The 2025 Emmys: the highs, lows, and huhs of TV’s biggest night

The 2025 Emmys had some big wins for some deserving shows, some surprising moments, and a running joke that never quite crossed the finish line.

Here’s our round up of the best, worst, and most baffling moments of the night.

BEST: Noah Wyle gets his due for “The Pitt”

Noah Wyle has played a doctor for longer than some people have been alive, but during his time on “E.R.” he only ever scored nominations in the supporting actor category, never the lead (mind you five nominations isn’t bad at all).

But last night he got to take home TV gold when he won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “The Pitt,” a show he has passionately championed as both a producer and advocate for the healthcare community.

WORST: The Charity Countdown

At the start of the show, comedian and host Nate Bargatze announced he would put up $100,000 of his own money for The Boys and Girls Club of America. The catch? Winners had to keep to a 45 second speech length, and for every second they went over, he’d deduct $1,000. If the speech was under time, he’d add back $1,000.

The gag never quite came off the way it was intended, as a counter of the dollar amount going in the red often popped up during heartfelt speeches throughout the night. Some winners kind of leaned into the joke, giving terse speeches, while others did the normal, gushy kind of speeches when people are genuinely excited and couldn’t contain themselves.

Of course, Bargatze was never going to leave the kids without the cash and offered up $250,000 of his own money with CBS, who aired the show, chipping in another $100,000. But the tone of the whole thing never played well and left everyone confused.

HUH: The opening sketch/award/monologue timing

The show started well enough, with Bargatze and “SNL” stars Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and Austin T. Johnson doing a sketch similar to the “Washington’s Dream” one from a couple years ago that was a break out for Bargatze.

Then Stephen Colbert came out to announce the first award, and that was fine.

THEN, Bargatze came back and did a typical awards show host monologue, which derailed the show’s momentum in the first 10 minutes.

BEST: Genuine Excitement

“The Pitt” star Katherine LaNasa, “Severance” star Tramell Tillman, and “The Penguin” star Cristin Milioti were among the stars who shared a very endearing and relatable joy with their respective wins.

Milioti shouting, “I love acting, woooooo!” is sure to go down as one of the top Emmy speeches of all time.

HUH: No one thanked Sal Saperstein

Maybe it’s too much of an inside joke even for the cast of “The Studio,” but not one person from the show thanked the fictional Sal Saperstein, played by Ike Barinholtz. It became a running gag in the show’s episode set during an awards show, but that episode takes place at The Golden Globes, so maybe there’s hope they’ll commit to the bit there.

But it seems unlikely. According to People Magazine, Seth Rogen addressed the missed opportunity in the press room, saying, “It’s our own joke. It feels weird to reference your own joke in my opinion."

BEST: Reunions!

TV fans are a devoted bunch and were treated to a handful of reunions and tributes throughout the night to honor some recent favorites.

Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham came together for a “Gilmore Girls” get together, Ray Romano and Brad Garrett for “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and Ice-T, S. Epatha Merkerson, Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Tony Goldwyn honored the “Law & Order” universe on stage.

We were also treated to Reba McEntire and Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman singing “The Golden Girls” theme song to mark the show’s 40th anniversary (and naturally, the audience at the Peacock Theater sang along!).