After an almost four-month wait due to the writers and actors strikes, the 75th Emmy Awards finally took place January 15 in Los Angeles, with former Blackish star Anthony Anderson tackling the hosting duties.
The show opened with a play on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, called, naturally, Mr. Anderson’s Neighborhood. Anderson entered wearing in a big fur coat, but instead of Mr. Rogers’ iconic cardigan, Anderson changed into a tuxedo jacket.
Anderson then paid tribute to the memorable themes of the TV shows he watched growing up, with the help of a “small, local, diverse and inclusive choir from Compton” singing along. Anderson and the choir broke into the Good Times theme song, with the actor joking that thanks to that classic 1970s sitcom, he learned about the importance of “family, a dynamite catchphrase and spinoff money.” He noted that without Good Times, there would be no Blackish, nor its subsequent spinoffs.
The opening also featured Anderson and the choir performing the theme from The Facts of Life He joked that Kim Fields‘ character, Tootie, was his first crush, until he decided he needed an older, more experienced woman: Charlotte Rae‘s middle-aged Mrs. Garrett, who could “teach me the facts of life.”
The segment ended with Anderson reminiscing about Miami Vice, with Blink-182‘s Travis Barker playing drums on one of the songs heavily identified with the slick cop show: Phil Collins‘ “In The Air Tonight.”
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