The âber months are here! And with them, starts my favorite season: Fall Awards Shows! There are two main awards shows that fall apart from the crowd in September: The Emmys and the VMAs. Celebrating two very different things, they always scratch that pop-culture itch to get me through until the movie and music circuit starts in January. Completely unrelated to each other, they both have a very unique air that sets them apart from other events.
The 2026 Emmys were hosted by Mariska Hargitay, of Law and Order (or New York Knicks fandom) fame. And for an awards show that constantly has a rotating slew of various comedians, it may be a home run if they can hold onto her. She was also the first solo female host since Jane Lynch in 2011. In my humble opinion, her most memorable bit of the night was roping in Taylor Swift (also of New York Knicks sideline fame) for a sketch on âWill Taylor Swift Attend the Emmys?â It was in character of SVU, and also probably not too hard to convince Swift, who famously named one of her cats after Hargitayâs character on the show: Olivia Benson. But Hargitay is lovable, largely unproblematic, a woman, and relevant: all things that are all too rare for an Awards Show.Â
In terms of the show itself, records were broken and tears were shed. Stephen Colbertâs team accepted their last ever Emmy for The Late Show for Outstanding Variety Series. Jean Smart became the first actress to win an Emmy for every season of a showâs run with Hacks, and Matthew Rhys was the first man to win Best Actor in a drama, a comedy and a limited series (with the latter two occurring on the same night!). And the In Memoriam section was filled with many hard-hitters. Reba McEntire sang âAppalachian Memoriesâ in honor of the late, great Dolly Parton, and then Catherine OâHaraâs onscreen children, Macaulay Culkin, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy, paid tribute to her great talent and humility.
And unless you look at Meg Stalter, who dressed like a literal Emmy (queen, honestly), a lot of the fashion stayed very classy and elegant. Sleek floor length gowns were worn elegantly by Zendaya, Florence Pugh and more. One of my favorite standouts of the night was Ayo Edebiri in a layered midi blue Chanel dress. Again setting the Emmyâs apart: either class is back on theme, or everyone decided to let those attending the VMAs make bolder statements.
And statements were made: by Charli XCX in a black velvet, very low cut two piece, Lisa in a halo of red fur, and more. The VMAs are always a bigger spectacle than a lot of other award shows. Probably because they are one of the only major award shows to be voted on by fans, the network caters to those fans.Â
Having moved from Long Island to LA for this year, the show was hosted by Snoop Dog (who claims he was the driving force behind the move). The show was actually delayed about 20 minutes, due to the extended Ravens-Cowboys game (and as someone who moved my whole night around to watch the show, I was not pleased, but what can you do about live TV?) This meant that I had to be very careful about checking my social accounts mid show, as to not see any spoilers. The show was opened by Madonna, with her first live VMA performance in 23 years.
And speaking of Madonna, she proved that the 90s are back, and it’s never too late to sweep the VMAs, taking home 7 awards. That did not surprise me, but I was quickly reminded of how much fan voting can prove unpredictable, and I am already suffering every Tuesday night of Dancing with the Stars. The first award of the show threw me for a loop, when LISA took home best pop for her song âDream.â And I am always happy for a new artist to get her win, she truly looked taken aback and overjoyed. But I was quite shocked at her beating the stacked category of every recent pop girl: Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, and Taylor Swift.Â
In all honesty I think that unpredictability is what makes the VMAs so lovable. The people yearn for their favorite artists to win, and often overrule the bias that committees of more formal award shows hold. Could I have told you that Jean Smart and Stephen Colbert would have won Emmys as the cherry on top to their historic shows? Yes. Did I think the Arianators and Swifties would battle it out for âBest Pop?â Also yes. Which is why the Emmys and VMAs are so perfectly juxtaposed in my opinion. In two weeks you get enough utmost class and unpredictable takes to keep everyone talking until Grammy nominations in November.