Mariska Hargitay’s Dreadful NBC Emmys Show (Not Her Fault) Down 10% in Ratings from Last Year, Awards May Move to Amazon Prime

Monday night we might have seen the final Emmy Awards on network TV.

There are reports that Amazon Prime, which only won 3 Emmys this month, is going to start hosting the show.

It may be just in time.

The Mariska Hargitay hosted show was a bust in the ratings, down 10% from last year to 6.7 million viewers.

It’s a horrendous number but not surprising. With a lot of competition, the Emmys came off pretty badly — poorly produced and written (sorry, Colbert team). They lacked and buzz or hip factor. Almost uniformly the presenters were dull and the winners weren’t much better.

The highlights: John Mulaney telling a dirty joke, Sally Field giving an impassioned speech. Nicole Kidman being a good sport. Michael J. Fox, a hero. You know things are bad when the In Memoriam is the best part of the night.

Hargitay had about 40 glam costume and wig changes. I guess this was her way of finally looking hot after three decades in drab police garb. She deserved this gift from NBC. What we learned: she can’t sing. And where was Christopher Meloni? Also, her Taylor Swift film was odd. But you know Mariska is a good egg.

The Emmys are there own worst enemy. I gave up on the Television Academy years ago. Shows used to be cool — Mad Men, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad. The late great Ronnie Lippin did the PR and made sure the press was enthusiastic about the event. But no one’s cared in a long time, and these are the results: no viewers, streaming.

There were appropriate complaints that all the winners were white. I really think once an actor wins an Emmy for playing a role, they are thereafter ineligible. Sterling K. Brown should have a shelf of these things. So should Janelle James. Jean Smart didn’t need five Emmys for playing Deborah Vance. But that’s Hollywood, it’s not going to change.