The fast overnight ratings for the 2024 Emmy Awards are pretty shabby.

Playing against NFL games, and a day after the Critics Choice Awards were basically the same, the Emmys were tackled long before they got to the end zone.

The highest they got was 3.99 million viewers about mid way through the show. Otherwise they were stuck around 3.85 million.

These numbers come from major markets and could get a little higher when all the ballots are counted. But football ruled the night.

The last Emmys, in September 2022, scored 5.9 million, which was down from 7.6 million the year before. The trend is down down down.

The show last night was admirable for saluting nostalgia, bringing on reunions of old shows and replicating their sets. But not all of it worked. Anthony Anderson’s mother has worn out her welcome. Also, Fox ran so many commercials that the show seemed secondary to them.

The theme of the Emmys now is Netflix vs. HBO. “Abbott Elementary” is the only broadcast show involved in the game. There’s nary a mention of network TV, not a nod to the existence of “Law & Order” or the Dick Wolf shows, or any of the other procedurals.

The funniest moment came when the cast of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” was allowed to present an award and realized the Emmys had been going on behind their backs for the last 16 seasons!

The poor Emmy Awards. They should have aired last September but didn’t because of the Writers and SAG strikes.

So the awards they gave out tonight are for a season long since over and in some cases replaced already by a new one. They were voted on last summer.

And because the Emmys had to wait so long, they were usurped by Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards and last week’s Golden Globes. Having been at the CCAs on Sunday, I felt like I was having a deja vu on Monday. The actors and audience probably felt that way, too.

The gist of the show this year was nostalgia. Popular theme songs were used between segments. Old sets were lavishly recreated of old shows. Casts were reunited, even if some of the actors had left their shows unhappily — witness two members of the “Grey’s Anatomy” who got the heave-ho unceremoniously.

Then there were the glaring absences. Woody Harrelson and Shelly Long were glaringly absent from the “Cheers” reunion. Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey didn’t make it back for “Greys,” and so on. It was almost more fun watching who didn’t show up than who did. The most painful constant reunion: host Anthony Anderson and his mother, who was used as a running bit. Once would have been plenty.

And then there was the constant panning around the Microsoft Theater to show swaths of empty seats. I emailed someone from the Television Academy who claimed everyone was at the bar. Didn’t the Academy pay for seat fillers? (They were certainly stingy about press seats.)

The winners (and nominees) were the same as those other shows from the last week, and from past years. “The Bear” and “Succession” led the pack, along with “Beef.” The funny part of that was a reunion of the still on the air “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” They’ve been on the air for 16 seasons and never had a single nomination. The cast mocked the Emmys when they appeared, which was refreshing. The Emmy are guilty of ignoring the same shows for years until they are dead. (Witness “Billions.” Now its unloved star, Paul Giamatti, is on track to get an Oscar.)

Stranger still, punnily enough: “Still,” the Michael J. Fox documentary, picked up four Emmys. How could it possibly be nominated for an Oscar?

Among the presenters, the oddest one was two time Oscar winner Jodie Foster. She’s rarely been on a TV show in the last 50 years. Weird.

The next Emmys will be in September, on ABC, which will provide a huge improvement to the proceedings. When this next session begins, “Succession” and “The Crown” will be gone, “The Last of Us” will up the list, and so on. Maybe they will have fewer commercials. This show felt like it was squeezed into a night of them, and they were unbearable.

Outstanding Drama Series
Succession
HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat

Outstanding Comedy Series
The Bear
FX • FX Productions

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Succession • HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat Productions
Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Succession • HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat Productions
Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Beef
Netflix • A Netflix Series / An A24 Production

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Beef
Netflix • A Netflix Series / An A24 Production Ali Wong as Amy Lau

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Beef • Netflix • A Netflix Series / An A24 Production
Steven Yeun as Danny Cho

Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium
Disney+ • Disney+ Presents in association with Rocket Entertainment / A Fulwell 73 Production

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Succession • Connor’s Wedding • HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat Productions
Mark Mylod, Directed by

Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Beef • The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech In Pain • Netflix • A Netflix Series / An A24 Production
Lee Sung Jin, Written by

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Succession • Connor’s Wedding • HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat Productions
Jesse Armstrong, Written by

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Black Bird • Apple TV+ • Apple Studios
Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall

Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Beef • Figures of Light • Netflix • A Netflix Series / An A24 Production
Lee Sung Jin, Directed by

Outstanding Talk Series
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Comedy Central • Central Productions, LLC

Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver • HBO Max • HBO in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television
Daniel O’Brien, Senior Writer Owen Parsons, Senior Writer Charlie Redd, Senior Writer Joanna Rothkopf, Senior Writer Seena Vali, Senior Writer Johnathan Appel, Writer
Ali Barthwell, Writer Tim Carvell, Writer Liz Hynes, Writer Ryan Ken, Writer Mark Kramer, Writer Sofia Manfredi, Writer John Oliver, Writer
Taylor Kay Phillips, Writer Chrissy Shackelford, Writer

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
RuPaul’s Drag Race
MTV • World of Wonder

Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
The Bear • System • FX • FX Productions
Christopher Storer, Written by

Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series
The Bear • Review • FX • FX Productions
Christopher Storer, Directed by

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story • Netflix • Ryan Murphy Productions for Netflix
Niecy Nash-Betts as Glenda Cleveland

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
HBO Max • HBO in association with Sixteen String Jack Productions and Avalon Television

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
The Bear • FX • FX Productions
Jeremy Allen White as Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
The Bear • FX • FX Productions
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard “Richie” Jerimovich

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Succession • HBO Max • HBO in association with Project Zeus, Hyberobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions and Hot Seat Productions
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
The White Lotus • HBO Max • HBO in association with Rip Cord and The District
Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt

Who needs the Emmy Awards when you have the Critics Choice gala?

The Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport was filled with every imaginable TV star last night, all the big players from all the TV shows.

Quinta Brunson is a tiny human being who is ABC’s biggest star. The creator of the huge hit, “Abbott Elementary,” let me in on a secret about the comedy’s return on February 7th. They’re going “meta.” “The show is based on the school year,” Brunson said, “But we’ve been gone because of the strikes. So when we pick up, we’re going to explain why we’re only coming back now. It’s really funny. You’re going to love it, I hope.” Maybe the teachers were on strike, too!

Of course, the most fun was seeing all the people from “Succession.” The show is over and there’s no spin off, according to creator Jesse Armstrong. There had been some suggestion that it could be done, but Armstrong scotched that idea when I asked him.

Now Sarah Snook, who won Best Actress in a Drama last night, is off to London to play 26 characters in a one woman version of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Brian Cox is starring with Patricia Clarkson, also in the West End, in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” These will be hot hot tickets in London theater, and — if well received — likely coming to New York.

Kieran Culkin won Best Actor in a Drama for playing Roman Roy with such dazzling glibness. What will he do next? He told me: “I may be joining an existing series.” The deal isn’t done yet so he couldn’t say which one. What could it be? “Shrinking” or “Severance” on Apple TV? “Hacks” on HBO? Culkin would be an A plus addition to any series. UPDATED Hearing Culkin could be joining “White Lotus,” also an HBO show. Roman Roy in Thailand?

Caroline Aaron has just wrapped six seasons playing the real Mrs. Maisel, Joel’s mother, on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” (Midge, you remember, is a Weissman.) She tells me that she’s going back to doing “a bunch” of episodes on CBS’s hit sitcom, “Ghosts.” She plays Carol, the ex wife of the guy with the arrow through this neck. Aaron has done two episodes previously. I’ll watch anything she’s in, so “Ghosts” here we come!

The great Tony Shalhoub played Abe, Midge’s father, and won a ton of awards. But he’s also famous for “Monk,” which came back this fall in a movie for Peacock. He was nominated for a CCA Award last night and told me he’s open to coming back in more “Monk” movies and is just waiting to see if scripts will surface. You can’t have too much Shalhoub, that’s for sure!

I was thrilled to run into Abigail Spencer, who’s starring in “Extended Family” on NBC. Across the network and Peacock, “Extended Family” has scored over 10 million viewers in its first three episodes. Abigail has usually done drama, but she’s so much fun in person. “I’m a comedian now!” she told me.