Emmy Moments: Not the Pandemmys — but hardly normal, either

OK, it definitely wasn’t the Pandemmys, or the Zoomemmys, or whatever you want to call last year’s virtual Emmy ceremony — with everyone at home, and visitors in hazmat suits showing up to bestow awards.

This year was different — defiantly so. People were together, and not even in masks (except during commercial breaks.) There were plenty of hugs and kisses — in fact, quipped presenter Seth Rogen, he had just been sneezed in the face by Paul Bettany. (Guests had to present vaccine proof and negative COVID-19 tests.)

But of course, this wasn’t the PRE-COVID Emmys either. The crowd, in a tent in downtown Los Angeles, was much smaller than in normal years. And many overseas nominees couldn’t come due to travel restrictions — especially the cast and crew of “The Crown,” which accepted its six drama awards from a party in London, as “Schitt’s Creek” had done a year earlier in Canada.

And in a year where so much was different, there were some familiar problems. Awards were concentrated among a few shows. The hashtag #EmmysSoWhite emerged — a record number of nominees of color yielded only two Black winners, RuPaul for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and Michaela Coel for writing “I May Destroy You.” A slew of Black actors were passed over.

Cedric the Entertainer proved an infectiously joyful and hard-working host, but the comedy bits were spotty at best. It also didn’t help that some overlong speeches dragged down the proceedings, for example from the director of “The Queen’s Gambit,” who was criticized on Twitter for a speech that to some, seemed to feel as long as a chess game.

Still there were feel-good moments: Debbie Allen. Jean Smart! Kate Winslet. Ted Lasso himself — heck, all Ted’s friends, too. And perhaps best of all, the fiercely original Coel, giving a stunning (and...