UPDATED: Dick Van Dyke didn't tap dance on whippersnapper competition but his special did
Maya Rudolph, Angela Bassett, Saturday Night Live, and Jim Henson didn’t do half bad either
Photo by Amy Sussman (Getty Images)
[Update 9/9/2024, 9:17 P.M.: An earlier version of this article reported that Dick Van Dyke had won an Emmy for the CBS special Dick Van Dyke 98 Years Of Magic. He did not. The special won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special, and Van Dyke’s wife, Arlene, won an Emmy for producing, but Van Dyke did not personally receive a trophy. The late Norman Lear still holds the record for the oldest living Emmy winner. The post has been updated throughout. We regret the error.]
Before the Primetime Emmys can enjoy their moment in the spotlight, the Creative Arts Emmys get two nights of statue awarding. On the first night of festivities last night, Saturday Night Live reminded the Academy that 50 years of making live television is worth a couple more Emmys. But it wasn’t just the half-a-century-old up-and-comers going home with gold. Dick Van Dyke 98 Years Of Magic reminded these whippersnappers that even a near-100-year-old song and dance man like Van Dyke can still win a trophy. The two-hour tribute to Van Dyke’s career won for Outstanding Variety Special.
“I’ve been in the business 75 years. I can’t believe it, that I’m still here and performing,“ Van Dyke told reporters. ”I’m looking for work if anybody has!”
“I’m 99 next month,” Van Dyke said before breaking into a brief routine as if to declare his intentions of being around for the 100-year celebration.
Television legends were honored at an unsurprising clip at this year’s Emmys. Disney+ and Ron Howard’s Jim Henson documentary, Idea Man, took home four statues, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Meanwhile, a newcomer animation series defeated legacy acts The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and X-Men as Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai took home the Outstanding Animated Program.
There were other upsets throughout the night. Alan Cumming put an end to RuPaul’s reign of Creative Arts terror by becoming the first new Best Reality Host in eight years. Cumming broke RuPaul’s record-setting Emmy run in bed, posting a series of charming bed selfies. Nothing stands between this man and a good night’s rest.
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“A series of selfies taken at 3.38am just after waking up to find I had won an Emmy!” Cumming posted. “In my dream I was thinking I had set my alarm too early and I should really wake up and change it to an hour later, and of course the reason I was dreaming this is that my phone had been buzzing constantly for about twenty minutes with people trying to tell me I had won the Emmy for hosting The Traitors!
Other welcome surprises from the night included Angela Bassett picking up her first Emmy, Maya Rudolph picking up her sixth, and Pat Sajak taking home a final prize for Wheel Of Fortune—though he did not attend.
The second night of the Creative Arts Emmys is tonight, September 8.