Here's How Long The Emmys Run, So Get Comfortable
Get your popcorn and predictions ready, because the 2018 Emmy Awards are less than a week away. This year's unofficial kickoff of the fall TV season marks a night of red carpet finery and surprise winners, but when you settle in on your couch at the beginning of red carpet arrivals, you have to prepare yourself for the long night ahead. We all need to know the specific details to put on our watch party invites, so how long are the 2018 Emmy Awards?
According to NBC's official schedule, the Emmy Awards are set to begin on NBC at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 17. The ceremony is scheduled to run until 11 p.m., but as we all know, the length of award shows is subjective to emotional acceptance speeches and hosts' gags that run much longer than necessary. Unfortunately, we won't know until the night of the show whether or not it will finish in three hours as planned. However, anyone familiar with hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost's "Weekend Update" segments on Saturday Night Live knows that the men do tend to embrace the unscripted every now and then.
As for footage of guests and nominees arriving for the big night, NBC will begin its own coverage of the red carpet at 7:30 p.m. ET with the 70th Annual Emmy Awards Arrivals Special. At 7 p.m., Access will also run a new episode that NBC is currently promoting as "Emmy Awards highlights." As per tradition, you can catch the full red carpet special, E! Live from the Red Carpet, beginning on the E! network at 6 p.m. ET. The channel's official countdown to red carpet arrivals begins at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Ahead of Sept. 17, the Television Academy has already announced several of the people scheduled to present awards. Nominees Sandra Oh, Millie Bobby Brown, Alec Baldwin, Rachel Brosnahan, and Kate McKinnon join a group of presenters that also includes Tina Fey, Kit Harington, Tracy Morgan, Constance Wu, and others. With SNL boss Lorne Michaels producing the Emmy Awards broadcast for the first time since the 1980s, we can possibly expect plenty of surprise appearances from other stars connected to the sketch comedy show.
Held a week before awarding main categories within primetime television, the 2018 Creative Arts Emmy Awards already made history with its roster of winners. African-American actors historically swept all four guest acting categories, while John Legend became the first black man to earn EGOT status (recipient of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) when he won an award for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. If the main awards ceremony lacks any other historic wins, I'll count Sterling K. Brown getting through an acceptance speech without being interrupted as a momentous win.
As for what we can expect Che and Jost to cover in an opening segment, they may veer away from their usual political content and stick to the praise of TV. In a joint interview with Vanity Fair, Jost said:
It is kind of fun for us to do something that is not political. The exciting part is to do things about television and that particular awards ceremony and make it, in general, less political than normal. There’s a lot to celebrate in television right now. It’s a very strong time.
Amen to that. Get on your comfy pants and brush up on your live-tweeting skills! The 70th Primetime Emmy Awards begin on Monday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
