For fifteen years. Nobody broke the seal. No woman stood center stage for television’s biggest night. That streak ends now.
NBC confirmed it Tuesday. Mariska Hargitay gets the reins. She heads up the 78th annual Emmys this fall.
She knows the weight of the moment.
“Bringing important stories into the light” is what drives her. She says it plain in her announcement. An honor really. Especially since this falls right in NBC’s 100th year.
Hargitay is heading into season twenty-eight as Capt. Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU.” A hit. A legacy. She feels lucky to work in an industry that connects people. Doesn’t matter where you are or how you watch. It just brings us together.
Context helps. She is the first woman to do this since Jane Lynch. Way back in 2011.
Before then? Guys. Jimmy Kimmel. Stephen Colbert. Kenan Thompson. A rotation of familiar faces.
This isn’t Hargitay’s debut with the Emmys. She’s been there plenty of times. Just not with a microphone. Eight nominations for Best Lead Actress in Drama. One actual win during the show’s three-decade run. Plus a Golden Globe. She knows the ceremony intimately.
Tell someone you survived cancer and you get applause. For sexual assault survivors the response is silence. Shame. She wants to end that.
That stance isn’t new. Off-screen she runs the Joyful Heart Foundation. It supports survivors of abuse. All kinds. Sexual. Domestic. Human trafficking. She’s a survivor herself. Fierce about it.
Nominations drop next Wednesday. July 8. Mark the calendar if you care. The show airs Sept 14 at 8 pm ET. Watch it on NBC. Or Peacock.
History made. Whether it matters more than the stats. That’s for us to decide.
