The Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Ceremony, and the Television Academy (commonly known as the Emmy Awards) have all distributed their new hardware, wrapping up award ceremonies in January. These ceremonies are critiqued by Hollywood stars and viewers, as some might post how the ceremony was boring or a flop, while others rave about funny moments or historic wins. The host, hand-selected by the awards committee, has a major role to play in ensuring the ceremony is remembered fondly.
Jo Koy, Chelsea Handler, and Anthony Anderson have all had different approaches to their respective ceremony. Koy and Handler relied mostly on stand-up comedy, while Anderson interacted with stars and played off his mom, seated in the audience. Their hosting styles reflect how the ceremony is being discussed online.
The Golden Globes, held on Jan. 7, was labeled a near-total disaster by critics. Jo Koy, a lesser-known comedian than the other hosts, emceed the Globes and received negative feedback from viewers. Koy made sexist and misogynistic jokes about Taylor Swift and “Barbie”, and the stars in attendance made their disapproval clear. During Koy’s monologue, star reactions were blank stares, passive sips of beverages, and collapsing into their hands.
Hollywood and audiences were stunned when Koy repeatedly put the blame on his writers when a joke missed. The Writers Guild of America strike ended in September 2023, and we should continue the spirit of respecting, appreciating, and uplifting our writers. Koy should not have blamed his writers for the poor jokes, considering the audience he was speaking to.
Chelsea Handler, another comedienne, strayed away from the controversial jokes but kept the stand-up style during her time as host of the Critics’ Choice Awards on Jan. 14. The majority of her nine-minute monologue was spent celebrating women in the industry. As she put it, “It was the year of women!”
She even took a stab at Koy when she thanked the audience for laughing at a quote, giving credit to her writers. The comments under her full monologue posted on her personal YouTube channel rave about her sense of humor, saying “THIS is how you host an awards show. She killed it.”
The 75th Emmy Awards began as a tribute to the shows Anthony Anderson grew up on, like “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”, “Facts of Life”, and “Good Times”. Joined by a six-person choir, Anderson conveyed the importance of television. After he moved on to the main stage, he played on the dragging on of many ceremonies. What made his monologue work during the ceremony was none other than Ms. Doris Bowman, Anderson’s mother.
The Anderson family made the Emmys memorable as Anderson often passed the microphone to his mom, Bowman, in the audience. Due to her talented heckling, often with creative signs, the Emmys were wrapped in three hours. Her last sign, shown to the cast of “The Bear” after they won Outstanding Comedy Series, read “Wrap it up now. Love, Mama”.
In consideration of the hosts’ styles, what makes a good host? Is it time to move away from traditional, stand-up monologues? Based on Anderson’s success, a good host needs to incorporate more movement and flexibility. Handler’s monologue was also successful due to “punching up”. Punching up is joking about a taboo topic like most comics do but hitting the perpetrators instead of the victim.
A combination of new styles, like Anderson playing the piano, and finding humor without crossing a line is the recipe for a memorable and well-received ceremony. The Grammys, celebrating the best of music from Oct. 2022 to Aug. 2023, is scheduled for Feb. 4 with Trevor Noah hosting. In his 2023 opening monologue, he joked about songs made popular by TikTok and introduced an unexpected celebrity pair: Adele and Dwyane Johnson. By turning the attention away from himself and inviting viewers to see the normalcy of celebrity friendships, Noah created a memorable night for the music community.
For this upcoming ceremony, he could incorporate the star-filled audience once again, try out his musical skills, or pay homage to the music of his childhood, all tried and true hosting techniques. If he continues his creative style, this year’s Grammys are bound to be a hit.
