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By now, it’s an unofficial rule of 2017 awards shows. Trump is going to be there whether you want him to be or not. That was certainly the case of Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue, at least it was once Colbert found his groove. Unfortunately, it took a while for Colbert’s somewhat rambling introduction to find a comedic flow or a point.
Colbert’s monologue for the 69th Annual Emmys started in a deceptively toothless way. The host of The Late Show started with a TV-themed musical number, which featured scenes from Veep, Stranger Things, and The Americans and mainly focused on how life was better on television in 2017. However, the musical number was a bit lackluster, both in execution and when it came to Colbert’s comedic barbs. The most risque the Emmys host got during this segment was joking that at least the handmaids from Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale got free health care and Julia Louise-Dreyfus singing “imagine if your president was not beloved by nazis.” However, that all changed when Colbert got the second half of his monologue.
Colbert started with a couple of light jabs directed at Trump’s TV habits, saying that only Trump would have the time to watch this year’s batch of scripted original series. He then added, “Hello sir, thank you for joining us! I look forward to the tweets.”
But Colbert’s harshest criticisms were actually connected to the Emmys themselves. “Why didn’t you give him an Emmy?” Colbert half joked about the many nominations Trump received for Celebrity Apprentice. “If he had won an Emmy, I bet he wouldn’t have run for president. So in a way this is all your fault. I thought you people loved morally compromised antiheroes. You like Walter White. He’s just Walter Much Whiter.”
So who else was on Colbert’s hit list? The late night host spent a considerable amount of attention mocking the plethora of streaming services, which is deeply relatable. He also joked that Sheriff Joe Arpaio would be hosting next year’s Latin Grammys, and riffed on Ted Cruz‘s porn tweet, which dominated news cycles last week. “Of course these days, everyone loves streaming video. Just ask Ted Cruz. But knock first. You don’t want to just walk in,” Colbert said.
The host also reserved one of his best jokes for Bill Maher. After emphasizing the many diverse nominees present at this year’s Emmys, Colbert said “And of course Bill Maher. I assume he’s black because he’s so comfortable using the n-word.” This was in reference to a controversy that happened on Real Time with Bill Maher earlier this year. HBO was actually mocked a couple of times as the monologue started with a joke about canceling HBO subscriptions before the controversial Confederate premiered.
However, the biggest shock of the night had to do with crowd size. In a planned bit, Colbert asked if there was any way to determine how many people were in the Emmys’ auditorium — a clear reference to the inauguration controversy. In a twist that shocked everyone, Sean Spicer came out on Melissa McCarthy’s rolling podium.
Spicer’s appearance seemed to toe the line between being funny in a shocking way and being a bit too dismissive of the Trump administration’s battle with facts. Judging by the many audience reactions, people, especially McCarthy and Anna Chlumsky, didn’t know how to take it.
Overall, Colbert’s monologue was a bit lackluster. It’s certainly not the worst Emmys hosting job ever. There weren’t any remarkably bad moments, but there were few jokes that really hit as well as you could tell Colbert wanted them to. However, Colbert is just warming up. Who knows what he has planned for us.
The Decider team will be watching and reporting on the 2017 Emmy Awards as they air tonight with reactions to wins (and losses), live-blogs, and where you can stream the winners. Check back here for all our Emmys coverage.
