a happy Hudlin decked out.

To quote the great (filmmaker) Melvin Van Peebles, sometimes the problem is an opportunity in work clothes. Because the point is, people are yearning for a reimagining of awards. … and I think COVID forced us to do it, the producer said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Other recent awards shows, including this week’s BET Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards, bowed to the coronavirus with a mix of pre-recorded and live segments. It’s up to the prime-time Emmys to do more, the producers said.

One of the great things about TV is its immediacy and its ability to respond to the moment, so we want to do the same with the show, ”Hudlin said. We want people to have fun and we want to celebrate success.

But the ceremony must also recognize where we are as a culture, he said.

With the pandemic, the fight for social justice and the fires ravaging the western United States, it would be a failure if we didn’t address all of these things on a TV show, “Hudlin said.” This does not mean that we want to be preachers. We don’t want to lecture people.

In the rush to hear their name called, winners may be more likely to blurt out a long list of thanks to agents, publicists and others, said Stewart, who may well be feeling a little deaf.

We are not going to tell anyone what to say. They can say whatever they would like, and they should celebrate it, “he said.” But there are other things going on in the world that they might want to refer to as well. It’s a balance that we have to find … It is a balance that the nominees and the winners also have to find. “

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