The 2024 Emmy Awards are a night for hope, artistry, celebration, success, but also … outreach. Partway through the ceremony, four legendary cast members of Saturday Night Live made an appearance to share a message of hope and support with executive producer Lorne Michaels. Before presenting the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special to Alex Edelman (okay!), Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Kristen Wiig, and Bowen Yang took to the stage to address a glaring oversight in Television Academy history, which is that their “dear friend and mentor, Lorne Michaels, has been nominated for and lost the Emmys 85 times. He has never won.â€
“Lorne, look at me,†said Wiig. “You do have value. You are worthy. You are not and have never been a loser, even though you lost a lot.â€
“Each and every one of those 85 times you lost you were robbed,†said Rudolph, pronouncing the one-syllable word in three whole entire separate syllables. “Rob-buh-da!â€
“Lauren,†added Yang. “It gets better. Just because SNL didn’t work doesn’t mean your next idea won’t. Keep dreaming!â€
Then, Meyers alerted the group that Michaels has in fact personally won 21 Emmys, with SNL winning over 200 over its soon-to-be 50 years, which only goes to show that anything is possible if you only believe! Even a sad old man can go from losing 85 times to winning 200 times in a matter of minutes if he puts his heart to it. That is the enduring magic, power, and inspirational potential of television.