Keeping a cool head under pressure is even more difficult in the midst of 100 degree weather. While attending the Creative Arts Emmys — which celebrates the technical achievements in television from sounds to cinematography —  junior Luke D’Agnese’s main goal throughout the night was avoiding sweating through his rented tuxedo as he chatted with industry professionals like "Stranger Things" co-creator and Chapman alumnus Ross Duffer.

“It was really exciting to be there because (the nominees) are the titans of their craft,” said D’Agnese, a television writing and production and business administration double major. “Just to talk to them and hear their processes and see their excitement gets me excited. At (the Creative Arts Emmys), you get to see these below-the-line workers who are so real and honest when it comes to their work. They’re the ones that are working really hard.”

Many of the faces that D’Agnese came across would be present at Microsoft Theater one week later for the Emmy Awards. Hosted by Kenan Thompson, the Sept. 12 ceremony consisted of bold fashion statements, heartfelt acceptance speeches and many viral moments. 

However, in the end, this year's Emmys garnered the lowest ratings ever with critiques about the pacing, speech-length and tired bits. 

“Ted Lasso” and “Succession” were the big winners of the night, taking home the coveted awards for best comedy and best drama while “White Lotus” took home best limited series. The lead acting categories were won by Zendaya for “Euphoria,” Jean Smart for “Hacks,” Jason Sudekis for “Ted Lasso,” Lee Jung-jae for “Squid Game,” Michael Keaton for “Dopesick” and Amanda Seyfried for “The Dropout.”

According to Dodge professor of film and television Steve Hirsen, the main problem was the rhythm and inconsistency of the event. 

“Michael Keaton got over two minutes for his speech,” Hirsen said. “Sheryl Lee Ralph got close to two minutes. No one cut off Lizzo. But yet they cut off other people. I’m aware of the 45-second rule for speeches, but here they are wrapping up Julia Garner, making her get off the stage, but the announcer had just as much to say as her. It was somewhat arbitrary. We go there to see the big stars and you get them on stage accepting an award. Don't play them off.”

Hirsen, who has been on the development team behind multiple award shows, told The Panther  that recent award shows are trying to do too much. He cites the opening number of Thompson dancing to classic television theme songs as “horrible,” and suggests bringing back classic hosts such as Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler to host. 

“The problem with the award shows is you have to give out all these damn awards,” Hirsen said. "It's just boring. The Tonys plays it straight but they got these great performances. The Grammys played straight but they got all these great performances that the Emmys doesn’t have. I think you just do it the way it's always been done. Get a great host, get great writing and keep the presenters short.”

Amidst the pacing issues, a moment of controversy occurred when Jimmy Kimmel played dead for the entire duration of Quinta Brunson’s acceptance speech for Abbott Elementary. Kimmel later apologized to Brunson for his actions. Later on in the show, the in memoriam section left out actress Olivia Newton John, who died of breast cancer August 8. 

Despite these gripes, Hirsen was rooting for Chapman alumna Hannah Einbinder, who was nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy for her performance in “Hacks.” Although senior screenwriting major Savannah Castellanos typically watches the Emmys to gauge which show to watch next, she shared her favorite nominee that she did watch.

“I was rooting for Steve Martin and Martin Short from ‘Only Murders in the Building’ for best actors in a comedy category,” Castellanos said. “I love the aesthetics of the show. I really like watching it the first go around and then watching it again after the fact knowing the mystery and trying to find other clues that I didn't see the first time around.”

Castellanos said she attended a friend’s watch party at Chapman Grand where the show was screened through a projector. She said that Andrew Garfield and Sheryl Lee Ralph had the best looks of the night, but her favorite moment was the acceptance speech from Lee Jung-jae for his role in “Squid Game.”

“I really appreciate the fact that (Jung-jae) took the time to not only speak in English, but also his native tongue in Korean,” said Castellanos. “I think that's super important to show they’re beyond just the Western media. I’m Mexican, and I always feel so prideful watching Mexican actresses or filmmakers accepting awards in Spanish or even being nominated. I always champion for them.”

Although it is said that being nominated is a privilege and winning is an added bonus, fans of the “Breaking Bad” spin-off show “Better Call Saul” are outraged over the show’s lack of wins. Since its genesis, the show has been nominated for 46 Emmys and won zero. While D’Agnese was rooting for “Severance” and “Abbott Elementary,” he said “Better Call Saul” deserved better.

“I thought that it’d be hard to beat 'Better Call Saul' after going through everything that they did,” D’Agnese said. “Bob Odenkirk had a heart attack and then went back onto set. And there were a lot of difficulties that they pushed through and it's also the end of their show. I was really rooting for them.”

D’Agnese added that he thinks that the Emmys need to adapt to the current state of the television industry. 

“I feel (there is) a shift going on right now where you have shows like ‘Hacks,’ ‘Barry’ and even ‘Ted Lasso’ where they're comedies but they also have immense heart in them,” D’Agnese said. “Even calling ‘Barry’ a comedy feels disingenuous. Maybe they should be doing 30 minutes and an hour length shows versus just comedy and drama, which I feel like is really defining because TV is changing so rapidly.”

Following the event, the internet has already moved on for way-too-early predictions for next year's Emmys. For now, the winners must find a mantle for their new trophy, the losers must graciously move on and the Emmys must find a way to spike their rating so that award shows don’t fade into irrelevance.