Yesterday’s Emmy Awards were all about honoring TV’s best. And while recent favorites like Succession and The Bear swept the awards, the ceremony also featured some very special reunions from classic shows of decades past.
The awards, held last night after months of delays due to industry strikes, were handed out by reuniting cast members from some of television’s most iconic shows, including Cheers, The Sopranos and All in the Family.
Adding to the fun, the casts appeared in on-stage replicas of their shows’ iconic sets. The reunions were part of an effort to pay tribute to TV history in honor of 75 years of the Emmys.
“It was really about, how can we celebrate 75 years of television differently?” executive producer Jesse Collins told The Associated Press.
“The core of it is really celebrating television and to honor the shows of yesterday while we honor the shows of today,” added executive producer Dionne Harmon.
Cheers
One of the most memorable reunions was the cast of Cheers — Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt — who appeared in a replica of the iconic bar set.
Of the main cast, only Shelley Long and Woody Harrelson were absent; Kirstie Alley died in 2022.
“Ted, don’t you just think about it as a long overdue class reunion, huh?” Ratzenberger told Danson.
“Being together brings back some great memories from show we’re all very proud of,” added Grammer — who is still playing his old Cheers character of Frasier Crane decades later, thanks to a new Frasier reboot.
The Sopranos
This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos, the classic HBO mob drama widely regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time.
Two cast members from the show, Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli (who was nominated at the ceremony for his role on The White Lotus) appeared in a replica of Dr. Melfi’s office — complete with a photo of star James Gandolfini, who died in 2013.
“Speaking for Michael, myself and the entire cast and crew, it was an honor working with Sopranos creator David Chase and of course the great James Gandolfini,” an emotional Bracco said.
All in the Family
All in the Family was one of the most popular and groundbreaking shows of the 1970s and is still regarded as a TV classic. After legendary TV producer Norman Lear died last month at the age of 101, it was only natural to include a tribute him and his iconic series.
Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner, who starred as Gloria and Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the series, appeared in a replica of the All in the Family set and paid tribute to the late Lear.
“Sally and I were part of a unique television family: not just the Bunkers, but Norman Lear’s extended family,” Reiner said. “Over the decades, Norman brought us together and he created groundbreaking television shows that depicted real people who made us laugh, made us think, made us feel.”
“There’s a Yiddish word that describes Norman’s genius: it’s kochleffel. For all you non-Jews out there, kochleffel is a ladle, a ladle that stirs the pot. And when Norman the kochleffel stirred that pot, he wound up changing American culture.”
Their segment led into the show’s annual “in memoriam” segment, which paid tribute to the TV stars who have died in the past year, including Andre Braugher, Suzanne Somers and Matthew Perry.
Ally McBeal
A more lighthearted reunion came from the cast of the influential comedy-drama Ally McBeal. Star Calista Flockhart was joined by co-stars Peter MacNicol, Greg Germann and Gil Bellows in a recreation of the show’s unisex bathroom set.
The actors then did a dance to Barry White’s “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything,” before Flockhart said a few words about the show, calling it “groundbreaking, revolutionary, introducing us to a dancing baby and unisex bathrooms.”
“I loved working with Peter, Gil and Greg, and I still do. The entire Ally McBeal cast was so talented,” Flockhart said.
Other Emmys reunions
Many other classic shows got their reunion moment during last night’s show:
- The cast of ’90s FOX sitcom Martin, including Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II.
- Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, in a recreation of the Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” desk.
- Current and past members of the Grey’s Anatomy cast, including Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson, and James Pickens Jr.
- Jon Cryer and Holland Taylor from Two and a Half Men.
- Joel McHale and Ken Jeong from Community.
The reunions helped make the 75th Emmy Awards one to remember, and the producers were happy with the positive reception.
“Our intention was to create a love letter to television and to sprinkle in the reunions and the nostalgia throughout,” Harmon told Variety. “It was received the way that we hoped it would be, so we’re glad it made everybody happy.”
There are so many great TV series that still entertain us decades after they went off the air. It was nice to see the old casts of these iconic shows featured on the Emmys!
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