Now that we’ve seen the 2023 Emmy Awards, here’s a look back at the strangest part of the night.
A few days ago I received an email touting the feeding of 8,000 hungry people by the Television Academy. I thought it was about Project Angel Food, the LA equivalent of NY’s God’s Love We Deliver.
No– instead it was about feeding 8,000 “hungry celebrities” over a three day period.
Los Angeles is teeming with homeless, actually hungry people, many of whom wander around LA Live looking for handouts and help. I couldn’t stop thinking about them when I got this release. Was this a parody from The Onion?
The Television Academy – which normally is more engaged in awarding the creators of tasty plot twists for hungry worldwide audiences — has assembled a massive culinary cadre of chefs, servers and event experts to stage an unprecedented series of rapturous black-tie food and drink extravaganzas for 8,000 attendees in honor of the Emmy® Awards 75th Anniversary.
Fittingly it will take a “cast of thousands,” or nearly that, to pull the event off with a staff of 750 servers, runners, management and support personnel handling every need for the guest list of 8,000 which rivals similar needs for the inauguration of a U.S. President.
Then there was the rest of it. Alcohol advertising on TV is almost nil. Sometimes you see it during sporting events, but for the most part it’s shunned during mainstream entertainment shows that would be viewed by people under 18.
Nevertheless, Fox chose three liquor companies as main sponsors — sponsors that couldn’t really advertise on the Emmys. Very weird. They were: Johnnie Walker, Franciacorta varietals, and JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery.
All of it was a little weird, but maybe just a sign of the times. All bets are off when it comes to sponsorships!
PS Where did that all the excess food go when the 8,000 stars decamped for after parties? (There’s always mounds of meals left over after these events.) Unclear.
