UPDATED Jan. 12, 11:20 a.m.: Updated to include more reunions information, plus additional presenters and performers.
Fox is bringing back two of its 1990s staples — “Martin” and “Ally McBeal” — for one night only. The two shows are among the roster of cast reunions planned for the 75th Emmys on Fox this Monday.
Emmy Awards executive producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay have planned a ceremony that leans heavily on the history of TV, given the award’s diamond anniversary. Tributes and reunions will focus on decades from the 1950s to the present.
“I think they’ll be talking about the ones that they may see on the screen,” Rouzan-Clay says of the reunions. “Those are going to be a big talking point, a big watercooler moment, if you will. … It was a grand task to figure out how to celebrate 75 years of television. If we can bring some nostalgia to that stage, then I think that we’ve done a good deed.”
For “Martin,” stars Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Carl Anthony Payne II and Tichina Arnold will be in attendance. And on stage for “Ally McBeal” will be Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann, Peter MacNicol and Gil Bellows. “Martin” ran from 1992 to 1997 on Fox, while “Ally McBeal” (which won the outstanding comedy series Emmy in 1999) aired from 1997 to 2002, also on Fox.
Other shows that will feature cast reunions include “The Sopranos” (Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli), “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), “American Horror Story” (Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott) and “Grey’s Anatomy” (Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson).
Those decade-by-decade reunions are one of the many ideas that the Jesse Collins Entertainment team are bringing to this year’s landmark 75th Emmys. The executive producers are no stranger to live events, having produced the Oscars, Grammys, BET Awards and the Super Bowl half time show (which won Collins and Harmon an Emmy in 2022) in recent years. But this was a new challenge: Finding a way to honor 75 years of television while handing out 26 awards.
“And make it on time!” Collins adds. “We are definitely addressing history in a different way that it’s been done in the past. In three hours, I think we get some big moments and some big pieces of television history. The show needed to be about a week long to get to everything. But in three hours, I think we will share some big moments and some big pieces of television history. And hopefully people will like our approach to it.”
The producers have eschewed pre-taped pieces to focus on live elements in the room. And that will start with a big production number by host Anthony Anderson — who will be joined by Blink 182’s Travis Barker.
“I don’t want to say Anthony Anderson could have been Usher had he went down another path, but you’re going to find out in our open how much Anthony loves to sing,” Collins says. “How much theme songs from television shows shaped his childhood and helped raise him to be who he is today. That’s where we’re leaning to kick this thing off: big fun music and Anthony Anderson being the best version of himself to really set the party off.”
The producers also revealed that Charlie Puth and husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty will perform this year’s “In Memoriam.”
Collins says the choice of presenters will include a nod to history, pointing to stars like Carol Burnett and Christina Applegate. “The fact that Carol Burnett is on this show, and the moment that we’ve created with her… I think people are going to love it when she walks out on that stage,” Collins says. “And Christina Applegate, she’s been in show business since she was 1. They’re not presenting together, but to have them individually is something that we think speaks to our theme.”
Recently added presenter names include Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”), Coleman Domingo (“Euphoria”), Tom Hiddleston and Ke Huy Quan (“Loki”), Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face”) and Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”).
The producers want to keep some of the elements a surprise, but they say they will absolutely include some of the things you’re expecting: Besides those cast reunions, that includes tributes to talent that recently died, including Norman Lear, Matthew Perry and Andre Braugher.
‘We’re definitely doing something special for Norman Lear in our In Memoriam,” Collins says. “But then, we have another nod to Norman Lear. It’s a little more subtle, but definitely, even before that, we have a little thing with Anthony… And then obviously Matthew Perry’s passing was a tremendous loss for us all and we are working to create a moment that shines a light on him, that gives him his just due as we are with so many other people that we lost this year. The list of people that we have lost this year is truly some of the best people that have ever worked in television. And so, it’s been challenging to figure out how to make sure that everyone gets their flowers.”
To find the time, the producers have also come up with an innovative way to combat another staple of televised awards shows: When flummoxed winner climbs onstage and slowly recites a laundry list of thank-yous, leaving the audience squirming in their seats. By the time the hapless honoree is thanking their agent, manager, publicist and accountant, the play-off music begins. As it gets louder, they don’t always get the hint.
Instead of play-off music, this year’s ceremony will feature a “play-off mama.” That’s Doris Bowman, Anderson’s real-life mother. “Mama Doris” is Anderson’s regular sidekick on his game shows, including ABC’s “To Tell the Truth” and Fox’s new “We Are Family.” On Emmy night, she has a new job: acceptance speech enforcer.
“The worst part of an award show is having to cut off people’s speeches,” Harmon says. “And so, Anthony’s mom is going to help us. She’ll pop her head around the side and tap her watch. You’ll know that you’ve got to wrap it up. She’s excited about it, and I think it’ll be an interesting twist that we haven’t seen on an award show like this.”
It’s not lost on Collins, Harmon and Rouzan-Clay that this year’s Emmys falls on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — and they note the historic fact that they are the first all-Black production team to helm the show.
“We’re definitely acknowledging that we’re doing the show on MLK Day,” Collins says. “For me, it’s interesting because without Martin Luther King, the three of us, I think, may not be sitting in these chairs.”
Meanwhile, there will be no rest for the producers after the Emmys sign off at (hopefully) 11 p.m. ET on Sunday night. That evening, they’re on a flight to Atlanta to shoot a show for Netflix. And after that, Collins is an EP on both the Grammys and the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Usher. Says Collins: “It’s going to be a crazy night because we’re going to wrap and then we’ll do a toast — and then head to the airport!”
