The opening monologues of the Emmy Awards always poke fun at Hollywood itself, but Seth Meyers’ remarks at the 66th show were even more inside baseball than normal — making fun at the politics of the television industry, not its stars. The Late Night host took aim at the decision to move the Emmys to a Monday night in August to avoid football season conflicts (“keeping with the actor’s tradition of running away from jocks”); the head-scratching surrounding certain shows’ nomination categories (the past year featured “comedies that made you laugh and comedies that made you cry because they were dramas submitted as comedies”); and HBO’s dominance as the network with the most nominations (HBO is “the kid you grew up with who did way better than you expected”).
Watch the speech above.
See the Best Red Carpet Moments From the 2014 Emmys
Christina Hendricks arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APJanuary Jones arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APLaverne Cox arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.John Shearer—Invision/APJon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt arrive to the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theater on August 25, 2014. Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesLena Headey arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini—Invision/APPeter Dinklage arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APAaron Paul arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.John Shearer—Invision/APAmy Poehler arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APSofía Vergara arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini—Invision/APKit Harington arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APJulia Roberts arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APLizzy Caplan attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesSarah Hyland arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APHost Seth Meyers and Alexi Ashe attend the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesLena Dunham attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Buckner—Getty ImagesHayden Panettiere attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesTeyonah Parris arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Danny Moloshok—Invision/APJim Parsons arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APMayim Bialik arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini—Invision/APRico Rodriguez arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.Evan Agostini—Invision/APMinnie Driver from the Lifetime miniseries "Return to Zero" arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California August 25, 2014. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersKeke Palmer arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. John Shearer—Invision/APActor Ricky Gervais arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California August 25, 2014. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersMelissa Mcknight, left, and Matt LeBlanc arrive at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.Evan Agostini—Invision/APJulianna Margulies arrives to the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theater on August 25, 2014. Christopher Polk—Getty ImagesMelissa McCarthy arrives to the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theater on August 25, 2014. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty ImagesMason Vale Cotto arrives on the red carpet for the 66th Emmy Awards, August 25, 2014 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty ImagesMario Lopez arrives on the red carpet for the 66th Emmy Awards, August 25, 2014 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty ImagesAubrey Anderson-Emmons arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Danny Moloshok—Invision/APLucy Liu attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Jason Merritt—Getty ImagesCamila Alves, left, and Matthew McConaughey arrive at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini—Invision/APKate Mara arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini—Invision/APSarah Silverman attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on August 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Frazer Harrison—Getty ImagesWilliam H. Macy and Felicity Huffman arrive for the 66th annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA.Paul Buck—EPA