Hosts Eugene and Dan Levy were all Schitts and giggles during their 2024 Emmy Awards monologue, even if some of the comedic nominees weren’t quite so LOL.
As the first father-son duo to ever host the awards show, Schitt’s Creek costars Eugene, 77, and Dan, 41, opened the ceremony — which took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 15 — with some good-natured fun about the “universal truths” of the shows’ plot lines.
“You’re here because your show struck a chord with audiences, your stories, your characters; we see ourselves in them,” Eugene said, citing The Bear as an example. “The Bear is nominated for 23 Emmys tonight, making it the most nominated comedy in history,” Eugene gushed. “Now, I love the show and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy.”
He added, “But in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.”
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Stars of the Hulu series, including Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, nodded their approval.
Eugene also trolled his son, noting, “I played a lot of dads in my day … but without question my most rewarding dad role as been your dad . . . in Schitt’s Creek because it got me my first acting Emmy.”
Ahead of the event, Eugene and Dan told the Los Angeles Times that they planned to approach their responsibilities differently than previous awards show hosts.
“Just paying tribute to television, certainly the nominees, but to the medium that gave us both our starts,” Eugene explained earlier this month. “It’s always hit me in a funny way when jokes are done at the expense of people who are nominated — they’ve put in the work, and it’s their night, really, and you have to have enough respect for the awards show itself. Otherwise, why are we here?”
Dan added that they wanted the ceremony “to feel celebratory” but also have “a bit of an edge.”
“People, from what I’ve been told, are kind of excited that we’re not hard-edged comics, that there will be a kind of warmth to the room,” Dan elaborated. “It’s trying to marry all of those things without being boring, ultimately. But we’re getting there.”
Eugene hoped that the pair could achieve “a kinder, gentler approach” to their duties.
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“It’s true, we’re not comedians, but we’re kind of funny working together,” Eugene said. “It’s a relationship that was forged on Schitt’s Creek, and it seems to continue. It really works for both of us, and I guess for whoever said, ‘Come on and do it.’”
Dan also revealed why the two decided to take on the hosting gig after turning it down in the past. “We were asked before and it didn’t feel like the right time for whatever reason,” he noted. “Then we were asked again this year and I think I ran out of reasons not to do it. It seemed like a fun little challenge — not little, quite huge actually.”
From 2015 to 2020, Eugene and Dan starred as father and son Johnny and David Rose on the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek, with Catherine O’Hara portraying matriarch Moira Rose and Annie Murphy playing daughter Alexis Rose. The Levys created the show together, which followed the Rose family after they lost their fortune and relocated to the titular small town.
Throughout its six-season run, Schitt’s Creek won nine Emmys, including two for Eugene and four for Dan.
