The hostless Emmys may have fallen short on entertainment factor as a production itself, TV guru Bob Thompson told Boston Public Radio Monday, but the important takeaway is just how good television is right now.
"The upshot of the Emmys is when you just read the list of the nominees, forget who won. There are just so many good shows out there. Every one of those nominees 30 years ago would have been considered the greatest thing that ever happened on television," said Thompson.
Shows on streaming services took home a number of awards, including "Fleabag," on Prime Video, which won outstanding comedy series.
"It's not something you want to snuggle up with the 9-year-olds and watch, but it is a really exquisitely written thing," said Thompson.
"Game of Thrones" on HBO took home outstanding drama series, "Chernobyl" on HBO won outstanding limited series, "Bandersnatch" on Netflix won outstanding television movie, and "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" on HBO won outstanding variety talk series.
The only two network shows to win were "Saturday Night Live" on NBC for outstanding variety sketch series, and "RuPaul's Drag Race" on VH1 for outstanding competition program.
Bob Thompson is founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, and a trustee professor of Television and Popular culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse.
