By Brian Lowry

Nate Bargatze said before hosting the 77th annual Emmy Awards that he wanted to keep the show silly and fun. It was occasionally that thanks to an abundance of first-time winners, but its central device — trying to find a way to speed up the acceptance speeches — became a case study in unintended consequences, leaving much of the “fun,” and certainly most of the relevance, on the cutting-room floor.

Unfortunately, racing through the speeches came at too high a cost for the show itself, one that played out in uneven pacing and awkward moments strewn throughout.