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The 10 weirdest things at the very weird Emmys 2019

Homer Simpson, 71st Primetime Emmy Awards
Homer Simpson opened the show at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, but his dream of hosting was not to be.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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1. Dance number before the award for writing for a variety series. The “hostless” Emmys were running short, but there is always a better alternative to a dance number about variety series.

2. Fact that Emmys was running so short.

3. So many white British people winning. It was fun when Phoebe Waller-Bridge pulled an upset for “Fleabag” but by the time “Bandersnatch,” Ben Whishaw and John Oliver won, it was beginning to seem like the BBC had hacked the accounting process.

4. The green fuzzy guy who showed up with the accountants.

5. Having the “Veep” cast assemble for a “Veep” farewell after “Veep” had won none of its categories. (Though the exchange between Tony Hale and Julia Louis-Dreyfus when she was about to announce the winner of lead actress in a limited series or movie — Hale: “Julia Louis-Dreyfus.” Louis-Dreyfus: “Drop it” — almost made up for it.)

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6. Thomas Lennon’s voice-overs, which became increasingly nonsensical as the show progressed — a joke about Emmys being “woke” trailed off into “this is why this job sucks” — in a way that suggested cannabis was involved.

7. Having the “Game of Thrones” cast come out to say, with complete and palpable discomfort, thank you to all the fans who watched, without a joke in place to relieve the tension. (I mean, seriously, they couldn’t have had Sean Bean come bounding out and say “I’m not dead!” or something?)

8. Maya Rudolph and Ike Barinholtz mispronouncing names of all the nominees for lead actor in a comedy. Yes, they are all comedic actors, so yes they can take a joke but come on, not all of them are household names.

9. The bit between Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel about how terrible it was not to have a host (“Soon the award will be presented by Alexa”) felt more like a serious note than a comedy bit. Seriously, bring back the host.

10. The long strange promo for “The Masked Singer” that occurred mere moments before the show began and, as it turned out, foreshadowed all that was to come.

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