served as the ceremony's host. As part of a rotating deal among the "
Big Four" networks signed in 2018,
ABC held the rights to broadcast the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. On January 8, 2020, during the
Television Critics Association's annual winter tour, ABC announced that the ceremony would be broadcast on September 20 from the
Microsoft Theater in
Los Angeles, while the Creative Arts ceremonies would be held on September 12 and 13. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes. The
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, also known as the Television Academy, announced on June 15 that the Creative Arts ceremonies would be presented virtually due to the pandemic. Additionally, the annual Governors Ball was cancelled for the first time in its history, with the Television Academy making a $1 million donation to the
Actors Fund's COVID-19 efforts in its place. The new Creative Arts dates were announced in August, with the ceremonies to be aired across five nights between September 14 and 19.
Jimmy Kimmel was announced as the ceremony's host on June 16. This year marked his third time as host, following
2012 and
2016. Kimmel also served as an executive producer for the event. In July, Guy Carrington,
Reginald Hudlin, David Jammy, and Ian Stewart were added as executive producers, with
Done and Dusted producing the ceremony.
Hamish Hamilton served as director for the event. While Kimmel presented the ceremony from the
Staples Center, no in-person festivities (such as a
red carpet or
audience) at the venue took place. Celebrity guests still made on-stage appearances, including
Jennifer Aniston and
Anthony Anderson. The broadcast used live feeds from each nominee, with television series being represented by one of their producers. To maintain a high-quality presentation, the use of
video-conferencing was avoided, with producers sending "professional" cameras to each nominee's location, as well as an operator, if they so chose. Hudlin stated that they wanted to maintain a live broadcast, while Stewart argued that "we're not trying to make the
Zoomies, we're trying to make the Emmys". Kimmel was also seen disinfecting the envelope for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series with
Lysol spray; after Aniston commented that it was "a little extreme", Kimmel proceeded to throw it in a trash can and set it on fire instead. Some awards were delivered to winners via presenters in themed
Hazmat suits designed to look like formalwear.
Category and rule changes Several rule changes were announced in December 2019. First, episodes that were scheduled to air after the eligibility period closed, known as hanging episodes, were eligible for awards if they were made available on a member-accessible platform, such as the Television Academy's streaming platform, before May 31, 2020. Otherwise, those episodes would be eligible at the following year's ceremony. For limited series, all episodes had to be made available before May 31, or the series as a whole would have to compete the following year. Other changes included the elimination of DVD
screeners to save money and waste, as well as a limit on actors playing the same character across multiple series – only one performance for that character could be submitted in a given year. Programs broadcast during prime time hours as an extension of
daytime series were no longer eligible, and self-published programming had to be vetted to determine if it was "suitably competitive". In March 2020, the deadline for hanging episodes was extended to June 30 due to production delays stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic; the nomination and voting periods were similarly delayed. All shows were still required to premiere before May 31 to be eligible for the 2020 ceremony. "
For Your Consideration" events were initially moved from live settings to virtual events due to the pandemic, but were later suspended entirely. On August 6, alongside the announcement of the Creative Arts ceremony dates, four categories were moved from the main ceremony to Creative Arts ceremonies:
Directing for a Variety Series,
Writing for a Variety Series,
Variety Sketch Series, and
Television Movie. This left 23 categories to be presented at the main ceremony. Additionally, the Governors Award was moved from its usual presentation at a Creative Arts ceremony to the main ceremony. The move drew criticism from the
Writers Guild of America and
Directors Guild of America, which were contractually guaranteed four writing and four directing categories during the broadcast.
Critical reviews and viewership The broadcast received generally positive reviews from critics.
Times Judy Berman called the ceremony "one of the most enjoyable awards shows in recent memory" thanks not to one major decision but instead due to the many details that succeeded. She felt Kimmel's turn as host provided some energy and consistency, even as his performance was simply okay.
Linda Holmes of
NPR also noted that the broadcast "wasn't just watchable; it was ... pretty good", with the remote setup providing a level of intimacy and unpredictability missing from other awards shows.
IndieWires Ben Travers called it "a memorable, entertaining, and technically immaculate awards show", praising the technical team and the decision to favor live speeches over recorded segments. Mike Hale of
The New York Times was more critical of the ceremony, remarking that the Emmys "continued [their] trend of feeling out of tune with the way most of us watch TV". He added that the remote appearances and pretaped portions evoked nostalgia for "the hothouse atmosphere and occasional breakdowns" of live ceremonies, with spontaneity replaced by "stage-managed banality".
Hank Stuever, writing for
The Washington Post, found that the ceremony "more than met the challenge that the pandemic handed it" but failed to inspire any permanent ideas for changes to the awards show format. Robert Lloyd remarked in the
Los Angeles Times that the show "felt solid enough to accommodate the occasional technical difficulty", adding that because almost everything was unprecedented, it was "minute for minute more interesting than these long nights of self-celebration usually are". He found that Kimmel was the right host for the event, providing "a walking dose of normality" to the proceedings. The ceremony was watched by 6.36 million viewers in the United States, falling below the previous year's ceremony to become the least-watched Emmys telecast in history. It achieved a 1.3
rating among adults ages 18–49, also a record low. The ceremony faced competition from both an
NFL broadcast and, for the first time, a
playoff game for the
NBA.
Criticism regarding lack of diversity Following the nomination announcement, the Television Academy was criticized for its lack of
transgender nominees. Several cast members and affiliates of the
FX drama
Pose, which is set in New York City's LGBT
ballroom scene, criticized the Television Academy for excluding its
many transgender stars from the acting categories. There was similar criticism from affiliates of the
HBO series
Euphoria, for which transgender actress
Hunter Schafer did not receive a nomination despite critical acclaim. However, despite these snubs,
Rain Valdez became the second transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy for acting, receiving a nomination for
Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. Further criticism resulted from the lack of
Latino nominees. While there was a record number of black nominees, there was limited recognition for shows starring Latino casts and only one Latino or Latina nomination in any acting category (
Alexis Bledel for
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series). The
Congressional Hispanic Caucus called the lack of nominations a "demoralizing disappointment for the U.S.'s largest minority group". When the
Los Angeles Times reported the criticism using the terms "Black" and "Latino" separately, it was itself criticized for failing to recognize
Afro-Latinos.
John Leguizamo boycotted the Emmys because of its lack of Latino nominees, remarking, "If you don't have Latin people, there's no reason for me to see it." Before the nominations were announced, Porter suggested that his
Pose co-star
Mj Rodriguez, who is transgender and Afro-Latina, was not receiving recognition because the Television Academy's members "don't know how to adjudicate the performance" and so simply exclude it. The Emmys also faced criticism from the
Asian American community, leveled because Asian Americans only made up one percent of the nominees. The relative lack of nominations was attributed to both the small number of shows featuring Asian Americans and the perception among some voters that such shows are niche or foreign.
Mindy Kaling, creator of
Never Have I Ever, criticized the Emmys for not nominating the series for any Emmy categories despite its success, suggesting that it was overlooked because "Sometimes a show like ours will always seem ethnic or niche to a certain group of people." == In Memoriam ==