A Very Levy Emmys kicks off with a Bear joke to end all Bear jokes

It’s opening night for Eugene and Dan Levy, the Levys, our hosts for the 76th Emmys, a.k.a. a Very Levy Emmys. The Levys opened the show with a monologue that was in the unenviable position of opening for Steve Martin and Martin Short, but that’s not to say they didn’t do well. In their opening monologue, the Levys raised fascinating questions about the television landscape, such as what the “plus” in AppleTV+ and Paramount+ stands for, if not the unending commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. Adding "+" to your streaming service's branding doesn't make you an ally. Who knew? But while their Shogun jokes were pretty good, Eugene’s joke about The Bear received the thumbs-up seal of approval from Ayo Edebiri.

“I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy,” Levy said, “but in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.”

After several months of people complaining about how The Bear is not a comedy, the burden of all awards shows that dare separate categories by genre, the Levys singlehandedly ended the debate with a good joke that was also a harbinger of doom for Bear haters. As of this writing, three members of the main cast have already won Emmys in Comedy categories.

Nevertheless, the Levys continued their delightful family rivalry, while not saying anything about Dan’s shoulder pads, which threatened to push dear dad out of the frame. They also set the ground rules for acceptance speeches, which we are happy to say the night’s first winners, Ebon Moss-Bacharach, followed to a T, with no jokes told.