Less than a year after wowing both fans and critics with their 75th Emmy Awards “love letter to TV,” executive producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment have more in store for the 76th.
Producing the Emmy Awards is no easy feat. Producing two Emmy telecasts in nine months? Well, that’s just nuts. But Collins, Harmon and Rouzan-Clay are thrilled about the ask and the task.
Leading up to the 76th Emmys, the trio don’t even feel the pressure to top themselves following January’s well-received 75th-anniversary show (which was delayed by the dual Hollywood labor strikes). “It’s a new day and a new show,” Collins says. “We have this great list of nominees that we’re going to celebrate throughout the night. We’ve also got some amazing presenters, incredible moments that we know are going to land and two new hosts [Emmy-winning father and son Eugene and Dan Levy]. So, this show will be unique to itself.”
Just days before television’s biggest night, the executive producers jumped on a Zoom call to give the Television Academy a sneak preview.
How soon were you approached to return for the 76th Emmys?
Collins: Four months later. We started in May.
What did you love about that show in particular?
Rouzan-Clay: The variety of reunions — we had a little something for everyone. I'm a big Martin fan, so I was really excited to see that cast return. There was the cast of Grey’s [Anatomy], which I don't think people saw coming, because we had some cast members who were no longer with the show. We also had nods to classic shows like Tracee Ellis-Ross doing the I Love Lucy bit.
Harmon: I’m very visual, so I loved that our director, Alex Rudzinski — who's coming back this year, too —shot each reunion in in the way that it was originally filmed. So, for American Horror Story, the camera was rocking. Each sitcom felt very multi-cam. Little details like that really make a difference, even if people don't really dial into that.
What did you learn from that experience that you’re carrying into this one?
Harmon: We all love TV, and that 75th year really was a love letter to TV. Viewers seemed to connect with the nostalgia as well. So, when we were approaching the 76th show, we wanted to figure out how we could take that nostalgic energy and make it new and different.
Rouzan-Clay: Right, so the question was, “How do you create a new theme that still does that?” So, this year, we're really leaning into celebrating the characters on the TV shows.
Harmon: It’s more like character types. You’ll see favorite villains and coaches and TV cops.
Speaking of nostalgia: ER turns 30 this year, and The West Wing turns 25. Without spoiling anything, can you tease as to how these classics may be acknowledged?
Collins: There will definitely be some reunion moments sprinkled in the show that we're really excited about, and we will have some set recreations to go along with it.
Rouzan-Clay: Yes, the Cheers reunion and the recreation [of the bar] was something that people really gravitated to last year.
How do you go about planning those reunions?
Collins: Our producer, Taryn Hurd, is on the front lines with all the talent bookings. We go out early — we had some folks confirmed back in June. But we have conversations early because everyone is working, and there are all kinds of things going on. You’ve got to hope that they're available and that we can make it creatively make sense for people to join us.
And how cool is it to be working with Eugene and Dan, who are the first father and son Emmy hosts?
Rouzan-Clay: They are tons of fun. It’s exactly what I imagine our audience hopes to see because their relationship is such a joy. They’re really funny, and I think all that's going to translate on screen.
Harmon: They are taking this so seriously. They're constantly writing and punching up and running things by us. Their approach to hosting is amazing.
Rouzan-Clay: They want to know what we're doing with presenters and how they connect to the show so that everything that they're writing is fluid throughout the entire show.
So, they’re hands-on collaborators?
Collins: Sometimes a host is on an island, and they're just focused on a monologue and don't care about the rest of the show. Like, “I'm just going to have the greatest open ever.” Eugene and Dan look at everything as a whole, and they've had great feedback and notes just figuring out how they can help enhance the celebration of the night.
What else are you excited for people to see on the big night?
Harmon: This show is really packed with both stars and shows of the past and stars and shows of today. I don't even want to name one because I'm excited about each moment.
Rouzan-Clay: I know we got Nicola [Coughlan] from Bridgerton, which is a show that I personally enjoy. I’m really excited to see her.
Collins: I’m looking at the grid here — Steve Martin, Marty Short and Selena Gomez, that's a moment. Dick Van Dyke appearing is a moment. Billy Crystal is giving away the Outstanding Talk Series award. We're not even going to do a nomination package; we're just going to let him talk about the merits of each nominee in the category in the way that only Billy Crystal can. Niecy Nash's moment is going to be amazing. Don Johnson, I'm really excited for. We have Da’Vine [Joy Randolph] and Candice Bergen. It’s just a great cross-section of television.
Obviously, you’re dealing with a lot of moving parts. What would really surprise the average viewer about what goes into putting on this kind of show?
Collins: There are 26 awards to give out. So, when people say, “Oh, it’s dragging,” remember that everybody winning is an essential piece to creating the television that we all love. So, while you may not know the nominees in one particular category, just know that they deserve their time and their flowers.
Yes, we want to get to those big awards. But it takes the whole village to make this thing work, so understand that everybody deserves to be celebrated. The three of you seem so loose!
Do you all just work together that well?
Harmon: Our collaboration actually works really well, because each of us has strengths in certain areas. So, the way we fit together works out perfectly. I mean, there's always going to be healthy disagreements about creative direction — I like this script better, or I think this award should be in this act, and we have a healthy dialogue about it. That’s not just us; it’s the whole team. Aside from that, it's like Jesse's Angels!
Collins: The three of us have been doing shows for so long that we all kind of keep each other honest with the things we're tasked to do. Dionne's visual eyes are unparalleled, so she keeps an eye on the set design and the aesthetics. Jeannae watches everything, so she's going to know the storylines of who was with who, and what happened, to keep us out of TV jail.
Okay, so what aren’t you going to do for the 76th show?
Harmon: We’re not going to go four hours. We will end on time!
The 76th Emmy Awards airs September 15 at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET on ABC.
