When you hire Mariska Hargitay to host the Emmys, the fact that she has a few friends in high places pays off. And that starts with Taylor Swift.
“They’re genuine friends,” executive producer Dionne Harmon said. “She’s like, ‘lemme hit Tay Tay!’”
Emmy executive producers Jesse Collins, Harmon and Janae Rouzon-Clay from Jesse Collins Entertainment and NBCUniversal live events and specials exec VP Jen Neal met with reporters immediately after Monday night’s Emmy telecast wrapped to share some behind-the-scenes details about this year’s show — and of course, the top questions revolved around Swift’s surprise appearance in a pre-tape parody of Hargitay’s “Law & Order: SVU.”
The idea was among the first to come up when Hargitay met with her writers (led by Ariel Dumas from “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”) — and they immediately started brainstorming things for Swift to do.
“That was an idea that Taylor responded to,” Collins said of the sketch, which centered on the “SVU” team trying to figure out how or if Swift would show up at the Emmys. Swift played a fellow detective attempting to decipher some of the codes that would signal the superstar’s plans on the night.
“Their whole conversation was about how she was going to make it great and comfortable and all the things for her,” Collins said of Hargitay’s pitch to Swift. “Taylor loved the script and she had some thoughts and we worked that in.”
What were Swift’s notes? “The Easter eggs,” Collins said of some of the notations and hints that the singer gave throughout the bit. Added Rouzan-Clay: “She wanted them to be really official. And correct.”
The parody was filmed under tight security and secrecy on the “SVU” set in late August.
“The ‘SVU’ set is like walking into Mariska’s home,” Collins said. “And she made everybody comfortable, especially Taylor.”
As for keeping the cameo a secret, it was a small group that participated in the shoot. “And this was Mariska’s friend, so we made a promise to Taylor that we would keep it under wraps,” Collins said. “When you make a promise to Captain Benson, you keep it. We don’t want to go to awards show jail.”
Swift was so game that she was willing to take the time to participate in a large portion of the pre-taped bit. “Taylor’s been such a fan of Mariska’s for a long time, and when she was on set, she talked a lot about it,” Neal said. “She’s actually watched almost every single episode. She named her cat ‘Olivia Benson’!”
And yes, that was the real Olivia Benson the cat in Swift’s arms at the end of the sketch, alongside the TV Olivia Benson as played by Hargitay.
“That was, last minute, Taylor’s idea,” Collins said. “The night before, she was like, ‘What if I put the cat in the scene?’ And we were like, that would be awesome. So we did it. And the cat delivered!”
Rouzan-Clay said there was no doubt there would be an “SVU” presence (and some “dun-duns”): “We were going to do ‘SVU’ because I think everyone, the fans, everyone who tuned in, thought, ‘what will be the SVU thing?’ And if you’re going to do it, I think everyone we all felt like you have to one up what everyone’s thinking. And I can’t think of anything better than to throw Taylor in an ‘SVU’ sketch. Like, no one saw that coming. And if you’re going to have a nod to ‘SVU,’ that seemed like the coolest way to do it.”
Hargitay was game to utilize her contacts, which is why, besides Swift, viewers also got to see New York Knicks player Jalen Brunson in the show’s cold open.
“That was the beauty of Mariska hosting,” Collins said. “Everybody wanted to come play with her, and she was able to work with the team to come up with ideas that would make people comfortable after they said yes. You saw it in the open and the SVU sketch.”
Added Rouzan-Clay: “Mariska’s had such a great year and has so many connections with Jalen and Taylor and all the people in Hollywood that were happening in pop culture this year. So it was really just a dream for us to work with her to appeal to this broad audience. She really has something for everyone, and is broadly beloved.”
Here are a few more behind-the-scenes nuggets we gleaned from the producers about this year’s show:
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Hargitay spent time with a vocal coach and in off-site rehearsals to prepare for all the singing she had on this year’s Emmy telecast, including the opening “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” parody “I Love TV Screens.”
“She really worked hard on that song,” Collins said.” A lot of vocal sessions recorded it in New York. And she did some more work on it in L.A., really perfecting it. I mean, this is one of the hardest-working hosts I’ve ever seen on any award show. When we shot that opening piece, we shot one scene in New York and two full days in L.A. On Thursday after the media press conference, we came here. She started shooting at around 2 in the afternoon, and we left the plaza at midnight, 12:30 a.m. The work that she put in was unparalleled.”
Even while preparing to host the Emmys, Hargitay did not take a break from shooting “SVU.”
“The writers were in an office out of ‘SVU’ for the last couple months, so it was basically like, bust a perp, run up, do a joke, go back,” Collins said.
Added Neal: “When Mariska signed on, she said, ‘If I do this, I want it to be the best Emmys ever.’ So she was so committed, and she gave her all in terms of all of this. Like truly a dream, and totally committed and prepared.”
Dumas and the “Late Show” writers were hired after Jesse Collins Entertainment and NBC did a large search to find the proper head writer for Hargitay.
“She put together a great team, all New York writers who were willing to work at ‘SVU,’ which we’re all fans of,” Collins said. “Like you walk on that set and you’re like, ‘oh man, it’s the interrogation room. That’s Ice-T over there!’”
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Noah Kahan was tapped for the “In Memoriam” after NBC and Jesse Collins Entertainment worked with him on the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks special earlier this summer.
“We only got to have him on a pre tape for that show, and so we thought he was the perfect voice for this, and he really delivered,” Rouzan-Clay said. “He’s had a big year.”
Added Collins: “He’s selling out stadiums, so we knew people would love him.”
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Reba McEntire chose the Dolly Parton song “Appalachian Memories” to perform as tribute to her late friend. And on stage, she was wearing Parton’s butterfly ring.
“We were fortunate enough for Reba to agree,” Collins said. “She’s shooting her show right now, but she made time for this. She was like, ‘It’s a beautiful story behind that record.’ It’s Reba McEntire, so you’re gonna say yes.”
Said Neal: “Reba and Dolly have a long history, obviously, and connection. She went to the family, and the family lent her one of the rings of Dolly. So it was very special, purposeful for that specific song.”
The producers had an entire document lined up to chart Hargitay’s multiple wardrobe changes throughout the evening.
“It had the corresponding hair looks for each one,” Harmon said. “It was very specific, very intentional. She and her glam team were super on top of it.” Said Rouzan-Clay: “They knew going in how much time she had between each look, and they worked it out.”
Added Collins: “And there was a lot of effort to construct the show so that she could go from the long hair to the short. If you go back and watch, it was exactly 19 minutes to get from one to the other, and the show was constructed.”
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The decision to place the more emotional elements of this year’s Emmys — including the honor for Michael J. Fox, the Parton tribute and the In Memoriam — was purposeful, the producers said.
“I think the science behind opening with guys with TVs on their heads — you’ve got to wait a little bit before you get to the emotion,” Collins said.
“There was so much levity about the show, but we did want to pay respects to those moments,” Harmon said.
Added Rouzan-Clay: “I think even in delivering the emotional pieces, it was nice that there was some levity. Even in Macaulay and in Dan’s speeches for Catherine, it was emotion-filled, but there were moments that really spoke to the people that they knew. I think we got lucky with Reba, with the In Memoriam. … all of these moments, really genuinely connected, and they came together organically.”
The producers continue to offer nominees a chance to share their thank-yous to run at the bottom of the screen as they give their acceptance speech. Some take advantage of the offer, others don’t.
“We’ve done it multiple years,” Harmon said. “Not everybody turns in their list, but if they do, we put it up. It’s just a personal choice. Some people don’t want to forget. It’s not about time. It’s about not forgetting.”
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The one bleep of the night came from John Mulaney’s joke about DJ Khaled — and his famous proclamation that ‘real men don’t go down on their wives.’
“John’s gonna do John!” Rouzan-Clay said.
Neal noted that it was a standards and practices issue: “When you’re broadcasting to the audience at home and you want a family-friendly environment … there are just different S & P rules. Rules are the rules!”
Mulaney rehearsed his segment and the producers knew most of what he would say — but clearly not the DJ Khaled gag.
The show was actually running four to five minutes ahead of time for much of the evening — allowing the producers not to rush things.
“It gave Mariska some time to have some fun too, and breathe with some of those moments,” said Rouzan-Clay. “And we didn’t have to rush people off the stage.”
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At the end of the night, they also knew they could ask presenters Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey to stretch things out. (Although an originally planned idea to have the duo take a DNA test seems to have been nixed, as it was listed in early rundowns but didn’t actually happen.)
“You book Woody and Matthew,” Collins said of the backup plan if the show went short. “And you just don’t know what they’re going to do.”
The producers were braced for the variety series category potentially having multiple winners — which they didn’t have to ultimately worry about, as only “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” ultimately won.
“We were ready for a lot of different options,” Harmon said. “We were going to be good either way.”
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The producers and Neal gave high marks to Hargitay’s performance.
“She was a dream for a host,” Neal said. “She is a triple threat. She has so much range of all the things she can do. And I was glad that she had the opportunity to showcase that to audiences and see her in a different way that’s very different from playing Olivia Benson. I look at her year. Her documentary being an Emmy Award winner, her play on Broadway. I think that Mariska was able to show audiences at home just how talented she is. She loves comedy. She wants to be able to sing and dance. These were some of the things that she wanted to do.”
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