Emmy Awards 2021: Best and Worst Moments

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony was not without its moments! But were those moments "best," or were those moments "worst"? That's what we're here to tell you. Go ahead and delete the Emmy Awards off your Tivo because we're gonna save you some time -- not everyone has the luxury to sit through a speech by the director of The Queen's Gambit -- and skip straight to the good (and bad) stuff. 

BEST: Rita Wilson rapping alongside LL Cool J and Lil' Dicky

The ceremony started with host Cedric the Entertainer saying that this wouldn't be a subdued event despite the smaller venue and close quarters, and he broke into a version of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" that was centered around television, with LL Cool J, Dave's Lil' Dicky, and... Rita Wilson? Additionally, celebs all over the floor had mics and sang along to one of the greatest singalongs ever, and there was something that was just INSANE about Wilson grabbing the mic and spittin' a few bars. This was one of those Best/Worst moments.

WORST: Cedric goes down with the ship

At one point, for reasons unknown, Cedric starred in a bit where he was supposedly at the Super Bowl boat parade party for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You know, the one that took place more than six months ago. By my count, there were zero jokes in the skit. 

BEST: Robin Thede's reaction to losing to Saturday Night Live

A Black Lady Sketch Show was up for Outstanding Variety Sketch Show against just one other nominee, Saturday Night Live. The odds were pretty good for creator/star Robin Thede and A Black Lady Sketch Show, right? Well SNL won its fifth straight Emmy in that category -- blech -- leading Thede to speak for all of us by (jokingly) mad-dogging Lorne Michaels as he stepped up to the podium. Watch A Black Lady Sketch Show, it's funny!

WORST: Cedric's sketch about the fly on Mike Pence's head

Ahh yes, more humor from like seven years ago.

BEST: We were blessed with a Schitt's Creek Emmy reunion

The Rose family from Schitt's Creek reunited at the Emmys to present the creative comedy awards -- writing and directing -- and allow Eugene Levy to be his brilliant self. The foursome, also including Dan Levy, Annie Murphy, and Catherine O'Hara, got on stage only to realize the teleprompter was blank, which only led to Eugene revealing he had stopped by the writers' room earlier and casually asked them to "lift" his dialogue. Luckily, his team was ready to wing it for the writing award. The cherry on top of the humorous bit was after Eugene had no lines in the directing category preamble, O'Hara allowed him to read the winner from the envelope. It was just cute enough to revive our grief that Schitt's Creek is over, but succinct enough we weren't begging for the show to get on the road again. -Megan Vick

BEST: Conan O'Brien trolls the CEO of the Academy

Conan O'Brien spontaneously gifted us with the funniest moment of the night when he wildly whooped and cheered for the unrecognizable Television Academy CEO -- during the annual speech about how votes are counted or something, I don't know, we stopped paying attention -- like the man was a rock god. O'Brien committed to the bit so hard that other celebrities mistook his jokey enthusiasm for earnest respect, giving the exec a standing ovation like a bunch of well-dressed sheep. The late-night host then continued to stand and salute for the entirety of the Television Academy dude's presentation. 100 percent deserves the award for Best Troll. -Lauren Zupkus