At the Emmys, wins from Apple and Colbert highlight TV in transition

Maybe it was watching Stephen Colbert get his final two “Late Show” Emmys engraved at the afterparty.Or hearing the rowdy Apple TV contingent in the audience whoop it up every time “Widow’s Bay” notched another win.

But inside the Peacock Theater on Monday night, this year’s Emmy Awards felt like a transition to a new era of television.As the TV Academy’s events crew rolled away the blue carpet, the event gave us plenty of moments to remember.Here are just a few…A host with assistsWith an opening musical number starring Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson and a “Law & Order: SVU” skit starring Taylor Swift, host Mariska Hargitay called in plenty of favors from her famous friends to help lend the Emmys a little star power.

Hargitay, the show’s first female host in 15 years, rotated through at least 10 wardrobe changes, including a “Game of Thrones”-style fur cape and black power suit.But the uniform she kept on all night was cheerleader for the medium of television, going so far as to repurpose a line from Nicole Kidman’s viral AMC Theatres commercial to say, “At the end of the day, we come to TV for magic.”Mariska Hargitay opens the show.Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Some of the biggest laughs of the night came from the mini monologue John Mulaney delivered while presenting the category of outstanding lead actor in a drama.

“This award is for the guys, just men being men,” Mulaney said.“Finally, something for the fellas.” The award itself wasn’t a surprise — front-runner Noah Wyle of “The Pitt” took it home.

But Mulaney’s bit, including a joke that earned a bleep from NBC censors, had the audience in the room roaring and people at home wondering how long until the comic finally hosts a major awards show.(Mulaney did host the TV Academy’s Governors Awards in 2024, but that show isn’t televised).The era of AppleNew Apple CEO John Ternus attended the Emmys, and he had lots to celebrate b...