Image Source: Getty / PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
As the longest-running cast member ever on “Saturday Night Live,” Kenan Thompson is a seasoned comedian — and he showed off his expert comedy chops in his opening monologue at the 2022 Emmy Awards. Thompson, the host, took the stage at LA’s Microsoft Theater to add his distinctive humor expertise (and dance skills) to a montage of routines to remixed versions of iconic television theme songs.
The montage started with a jazzy rendition of “Friends” that morphed into a tribute to “The Brady Bunch” (the original cast of which were on hand in the audience).
Image Source: Getty / PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
Image Source: Getty / PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP
After that, Thompson let the (similarly!) professional dancers take over for performances to remixes of the “Law & Order: SVU” and “Stranger Things” theme songs, before returning to the stage in a full Daenerys Targaryen costume for the final “Game of Thrones” tribute (pictured above). Check out the hilarious intro below!
After the first award of the night was handed out to Michael Keaton for lead actor in an anthology series for “Dopesick,” Thompson returned to the stage to do a more traditional joke-filled monologue, taking the chance to poke fun at this year’s slate of nominated shows and actors. He poked fun at “Squid Game” by joking it was a show about people who are in desperate need of money . . . kind of like its streaming network, Netflix. Then he gave Zendaya a shout-out for her birthday, which she celebrated on Sept. 1, joking that she is now too old to date Leonardo DiCaprio at age 26.
In a Sept. 6 interview, Thompson told the Associated Press that he took his role as host quite seriously. “It’s a huge deal, and it’s not necessarily something that I want to drop the ball on. So I was like, ‘Let me sit with this,'” he said. After deciding to host and discussing his approach with producers, he decided that “this should be a night of appreciating artistry and creativity and removing the stress of it all out. I get it — it sucks to lose, and everybody’s picking outfits and trying to do the red carpet thing. But at the same time, it’s an awesome thing to be in the room on Emmys night, and I don’t want that to get lost in the stress.”
Thompson definitely did not get lost in the stress during that opening bit!