The 10 Most Memorable Moments in Emmys History

published 22 August 14

1. Lucille Ball, 1975

The iconic comdienne forgot to bring her glasses on stage with her to present the winner of an outstanding comedy series. She exclaimed that she was "really in trouble" as the crowd howled with laugher. Ultimately, Milton Berle jumped on stage with an empty wine glass for Ball to look through (hilarious) and saved the day.

Lip, Eyebrow, Hand, Eyelash, Style, Wrist, Beauty, Monochrome photography, Monochrome, Model,

2. Alan Alda, 1979

To demonstrate his glee and delight with his Emmy win, the actor jumped out of his seat and cartwheeled down the aisle on the way to the podium.

3. Ellen DeGeneres, 2001

We couldn't pick our favorite moment from Ellen's hosting gig, so here is a reel chock-full of all the highlights.

4. Helen Mirren, 2006

While accepting her lead actress award, Helen Mirren exclaimed, "My great triumph is not falling ass-over-tit as I came up those stairs."

5. Ricky Gervais, 2010

The comedian joked about "keeping things clean" before delivering a Mel Gibson zinger.

6. Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, 2011

The talk show hosts entertained the audience with a bit of a scuffle on stage. And by scuffle we mean full blown wrestling in tuxes.

7. Outstanding lead actress nominees, 2011

The lead actress nominees stood on stage, padgent style awaiting the winning announcement.

8. Merritt Wever, 2013

The world's best (and shortest) acceptance speech. WINNER.

9. Julia Louis Dreyfes, 2013

The Veep actress had her costar Tony Hale remained in character throughout the entire speech.

10. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, 2013

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler heckled Neil Patrick Harris, suggesting he take off his pants and twerk to keep the audience's attention.

Related:

2014 Emmy Nominations (opens in new tab)

Emmys Cocktails (opens in new tab)

Hallie Gould

Hallie has worked in beauty editorial for ten years and has been editorial director at Byrdie since 2021. Previously, she was a senior editor at Byrdie since 2016. During her time at Byrdie, she's written hundreds of high-performing stories on skincare, wellness (including fitness, diet, mental health, body image, et al) makeup, and hair. She's a regular on set, helping to source inspiration for makeup and hair looks, as well as interviewing celebrities, models, and other notable women and men in the beauty space.

Before that, Hallie ran Marie Claire's social media and wrote beauty and culture stories for the site, and helped launch Time Inc.'s digital-only beauty brand, MIMI. After college, she contributed to Time Out New York’s Shopping & Style section before landing her first beauty editor gig at Hearst's Real Beauty. Hallie's writing has also appeared in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. Hallie graduated with a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.